Evaluation of the effectiveness of voice therapy with a male-to-female transsexual subject

Abstract

Tuomi, S. K. (1993). Evaluation of the effectiveness of voice therapy with a male-to-female transsexual subject. Scand J Log Phon, 18: 105-109.The benefits of voice therapy with a 44-year-old male-to-female transsexual subject were investigated. Voice therapy was aimed at increasing the subject's fundamental trequcncy to approximatc that of a female's. Spectrographic analysis revealed that the subject's average fundamental frequency increased from 100.7 Hz to 135.4 Hz.Perceptual analysis of the subject's voice, by a group of raters, indicated that after thcrapy, her' voice sounded less masculine and more feminine than before therapy. The results and their implications are discussed, particularly in light of the structural constraints of the male larynx on the success of voice therapy.

Clinical Aspects of Transgender Speech Feminization and Masculinization

“…Early clinical research reported single subject case studies (Bralley, Bull, Gore, & Edgerton, 1978;Hooper, 1985;Kalra, 1977;Kaye, Bortz, & Toumi, 1993;Mount & Salmon, 1988;Yardley, 1976); more recently small group studies have reported outcomes of speech therapy (Byrne et al, 2003;Dacakis, 2000;Neumann et al, 2002b;Soderpalm et al, 2004) and pitch-elevating surgery (Brown, Perry, Cheesman, & Pring, 2000;de Jong, 2003;Gross, 1999;Kunachak, Prakunhungsit, & Sujjalak, 2000;Neumann et al, 2002b;Wagner, Fugain, Monneron-Girard, Cordier, & Chabolle, 2003;Yang et al, 2002). However, further research is needed to evaluate specific techniques and protocols.…”

“…Thoroughly assessing the client's speech gives a baseline against which to measure change and provides information about which changes would be most useful (Andrews & Schmidt, 1997;Kaye et al, 1993;King et al, 1999). While voice parameters such as fundamental frequency and speaking frequency range can be measured objectively, many speech characteristics associated with gender, such as melody and vocal timbre, cannot be objectively quantified.…”

“…Consumer education materials have been developed as part of the Trans Care Project to help promote consistent and accurate information about transgender speech change and treatment options (Davies & Goldberg, 2006). In all cases, care should be taken to ensure that clients understand potential benefits and risks relating to both non-surgical and surgical voice change, and recommendations to prevent vocal fatigue or voice disorder (Dacakis, 2000(Dacakis, , 2002Hooper, 1985;Kaye et al, 1993;Kunachak et al, 2000;Oates & Dacakis, 1997, 1983Thomas, 2003;Yang et al, 2002).…”

Breathiness as a Feminine Voice Characteristic: A Perceptual Approach

“…[2][3][4] Quite understandably then, raising pitch level is one of the primary goals of the voice training in male-to-female transsexuals. [5][6][7][8] Pitch level is not the only characteristic, however, that distinguishes a female from a male voice. Other vocal aspects that have been found to be different in males and females include pitch range and intonation, vocal intensity, resonance, and also vocal quality.…”

Endoscopic and Stroboscopic Presentation of the Larynx in Male-to-Female Transsexual Persons

“…1, 2012 are clear that increasing F 0 alone is generally not sufficient to result in a passing female voice. 10,39,41 However, increasing F 0 is part of the adjustment that seems necessary for many, and a gender-ambiguous F 0 of 150-160 Hz is often targeted. 14,38 In the current investigation, the MFT participants who were consistently perceived as female had a mean F 0 well above the gender-ambiguous range in both the vowel and Rainbow Passage productions.…”