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Barbara' I know your request about communication problems was not directed to me, but I feel compelled to add my two cents. Many years ago my husband Ken had a booming courtroom voice. At the time he began to show symptoms he was a judge. Twice in one year he was concerned enough about losing his voice to have a complete workup done by a thoracic surgeon. He was told nothing was wrong, so he had microphones installed in his courtroom. Then he developed urinary difficulties similar to some he had had years earlier when his prostate was enlarged. The urologist's only comment was "not this time." So he just kept on for about another year when he developed a mammoth clinical depression. With the help of medical science, the depression lifted, but his voice, smile, blinking eyes, etc., remained and he was sent to a neurologist who took one look and diagnosed Parkinson's. For almost ten years he no longer showed any outward symptoms as long as he took his meds fairly regularly. Now, however, he is pretty much incontinent, and his voice is very faint much of the time. He lost the ability ti articulate almost anything that was understandable last year, but the drug Aricept has pretty much taken care of that. He can once again talk to us, and he can even get some volume if we ask him to. From what I have read on this listserv our experiences, although differing from others in specifics, are not atypical. Barbara Smith,cg/Ken/70/17