Persistent dysphonia in two performers affecting the singing and projected speaking voice: a report on a collaborative approach to management

Abstract

The projected speaking voice and the singing voice are highly sensitive to external and internal influences, and teachers of spoken voice and singing are in a unique position to identify subtle and more serious vocal difficulties in their students. Persistent anomalies may herald early onset of changes in vocal fold structure, neurophysiological control, or emotional stability. Two cases are presented to illustrate the benefits of a collaborative approach to diagnosis and management. The first, a 21-year-old male drama and singing student with an abnormally high speaking voice and falsetto singing voice was found to have a psychogenic dysphonia referred to as " puberphonia " or " mutational falsetto ". The second, a 34-year-old female alto with strained phonation and perceived stutter of the vocal folds was diagnosed with " adductor spasmodic dysphonia " or " focal laryngeal dystonia " of neurological origin.

• Dysphonia
• Psychogenic Dysphonia
• Mutational Falsetto
• Puberphonia
• Adductor Spasmodic Dysphonia
• Laryngeal Dystonia
• Collaborative Approach