SPEAK with intent
Speech Therapy & Wellness Services
for Parkinson’s Disease
Helping Mainers with Parkinson’s achieve their communication goals
through education, evaluation, treatment, and practice groups
Did you know that Parkinson’s Disease can affect communication?
Characteristics of speech in people with Parkinson’s Disease include:
- reduced voice volume (for example, a soft/quiet voice)
- hoarseness
- trailing off at the ends of sentences
- inconsistent voice production
- monotone pitch
People with Parkinson’s Disease may not notice these changes in their own voice. In fact, it may be a family member rather than the person themself who first notices the communication change.
SPEAK OUT! Maine Speech Therapy for Parkinson’s
There are two well-known speech therapy programs for Parkinson’s Disease that aim to help people increase the volume of their voice: SPEAK OUT! and LSVT LOUD. You can read my blog post from April 2024 comparing these two programs. We offer SPEAK OUT!, which was developed by the Parkinson Voice Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving speech and communication in individuals with PD. This program is evidence-based and harnesses the power of our nervous system and cognition to improve communication. One of the main tenants of the program is to learn to “speak with intent”. This means speaking with conscious, deliberate effort. Speaking with intent uses the intentional, pyramidal motor system which is less dependent on dopamine than the automatic, or extrapyramidal motor system we would typically use.
SPEAK OUT! Program
- Participate in a speech evaluation.
- Order your complimentary SPEAK OUT! Workbook.
- Watch the “What is Parkinson’s?” video by the Parkinson Voice Project.
- Participate in individual speech therapy.
- Join a weekly practice group.
- Participate in a refresher/re-evaluation as needed.
The Parkinson Voice Project emphasizes the importance of ongoing, daily home practice. They offer free daily online speech exercises through their website.
Support your Speech with Lotus Speech & Wellness
We are currently offering the following services to people with Parkinson’s in Maine:
- Speech, Language, and Cognitive Evaluation
- SPEAK OUT! speech therapy (a typical SPEAK OUT! program is twice a week for 30-minute sessions for 4-6 weeks)
- Weekly practice group
Individual speech evaluations and therapy sessions may be covered at least in part by your health insurance plan. We are in-network with Medicare B and MaineCare, but out-of-network for private Medicare Advantage Plans and other private health insurance plans. We can provide Superbills for any out-of-network private insurance plans, but payment is expected at the time of service unless discussed otherwise with Katherine. Practice conversation groups are not covered by insurance.
Virtual Parkinson’s Voice Practice Group
A fun, supportive, weekly online voice practice group.
Open to Mainers with Parkinson’s Disease.
Sliding-scale pricing offered.
See schedule below.
Please join us by signing up below:
*If you haven’t yet participated in individual speech therapy with Katherine,
please contact us using this form before signing up for this practice group.
Katherine Noyes, MS, CCC-SLP, CBIS
Email: Katherine@LotusSLP.com
Phone: (207) 405-3496