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Kristi.... Between 5/97 and last October, I've had a series of collagen injections into my vocal cords (had 6 pairs of injections about 5 or 6 months apart, except for the last ones when my body absorbed the collagen in about 12 house instead of 3 to 6 months) The initial injections were marvelous. All subsequent ones were performed by a doctor at Kaiser Permanente, my HMO, and were not administered correctly. The initial and final injections were performed by Dr. Gerald Berke of UCLA and the first doctor to perform this procedure on a PWP. He does it regularly now ... Next I tried speech therapy at Kaiser and found they don't know didly about PD problems with speech/communication. Next, a friend who'd gone thru the entire (at $1695 for the series) series of the Lee Silverman course and after several weeks of shouting into a voice monitoring device, I quite in frustration, and am now using a head-set attached to a fairly small amplifier - made just for folks with VOICE VOLUME problems. This device cannot correct muscular problems or problems with one's tongue, but for VOLUME, it's fine. Cost was $269 including overnight express mailing. I do self-monitoring regarding possible slurring of words or rapidity of speech, and so far it's been fine. An off-shoot of wearing this voice amplifier is I ALWAYS get a ton of questions when I wear it in public, and this affords me the opportunity to tell all and sundry about Parkinson's. I've also meet some very nice people who have actually sent donations into one or another national PD organizations! NEAT!!! Barb Mallut [log in to unmask] -----Original Message----- From: Kristi Fleming <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> Date: Friday, February 25, 2000 6:01 AM Subject: hello all! >> > >I suppose this would be directed to those of you who have experience with a speech therapist: > >Are there any augmentative communication devices that you have found useful with Parkinson's patients? > >thank you, >Kristi F.