I had appointments today with both my Physical Therapist and my Speech Therapist. Somehow both of them decided that I had heard all they had to tell me and in most cases I had actually absorbed what I heard. I'm told that my physical coordination will probably never get better than it is now which isn't that wonderful. But the exercises Janine gave me will at least keep me limber and more able to make use of what coordination I have. Probably as valuable as anything she's given me was a couple of hints on sitting and standing more erect, countering my spine's curvature.
Karen, my speech therapist, really wanted to use the Lee Silverman protocol on me but it calls for 4 to 6 weeks of intensive voice training. It also appears to me to be focused on patients who are already much worse off than I am. With much less practice than Karen hoped for, I was able to pass all her milestones. It was actually quite easy for me once I pretended that Karen was either my singing coach or my stage director giving me instruction in hitting notes precisely and sustaining tones loudly in the first case and projecting my voice to deliver lines that could be heard in the back row in the second case. Funny how I can more easily accept direction from a coach or director than from a therapist. I need to share that insight with my daughter-in-law Tiffany who will be a speech therapist this time next year.
In any case, because there wasn't much more to teach me, both Janine and Karen said I didn't need any more appointments at this time and wished me good luck.
No comments:
Post a Comment