So, I've finally had my first speech therapy appointment the other day. Although I've been full-time for over a year, it takes a long time to get in.

Basically, it was an assessment this time, but next Monday is my actual lesson.

I went into this small room with five people, a throat specialist, head of the speech therapy, my speech therapist, and two students.

They put me into a Capitan Kirk like chair. While the doc had to apologize to the two students since I was a "rare case." My therapist was quite surprised and seemed happy to work with me.

First they asked me a lot of questions, like why was I there and how long have I been full-time. Even though they said my voice "passed" I told them that I wanted to improve on it since the voice I'm using is my normal voice and to me it sounds male because that is the voice I grew up with -- external validation isn't top on my list at this point.

After the questions they got me to read a paragraph into a microphone while they measured my pitch. My pitch is in the low female range. That day it was 167hz on average (I also had a cold, which has brought it down a notch). My dynamic range, intonation and inflection are great, according to them. The way I speak, in other words, is very feminine.

Next they stuck a camera down my throat and looked at it while they made me say "E" and made more measurements.

After they told me that my voice was a lot better than most people that come to see them, and that I've got a good start and improving my voice (like pitch) and fine tuning different parts shouldn't be much of a problem for me. I just need some direction and feedback that they can give me.

My speech therapists voice is 200hz, which is pretty average. The average male is 125hz. Although, voice is more than pitch. I think my voice "passes" more so on the way I speak (intonation and inflection) rather than pitch... although I know girls (GGs) that speak lower than me.

So, anyway, I'm excited about going to speech therapy. It felt weird to be examined and having a doctor talk about me as if I wasn't in the room and some sort of "subject." The camera was uncomfortable.

Meeting my speech therapist was good; She seems nice and I look forward to working with her.

My natural male voice has a F0=240 which is significantly higher than yours and I still think I sound male because its my old voice (I had a female voice pre-transition, but didn't know it), so I can imagine why you would want to work to raise your pitch Gothique. Rasing bitch 30-40 HZ. usually's not too hard.

I'm surprised that you are mamed on the phone at 160, I am 100%, but as I said, I've got quite a high natural pitch.

Good luck Natalie!  Lots of practice hon.

Quote from: ReginaI LOVE my speech pathologist

Who doesn't love her!!!  Maureen is the best!  The sweetest lady anyone can meet!

tink

Quote from: gothique11 on September 11, 2007, 01:19:57 PM
So, I've finally had my first speech therapy appointment the other day. Although I've been full-time for over a year, it takes a long time to get in...

That's cool. Speech and voice therapy is on my list to do when I can get the money together ($50 per weekly session for 6-12 months). There are several here locally who have long worked with the trans community. I had my first session earlier this year which consisted of near two hours of voice test and discussion. I also had to get a ENT exam to eliminate any physical problems. I wish you luck with yours.

I hope that my voice therapist is good. I see her on Monday. I'm excited. I still get ma'amed on the phone, but I think it's more so the way I speak rather than my pitch where that happens. During the assessment, my therapist and the other people in the room said that my voice was "good" and that I sounded female, but they understand why I want to improve my voice and my VT said I'd even sound better. I think if I spoke more mono-toned, I'd probably sound more towards the male side. Personally, I think I sound really gay but with a feminine twist.

If people really want to hear my voice, again, I think it's horrible but people say it's "passable." There is always my vlogs (the sound on the blogs isn't that great, however, and I think I sound horrible in them, despite feedback other wise).

And Keira, it's 167 with a cold and smoking at the same time, so I generally speak higher. My voice is pretty trashed from this recent cold that I haven't completely gotten over yet. And yes, I'm trying to stop smoking (so no one nag me!). 240 is really high, much higher than the average female. My roommates sister, who sounds like a girl, actually speaks at a lower pitch than me!

But, I've been told by a lot of people, sites, and the VT that pitch is only part of how a person sounds -- it's not the end all be all. You can sound make with a high pitched squeeky voice. And, of course, my pitch goes up and down as a I speak, 167 was what their program figured the average was, but my voice range (normal speaking, no falsetto) hits well over 200. So, it goes up and down. I can speak at 200hz, but then my range is limited and I actually sound more male or when I go up in my pitch it hit a falsetto for a moment then back down. So, the goal is to be able to keep my range and the way I speak, but up my average to around 200hz with out hitting falsetto when my pitch goes up during certain words.