Had my first speech therapist appointment. I am his first trans client and we don’t share a primary language, but it seemed we will be able to achieve results anyway. Now to check how my workplace-related health insurance scheme will handle that, it will be interesting. 🙂

What was done? Discussion on goals and on the anatomy of speech and the larynx. My main issue is how I want to be able not to fall into a more manly voice when I need to project to an auditorium, or over a negotiation table, or in a noisy teleconference. So one goal is to make my head voice relatively stronger, so that I can adapt that as my go-to tool in those circumstances instead of my chest voice. By practicing that as a tool I may be able to habitualize its use. In addition, aside from keeping voice more melodious/modulated, shifting between mouth/nose voice to femininize more.

The first of these seems like it will rely on better relaxation of diaphragm (and larynx) upon exhalation, reducing wheeze upon intake of breath, so that’s the first set of exercises – recognize role of diaphragm in the state of shift between exhaling and inhaling. This synergizes with a general benefit of getting to know what my body feels like as it does its day to day operations, of coming to breathe slightly less laboredly, and in strengthening support musculature.

Exercises suggested to me:

1) Lie down, place item on belly, observe/sense diaphragm in motion
2) Raise arms from sides up/out, palms up, as I breathe in. Rotate palms and exhale lowering arms, producing “f” or “v” sound, at end just relax/sigh last of air and let arms fall. Sense state of relaxation and note time taken until inhalation reoccur.
3) At night before sleeping, sense/observe breathing process of in, pause, out, pause, trying to work out relative time of pauses.

Next time we will add a poem to 2); I was asked to bring an English one, will bring “The Raven”: [ https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48860/the-raven ].

Synergistically, now heading to choir practice, will think of these matters then.