Other Neurologic Disorders
Neurologic disorders that affect the larynx do not occur in isolation and, as such, voice impairments will accompany other disordered motor speech functions, including respiration, articulation, resonance, and prosody. Indeed, many of the hallmark diagnostic signs and symptoms are based on clusters of perceptual attributes and deficits of the speech pattern. The range and type of neurologic voice problems are as varied as the underlying dysarthrias. Some of the neurologic diseases that may also effect voice include (but are not limited to): myasthenia gravis, multiple sclerosis, Huntington’s Chorea, Parkinson’s Disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gerig’s Disease). The treatment options for voice therapy differ depending on the effects the individual diseases have on the respiratory, phontory, and resonance systems.