SPEAK OUT! & LOUD Crowd Parkinson’s Disease Speech Pathology Program

Speak with intent, speech pathology program for people with Parkinson's Disease

As a recipient of the 2021 SPEAK OUT! & LOUD Crowd Grant Program, Independent Rehabilitation Services (IRS) is pleased to offer the SPEAK OUT! & LOUD Crowd program to clients.

The SPEAK OUT! and LOUD Crowd Grant Program was awarded by Parkinson Voice Project, a non-profit organisation dedicated to helping individuals with Parkinson’s improve their speech and swallowing.

What is SPEAK OUT! & LOUD Crowd?

‘SPEAK OUT!’ is a therapy program delivered by a Speech Pathologist that is designed to improve the speech and voice of people with Parkinson’s Disease. Many individuals with Parkinson’s can experience any of the following changes to their communication:

  • Reduced volume of speech
  • Slurred and unclear speech
  • Speak too fast
  • Difficulty articulating words
  • A monotonous tone of voice
  • A hoarse or unsteady voice
  • Reduced facial expressions when speaking

The SPEAK OUT! program is an intensive therapy program that trains participants to speak ‘with intent’ by converting speech from an automatic function to an intentional act. The program is typically completed in 12 sessions over 4 weeks and during this time, participants engage in therapy exercises both in the clinic and at home to improve their voice quality, confidence when communicating and overall quality of life.

After completing the SPEAK OUT! program, participants are encouraged to attend the LOUD Crowd. LOUD Crowd is a group therapy program aimed at maintaining the improvements and gains achieved in SPEAK OUT! Participants in the LOUD Crowd meet weekly with other people with Parkinson’s that have completed SPEAK OUT! to continue practising their exercises.

To learn more about the SPEAK OUT! & LOUD Crowd program, watch this video by Matt Fong, IRS Speech Pathologist.

YouTube player

Information about Parkinson Voice Project can be found on their website: www.parkinsonvoiceproject.org.

Send a Referral for Speech Pathology

If you would like to make a referral or find out more about our SPEAK OUT! & LOUD Crowd program, please contact our referral team on (03) 9885 2533 or referral@independent-rehab.com.au.

Related Information

Learn more about Speech Pathology at IRS.

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