Do you hate it when people finish sentences for you? Or decide what treatment you should have without consulting you? Jackie Hunt Christensen's article appearing in today's Washington Post hits the nail on the head.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...060102835.html

I can relate, and absolutely hate it when people do that for me. There's nothing like the inpatient look on someone as I try to spit my words out coherently. This of course makes things worse as I try to stammer out my thoughts.

On some afternoons, I have a hard time spitting out what I want to say only to have to repeat myself because no one heard me! Other times I'm ignored, or when they do listen to me, I can't spit the words out without them coming out confused.

John

Right on, Jackie!

After 14 years of PD, I blessedly have few voice problems, but I know how disabling even that much can feel. Our society counts on visual cues and values speed in communication--not only speaking (I am constantly surprised at how politicians can get in so much trouble both for what they do and don't say as well as how they say it) but in telephoning, texting, twittering, faxing, and facebooking (is "facebook" a verb yet?).

Unfortunately all of this frenetic activity does not necessarily mean there is any more communication. And because the Parkinsonian body language lies, confounding anyone studying it for clues as to meaning, and the voice masks the intelligence and creativity in the mind, what we have to say is easily mistaken for what people want to hear.

ditto John. and i sound loud and normal inside my head when i talk. can't tell at all internally that my volume is low.

jackie did an excellent job educating about it first and then turning it into an analogy.

paula

You rock. Big time. Thank you.

Jackie - this is a terrific article. Congratulations!

Thank you so much for this article! I am going to forward it to my family. I love the way the letters in the words are spaced out- that is just how I talk a lot of the time! My husband knows I have this problem and that it is from PD, but he still forgets and gets impatient with me. Giving people this article to read can serve as a gentle reminder to be patient with me (hard for impatient people to do).

A "must read" for family, friends, caregivers of stage 4 &5 PDer"s Bob C