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Swallow and Voice Clinic

  • August 8th, 2024

Swallow and Voice Clinic at the University of Alabama Speech and Hearing Center 

Voice and Upper Airway Services: 

The UA Speech and Hearing Center provides clinical services to help restore and optimize a healthy speaking voice. Our services include assessment, intervention, and education for conditions affecting vocal quality, vocal loudness, vocal endurance, and comfort. 

Commonly Referred Diagnoses and Conditions Include: 

  • Aging voice 
  • Chronic cough, irritable larynx, and paradoxical vocal fold movement 
  • Discomfort or strain when speaking 
  • Hoarseness 
  • Loss of range, power or flexibility 
  • Muscle tension dysphonia 
  • Vocal fold injuries (nodules, polyps, swelling) 
  • Vocal fatigue (voice tiring with use) 
  • Vocal fold atrophy or bowing 

What to expect from your visit(s): 

  • A comprehensive voice evaluation including Videostroboscopy is completed by a licensed and certified speech-language pathologist and assisting student clinician. 
  • A detailed evaluation report will be generated and provided during a separately scheduled post-assessment information session. This review session may be held in person, over the phone or virtually. 
  • Intervention scheduling will occur if a personalized wellness plan is recommended. Intervention plans vary based on each client’s goals and medical diagnosis. A typical intervention plan lasts 4-12 sessions over a period of several months. Sessions are generally once per week for 45-60 minutes each. 

Voice pre-evaluation paperwork

Specialized programs: 

Vocal Health Program 

The Vocal Health program provides and trains a personalized wellness plan consisting of rehabilitative exercises and health education to optimize the spoken voice. Plans may be developed for daily voice users, professional voice users and performance voice users. 

Parkinson Voice Project’s SPEAK OUT!® Therapy and SPEAK OUT!® Group Therapy 

The SPEAK OUT! Therapy Program, developed by Parkinson Voice Project®, is an evidence-based program that helps individuals diagnosed with Parkinson’s and related neurological disorders regain and retain their speech and swallowing. This comprehensive program combines individual speech therapy with education and ongoing group support. The program consists of 8-12 individual speech therapy sessions (2-3 sessions per week for 4 weeks). Once participants complete SPEAK OUT!, they transition to the second phase of the program called SPEAK OUT! group. 

Please visit the following websites for additional information on Voice and Upper Airway Disorders. 

Swallowing Services: 

The UA Speech and Hearing Center provides clinical services to adults with difficulty swallowing. 

Dysphagia, or difficulty swallowing, is a symptom that accompanies a multitude of medical conditions, including neurological injuries such as stroke and acquired brain injury, neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), or head and neck cancer. Difficulties can range from coughing while drinking, choking at mealtimes, unintentional weight loss, increased risk of respiratory infection, difficulty maintaining adequate hydration, and total inability to produce a swallow. 

What to expect from your visit(s): 

  • A comprehensive swallow evaluation including a Flexible Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES) is completed by a licensed and certified speech-language pathologist/Endoscopist and assisting student clinician. 
  • A detailed evaluation report will be generated and provided during a separately scheduled post-assessment information session. This review session may be held in person, over the phone or virtually. 
  • Intervention scheduling will occur if a personalized intervention plan is recommended. Intervention plans vary based on each client’s goals and medical diagnosis. A typical intervention plan lasts 4-12 sessions over a period of several months. Sessions are generally once per week for 45 – 60 minutes each. 

Swallowing pre-evaluation paperwork

Specialized programs 

In addition to traditional rehabilitation approaches, the clinic also offers the following specialized program: 

McNeill Dysphagia Therapy Program (MDTP)
MDTP is a systematic exercise-based approach to swallowing therapy in adults with dysphagia. MDTP uses?swallowing as an exercise?to progressively strengthen and coordinate the swallowing musculature. This program utilizes a structured hierarchical framework and high frequency of repetitions to provide individualized and intensive therapy to adult patients with swallowing difficulties. 

Surface Electromyography (sEMG) Biofeedback with Traditional Evidence-Based Swallow Exercises                                                                                                          SEMG is a noninvasive tool used for swallowing rehabilitation to provide measurement of electrical activity from the muscles involved in swallowing (feedback you can see). It consists of placing surface electrodes on neck over the muscle(s) being analyzed. The muscle activity is captured by the electrodes, processed, and then transmitted to a computer. There is no transmission of electrical current into the body; therefore, it is only used to shape and perfect the execution of the swallow while performing swallow maneuvers such as effortful swallows and Mendelsohn maneuver.  

Please visit the following websites for additional information on swallowing disorders: