It’s pretty well-known that Multiple Sclerosis (MS) can affect mobility, but it can also, often, affect your speech. I used to enjoy public speaking/teaching. I have often read outloud to groups, children, family. Not any more.
I have been noticing over the last couple of years or so that my ability to speak isn’t that great. This seems, in part, to have to do with the control of the muscles in my mouth & jaw (or lack thereof). This is the result of the MS itself and muscle & nerve damage from an MS related staph infection (long story). The rest stems from my cognitive ability to actually turn what I want to say into a coherent sentence.
Now, I am in no way, shape, or form an expert on speech issues in MS. In fact, I would say that for the most part I have been avoiding even looking into it because I didn’t want to admit to myself that this was becoming an issue. So when reading this post, just keep in mind that I am just sharing what I have been noticing in MYSELF, and how it feels to me because I can no longer avoid the fact that I do NOT speak smoothly any longer.
It’s becoming really frustrating, and I am not sure what to do or what I even can do, but it’s making me want to talk less and less, which is probably not a great solution to this problem. I am guessing the whole “if you don’t use it you lose it” thing applies here.
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