Resonance refers to how airflow passes through nasal and oral cavities during speech, shaping its passage through them and shaping it for clear and understandable speech production. Proper resonance can ensure clear and understandable communication.
Resonance disorders may result from structural (cleft palate, enlarged adenoids) or functional causes (neurological). Articulation errors due to mislearning can also contribute to these disorders.
Identifying the Causes
Resonance therapy speech involves training the voice to produce vibrations easily in oral and nasal passages, improving its quality by making vibrations sound less nasal, quiet, stuffy or blocked. Resonance therapy speech may be especially beneficial to those suffering from resonance disorders such as Velopharyngeal Dysfunction (VPD), or those who have undergone surgeries such as Cleft Lip or Palate reconstructions.
Breath control and relaxation are two central principles of resonance. Breathing powers vibrations that produce speech sounds; relaxation reduces tension which further diminishes these vibrations.
Some individuals have difficulty with these fundamentals, which can result in problems in their voices such as resonance disorders, articulation errors and stuttering.
Velopharyngeal incompetence or VPD is one of the primary causes of resonance disorders. This neurological issue occurs when your soft palate does not close completely when speaking; this could be due to an opening in your anatomy such as cleft palate or abnormal movement of soft palate during vocalization; it could even occur due to changes in how adults learn how to make sounds.
Articulation errors can result in your speech having a nasal sound and can co-occur with VPD and hypernasality, often misdiagnosed as VPD by clinicians and often seen in individuals with cleft lip and palate conditions – see ASHA’s Practice Portal page on Speech Disorders Associated With Cleft Lip and Palate for more information.
Resonance therapy can help correct articulation errors and balance the sound of your voice, but it’s essential to identify whether they’re due to structural or functional causes – different etiologies require different treatment plans and may necessitate referral to a craniofacial or cleft palate team for evaluation. Differential diagnosis can often be challenging when dealing with individuals from dialect backgrounds who speak a combination of their native languages which influences perceptual judgments of nasality.
Creating a Personalized Treatment Plan
Resonance therapy aims to optimize how airflow flows through oral and nasal passages during speech, aiding individuals with resonance disorders that make their voice too nasal or muffled, decreasing intelligibility and clarity of speech. A speech pathologist will work directly with you on setting goals and developing adaptive strategies in one-to-one settings to reach your communication goals.
Resonation therapy aims to improve your voice quality with exercises, breath control, and vocal warm-ups that strengthen the resonators in your mouth and throat. Furthermore, this therapy addresses any articulation issues which might be contributing to symptoms, such as weak consonant sounds or abnormal articulation patterns that could be impacting on vocal quality.
Some types of resonance disorder can be caused by structural defects in the mouth, nose and throat – such as cleft palates, enlarged adenoids and neurological conditions that alter how the velopharyngeal port moves when producing speech sounds. These conditions are known as Velopharyngeal Dysfunction or VPD and come in three varieties – incompetence (neurological conditions), insufficiency (structural problems like cleft palate) and mislearning when an otherwise normal functioning valve is misused incorrectly used.
Resonant voice therapy will focus on increasing self-awareness of your vocal and speaking habits by engaging in exercises such as lip and tongue trills, humming and other simple vocalizations. This will enable you to better identify and use the resonators within your resonators for an overall more relaxed and clear sound.
Your SLP will teach you various adaptive strategies designed to increase vocal health. These may include breath control techniques for creating stronger and more resonant sounds; warm-up and relaxation exercises designed to optimize voice function; as well as strengthening techniques aimed at producing stronger sounds overall.
Implementing Breathing Techniques
Step two of treating voice disorders involves practicing breathing and relaxation techniques that will strengthen vocal muscles, reduce tension, and increase overall vocal and speech quality. Your speech and language pathologist will assist in teaching these skills to you so you can better recognize and optimize your voice for whatever sounds you wish to produce – for instance humming exercises will allow you to feel vibrations of vocal resonators so they can be better controlled when used for specific sound production.
Increased self-awareness is central to long-term progress in resonant voice therapy. Your speech and language pathologist will teach you to monitor your vocal and speaking abilities, as well as providing tools and strategies to identify any underlying issues contributing to poor resonance. They may also devise adaptive strategies designed to enhance vocal and speech function – particularly improving the balance between oral and nasal sound energy for each vowel and voiced consonant sound.
Resonance disorders may cause nasal, congested voices, mumbling or weak consonant sounds that can be due to any number of factors including cleft palate, enlarged adenoids, neurological conditions or improper speech production patterns. Resonant voice therapy aims to restore an appropriate balance of oral and nasal sound energy for each sound in a coherent fashion.
Resonance disorders have several treatment options. One such is speech therapy. For individuals suffering from structural causes such as cleft palate or conditions affecting the velopharyngeal valve, speech therapy could provide enough of a solution.
Speech therapy may not be sufficient in treating neurological conditions or stress; therefore, surgery may be necessary as an option for such individuals.
Breathing helps slow your heart rate by stimulating parasympathetic activity and decreasing sympathetic fight-or-flight dominance. Total Brain’s Resonant Breathing exercise uses audio and visual cues to guide users in engaging in breathing meditation for relaxation and optimal wellbeing. Regular practice has been linked with reduced heart rate variability, increased emotional resilience, better sleep quality and focus, decreased risk of chronic diseases as well as better emotional resilience.
Monitoring Your Progress
Resonant voice therapy employs various exercises designed to increase vocal resonance and promote overall vocal health, such as humming, lip and tongue trills, and phonation using different throat configurations. Resonant voice therapy also incorporates breathing techniques like deep diaphragmatic breath support which help with both production of resonance voice production as well as overall health of vocal cords. SLPs monitor and modify treatment plans depending on each individual’s results throughout this process.
SLPs also assist individuals to become aware of their unique vocal production and quality, helping them identify and optimize their own vocal production in order to take control of their resonant voice and minimize its adverse effects in future. By helping individuals gain awareness, SLPs help individuals develop strategies to maintain this awareness even after therapy has concluded, thus decreasing negative impacts associated with resonance disorders in future.
Speech therapy can be highly successful at increasing resonance for individuals of all ages and backgrounds, though it should be noted that its focus should only include behavioral and articulation issues; structural problems, such as velopharyngeal closure that require surgery cannot be resolved through therapy alone.
Connect with us now and schedule a complimentary introductory call so we can show how resonant voice therapy could benefit both you and your child! We look forward to helping you communicate at their highest potential!