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Great idea Margie, except to us , we ARE moving our lips, and we are also smiling! Then someone comes along and says, "You look so sad", and you think, how in the world could I look sad when I'm grinning from ear to ear. I have gone to a mirror when someone has said that to me, and sure enough, I'm not smiling at all. But I have gone through all the motions of smiling in my mind. Put on a happy face, and still end up with a blank stare!!! Inside, I'd bet money, marbles and chalk that I had a smile on my face. I don't know about Dick, but my speech problems start in the back of my throat, I start to say something and it rattles around in back as if it might decide to become an asthma attack instead of a sentence. Getting my voice to project was a problem for me the last year I worked. I was lucky though, since I was a librarian, everyone thought I was just trying to set a good example of being quiet in a library. Practicing in front of a mirror sure can't hurt. Thanks for the idea!! just me, Marjorie At 06:51 PM 08/22/2000 -0400, you wrote: >I know many PWP experience difficulty being heard and understood. It has >been one of Dick's complaints, too. I always hear it spoken of in terms of >voice volume, but no one ever mentions that PWP may not be enunciating >clearly, besides. If you think of the "facial mask" that accompanies PD, it >would make sense that maybe the lips, and even the tongue and other vocal >structures, aren't moving as freely or as much as in normal speech. > > In other words, I suspect that if PWP would also think in terms of moving >their lips more when they speak, they could be more easily understood. It's >certainly my observation that when I have the most difficulty understanding >Dick, I can hear sounds, but can't distinguish words. It's as if I'm hearing >vowels and mumbling, with no clear consonants. Just a thought, fwiw. I >don't know if it would help to try practicing speaking in front of a mirror, >concentrating on the actual movements of producing speech. Wouldn't hurt, >anyway. > > >Margie, cg for Dick, 55/18 > ><< It sounds like you are experiencing what a lot of other PWP do with their > voice. That is, diminution in volume, loudness, almost like > hoarseness. One > of the things about this situation, is that we have "re-set" our own > screening ability as to intelligibility - we think we're adequately > loud; but > others say "What?and Hunhh?" frequently enough to know that this is a real > phenom. >>