Trouble Talking: The Realities of Communication, Language, and Speech Disorders

(Hardback)

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The ability to speak is an important part of human interaction. In this book, a glimpse into the lived realities of 37 adults and 3 children with communication disorders whose humanism is somewhat compromised by their speech, language, or voice disorders is offered in humorous and heartbreaking detail. The patients struggle to communicate is often matched by their listeners, who are struggling to understand. Stories are presented of patients treated in medical settings for such problems as aphasia, dementia, Parkinsons disease (PD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other CNS diseases, apraxia, and head trauma. Other stories look at people who were treated in university clinics for such disorders as cerebral palsy and stuttering. The last few stories look at speech/voice treatment for a transgender woman, the loss of voice in a young man in a state penitentiary, and finally a humorous story of a pilot with left hemiplegia flying the author. Seasoned specialist Daniel Boone does not offer therapy suggestions for either the SLP or the patients family or friends to try. Rather, for anyone with a communication disorder, he strongly recommends that such patients should seek the guidance and therapy of an ASHA-certified speech-language pathologist (SLP). The SLP determines what to do in therapy and practice. The stories illustrate the struggles of those who cannot always make their listeners understand. They may only be able to repeat the same phrase over and over. They may not be able to articulate words clearly enough to be understood. They may give bizarre, confusing answers to everyday questions. Taken together, they also illustrate the difficulties listeners, those who wish to understand, have in trying to make heads or tails of the intended communication. Ultimately, this work provides a sensitive look at the various disorders people have, their attempts to overcome them, the treatments that might be available, and the actions listeners can take in making communication easier and more productive.

Reviews

Daniel R. Boone is bedrock in the profession that deals with tangles of human communication. He was there before digital was ubiquitous and his brilliance remains and continues. Although he is best known for his stellar contributions to disorders and treatment of the human voice, his power and authority are inescapable in our world of drones and robots. Dr. Boone has worked with the brain and the tongue and the lips and helped hundreds of persons in need. This tome is a narrative path strewn with flowers and a few thorns that brings life to the characters who have fallen into the abyss of faulty communication. Boones stories are poignant, resonant, and inspirational. These chronicles merit a very large audience. -- Leonard L. LaPointe Ph.D, Francis Eppes Distinguished Professor, Communication Science and Disorders, Florida State University
Trouble Talking provides a guided journey through the human mind and spirit with a soulful, witty and deeply empathic guide. Dr. Boone writes with so light a touch that his patients and their complex conditions become accessible to all. These extraordinary vignettes remind us of what it feels like to dream, feel, and love. This remarkable little book is a must-read for anyone interested in person-centered health care today. -- Shelley L. Von Berg, professor and clinical instructor, communication sciences and disorders, California State University, Chico
Daniel Boones new book, Trouble Talking: The Realities of Communication, Language, and Speech Disorders, offers a heartfelt and humorous series of patient-based stories brilliantly presented to teach about various communication disorders ranging from aphasia, traumatic brain injury, dysarthria, cerebral palsy, and stuttering, to multiple forms of voice disorders and public speaking challenges. The reader has the opportunity to meet each patient and learn about their disorder as well as the rationale behind typical evaluation and treatment approaches offered by speech-language pathologists (SLPs) working in medical settings. Boone is a gifted story teller and compassionate SLP with an extraordinary and longstanding career spanning from the 1950s to current time. His wealth of professional and clinical experience is reflected by his skillful anticipation of the readers informational needs, questions, and desire for guidance regarding additional resources. Overall, this book offers an engaging series of patient-based stories that will satisfy the readers quest for greater understanding about a wide variety of communication struggles and the holistic approaches to management that SLPs offer. -- Julie Barkmeier-Kraemer, PhD, CCC-SLP, ASHA-F, University of Utah
"InTrouble Talking, [Boone] shares stories of his experiences withpatients with a variety of speech, language, and communication disorders, as well as valuable lessons that he learned throughout his career." * CHOICE *

Author Bio

Daniel R. Boone, PhD, is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at the University of Arizona. He has published 17 books and more than 100 other publications (chapters and articles) on voice and motor speech problems. He is revered nationally and internationally for his teaching and clinical activities as well as for his love and dedication to his students, and he is a household name to all who study speech pathology. Boone, who belongs to the group of founding fathers of American speech pathology, is sought after as a speaker, lecturer, and workshop leader on voice disorders, communication problems in aging, and new perspectives in speech pathology. He is a former president of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and a recipient of both Fellowship and Honors from that organization, as well as many other honors and recognitions. He serves on numerous editorial boards of scholarly journals and contributes regularly to research literature. Boone continues to offer voice therapy workshops for the Parkinson Voice Project in Dallas, Texas, and serves as a voice and motor speech consultant at his studio in Tucson, Arizona.