Every day is MS Awareness day in our story.
Enjoying some of my home made chili at home earlier this month,Patti blurts out “this chili is bangin’!” Laughing, I couldn’t help but wonderif ‘gangsta wannabees’ had taken over Patti’s care facility. Certainly none of ushad ever introduced the slang into conventional dinner conversation. Is thisthe new jargon of care facility life in 2012?
More than likely just MS Speech. Not one to write technicalentries our story of MS Speech for MS Awareness Week/Month is best told through trial and error memories we lived and laughed through to get here.
Speech & Voice Multiple Sclerosis October, 2009
"a church moment" March, 2006
... Patti cannot always control speaking volume andthe more she tries the more opposite it can become
“Horton Hears A *&#!” March, 2008
... “The frontal lobes are very important inregulating our behaviour. … People … fail to inhibit their innermost thoughtsand do not modify their comments according to the situation.” Cerebral FunctionUnit, Carer’s Support Group, Salford, UK
"Hello!You little brat!" December, 2008
... In a recent study of MS patients, … 62% reportedspeech and voice impairments
... Cursing and swearing is different thanlanguage, activating the emotional centers in the right side of the brain,rather than the cerebral communication centers on the left.
Thou Shall Inspect What Thy Expect October, 2004
... From the National Multiple Sclerosis Society“Speech disorders are fairly common in MS. Lesions—damaged areas—in differentparts of the brain can cause several types of changes in normal speechpatterns. …Long Pauses … Words are Slurred … Swallowing Problems …”
Regardlessof whether MS Speech is a disorder, an impairment, a symptom or whatever -after 22 years of spouse caregiving if Patti calls my chili bangin’, that’s acompliment in my book!
Caregivingly Yours, Patrick Leer
videos: www.youtube.com/daddyleer
