Hi - I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2017. It was suggested to me that I check out a program called SPEAK OUT! It was a program developed by a nonprofit organization, called Parkinson’s Voice Project out of Dallas, Texas. I heard about it through my local support group and so I contacted them right away because I wanted to make sure that my voice and swallowing muscles were good because with Parkinson’s you can develop Aspiration pneumonia which can be deadly. So I did contact them before I developed any problems with my swallowing or speaking. Their mission is to help people with Parkinsons Disease and other neurological diseases regain and retain their voice and ability to swallow. This program is available in either 23 or 28 states, (I can’t remember for sure how many), so if you live in one of the states where you can access the program through their research and development center there is no charge. You can do the program either in person or online. You work one on one with a speech language pathologist and they will teach you the program and then get you involved in a group that’ll practice once a week. There’s also practice available online Monday through Friday every morning at 10 AM central standard time so if you go to the website Parkinson’s voiceproject.org and look up find a provider near you, you can find out if there is a research and development center for Parkinson’s Voice Project in your state. There may not be a research and development center and if that’s the case, there could still be speech pathologist that are trained in this program that you could get help from. I still participate with them every day Monday through Friday I haven’t had any trouble with my voice or swallowing, and I’m so glad that I found this program to help me. Hope this information helps you.

@show my neurologist referred me to a speech therapist. You use the muscles for speaking that you use for swallowing and the exercizes can help with both functions