Perspectives on Voice and Voice Disorders

Coordinator's Column

Petty, B. E. — 2013-03-18T10:00:27-07:00

Dollars $$ Sense: Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) Codes: Past, Present, and Future Codes for Voice Professionals

Nikjeh, D. A. — 2013-03-18T10:00:27-07:00

Special Considerations for the Performing Voice: Perspective of the Laryngologist

Vinson, K. — 2013-03-18T10:00:27-07:00

One of the many tasks a laryngologist is assigned to is the care of the professional voice. When discussing professional voice users, it is natural to consider performing artists such as singers, actors, voice-over artists, and broadcasters. However, this patient population includes many more groups. Clergy, attorneys, politicians, teachers, sales and customer service representatives, and coaches also should be considered professional voice users because their careers and livelihoods depend on the quality of their voices. The professional voice user often is a reluctant patient because he or she fears the inability to perform or that treatment, especially vocal surgery, may permanently affect his or her voice in a negative fashion. Caring for these patients requires special attention to these fears, as well as their schedules and deadlines. In this article, I will consider the management of vocal dysfunction in the performing vocal artist.

Diagnosis and Treatment for the Professional Singer

Petty, B. E. — 2013-03-18T10:00:27-07:00

Experts use the term "professional voice users" to denote the segment of the population for whom the voice is used as a primary tool of their occupation. In the United States, this term applies to a staggering 25–35% of the national workforce (Titze, Lemke, & Montequin, 1997; Wingate, Brown, Shrivastav, Davenport, & Sapienza, 2007). Professional singers are a highly visible and specialized cohort within the population of professional voice users and can present an unusual but not insurmountable challenge for physicians and speech-language pathologists charged with their voice care.

Special Considerations When Working With the Pediatric Vocal Performer

Blakeslee, S. D. M. — 2013-03-18T10:00:27-07:00

Providing care to a performer with vocal injury requires an understanding of the physiology of the singing voice and appreciation for the complexities of the life of a performer. However, when the performer who presents to the clinic is a child or teenager, there are additional challenges, and providing appropriate care requires a special understanding of the changes that take place during vocal development across childhood and adolescence. This includes the physical changes that occur in the respiratory, phonatory, and resonatory systems; the effects of these changes on the singing voice especially in regards to puberty; and additional challenges ones faces when working with a performer who may have minimal training and whose instrument is continuing to develop. A thorough evaluation is necessary before recommending voice therapy. Voice therapy with pediatric vocal performers is similar to voice therapy with adults, but may have a larger focus on education regarding normal anatomy and physiology of the vocal mechanism, vocal hygiene, vocal warm-ups, and basic singing technique.

Commercial Music: What Every SLP Should Know

Muckala, J. C. — 2013-03-18T10:00:27-07:00

In this article, I discuss the component of the commercial music field that focuses on the recording music industry and the artists participating in it. There are myriad genres of music that are involved in the business of commercial music. Technological advances are a driving force in what is considered the musical "norm" in the development of any artist. Although speech-language pathologists that treat this population are not required to have all of the answers, in this article I lay the groundwork for discussion of the challenges and strategies on how to assist this patient group best.