Hello @12271997

I am glad to hear that your doctor is referring you for speech therapy. Several years ago I had surgery for a paralyzed vocal cord and had speech therapy both before and after the surgery. It was wonderful!

I would encourage you to follow up with the speech therapy. There are certain home exercises that you might be encouraged to do, but one thing that is helpful is to spend some time reading out loud. Take your time, read slowly, and pause where there is punctuation (commas and periods). One of the most important things you can do for speech problems is to speak slowly.

I found that anxiety about my ability to speak would often make me speak quickly and that resulted in more problems. I would encourage you to take a look at the National Aphasia Association website at https://www.aphasia.org/. Many Aphasia groups also have singing groups. Singing has been known to help you speak better. Often people with severe speech problems will sing words that they might not be able to speak, so take a look for some Aphasia singing groups in your area.

Here are some websites that you might find interesting regarding singing, From Singing to Speaking, http://www.strokeassociation.org/STROKEORG/LifeAfterStroke/RegainingIndependence/CommunicationChallenges/From-Singing-to-Speaking-Its-Amazing-To-See_UCM_310600_Article.jsp#.WzQQD9JKiM8

From Singing to Speaking: Why Singing May Lead to Recovery of Expressive Language Function in Patients with Broca's Aphasia
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3010734/

When you become very intentional about recovering your speech you will find many resources and support networks as I did.

I look forward to hearing from you again.

Teresa

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