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Hi Andrew and Meredith, regarding your mum's difficulties with speaking - Producing sounds for speech involves movement and that comes from muscles and the nerve impulses to them, just the same as for reaching, walking, turning in bed etc. So it is not uncommon that the same problems with freezing, initiation difficulties, getting the full range of movement, and tremor that interfere with other actions can all affect speech as well. If the vocal cords 'freeze', have problems initiating action or don't reach their full movement potential, then a whisper instead of normal voice is what you get. So I would say it is not a problem to be frightened of in the sense that it is life threatening or indicative of a major deterioration. However, speech is a very personal thing and our lifeline to others and so the loss of communicative ability is upsetting. The adjustment of the drug regime may do the trick. But the person you want to contact is your local speech pathologist. Find one who specialises in acquired neurological disorders, not a paediatric one. I can't tell from your address where you live, so can't suggest a contact point. The place that will know is ASHA, the American Speech Language and Hearing Association, 10801 Rockville Pike, Rockville MD 20852 3279. That is the national professional body for speech pathologists in the USofA. Best of luck, Nick, [log in to unmask] Friends: My mother (a 58 year old parkinsons patient) has recently expereienced problems with her voice. Specifically, as of the past few days she is only able to manage a whisper. While she has had problems speaking, the whisper thing is new and very frightening. She went to her neurologist who increased her med dosages -- I don't know the specifics or whether it is helping. Anybody out there have any experience, thoughts or suggestions? Thanks for your time! Andrew and Meredith [log in to unmask] Dr. Nick Miller Department of Speech George VI Building University of Newcastle Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU Great Britain phone: +44 91 222 5603 fax : +44 91 261 1182 e-mail [log in to unmask]