Page 41 - Senior Link Magazine Summer 2017- Online Magazine

four times a day, and in a matter of a few weeks, they’re not
falling at all, in the house or in the community, that’s what
makes it all good.”

The program can also focus on speech, finding and improving
quality of voice through speech therapy. The group meets four
days a week at Covenant, working with Waggoner and with
Rebecca Crabtree, speech and language pathologist.

Crabtree says the LOUD program involves working on really
forceful exercises with vocal muscles. Statistics show that 89
percent of people with Parkinson's disease will have problems
with speech that start early in the disease process and that will
progressively diminish their quality of life. she wasn't doing anything right, most of it was wrong,”
Paul said “Especially with her walking, she was always
“Common speech problems include soft voice, mumbled speech, looking down. We take walking for granted.”
monotone speech, and hoarse voice,” Crabtree said. “Medicine
and neurosurgery typically don’t help speech disorders. The Four days a week she worked with Waggoner, and he
most effective way to improve speech is through speech says it’s that work that has helped the Najera family.
therapy.”
“When a spouse comes in and tells me their loved one
More than 20 years of research funded by the NIH has is doing certain things – they’re walking better, they’re
documented that LSVT LOUD improved vocal loudness, safer, they haven’t fallen, it’s a win,” Waggoner said.
improved speech intelligibility, increased facial expression, and
improved confidence. Paul and Maria are finally taking a family vacation that
Maria wasn’t sure they’d be able to take prior to her
Maria’s husband Paul said he could see the impact the BIG work with Waggoner.
program had on her.
“Now she’s very confident that we can make it,” Paul
“When we first came here, I didn’t think that it would help Mary said. “She gets around the house really well, does a lot
that much, because I couldn't see a lot of the things she was doing more work, and is busy busy all the time. She has a lot
wrong, until Johnny got to working with her. Then I could see of energy! And she’s NOT a quitter. I got my wife back.”

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