SPEAK OUT!

Many of you will recall Tory Candea who spoke to our group about speech therapy and the different programs that Georgia Southern provides at no cost to us. 

Well they have now established a relationship with Encompass Rehabilitation Hospital in Bluffton.  They are offering an in person SPEAKOUT! program that will meet on Mondays at 2 p.m. 

The address is 107 Seagrass Station RD Bluffton SC.  You can learn more about this program by contacting Brittany Patnaude at 912.344.2735.

Below are some comments from Doug who has attended some of our meetings:

SPEAK OUT!’s program runs for 12 weeks, includes one-on-one speech therapy and also group therapy.  There are many things about it that would be great for our PD group members.  You can do your 45 minute training with Zoom from your house and it is FREE!  I have done group (LOUD CROWD) both by Zoom and in-person.  The in-person meetings gives you the interaction and socialization we PD patients need.  The RiteCare Center has partnered with Encompass Rehab. Hospital to do their LOUD CROWD groups on the next six Mondays in Bluffton.  There is no charge for attending and this give Parkinson’s patients the opportunity to see what they do.  For me, this program is great for two reasons:  I didn’t know I was talking softly and this helps strengthens my throat muscles.  Secondly, they work with you to help your “swallowing” and “breathing”.  It has been a life changer for me.

By the way, our next meeting is a week from this Wednesday.  We will have a speaker that volunteers at Memory Matters and who was a care partner for her husband with PD.  More info to follow.

Kind regards,

Rick