LSVT therapy takes advantage of the brain’s natural ability to change, adapt and create new neural connections. When a person overlearns the repetitive big movements or loud vocalizations practiced during LSVT treatment, the brain’s neuroplasticity reorganizes the information to create new motor-skill and language memories.
The program requires commitment. A person participating in LSVT treatment will complete research-proven, high-effort exercises and functional tasks for 60 minutes during each session. On average, four sessions are scheduled each week for four consecutive weeks. The intensive targeted exercises are accompanied by daily homework assignments that incorporate similar activities. In order to be effective, patients must commit to attending all sixteen training sessions and doing the prescribed homework.
Learning to speak louder or move bigger helps people with sensory misperceptions recalibrate their efforts to perform in real-world situations.
Individuals who complete the entire program often enjoy a higher quality of life: shuffling becomes walking and unrecognizable speech becomes understandable conversation.
LSVT BIG® to restore movement and independence
A person suffering from Parkinson’s disease or other neurological conditions may feel like they are walking at an average pace when they are actually shuffling. LSVT BIG® teaches people with movement misperceptions to work beyond them.
Practicing BIG movements during intense therapy sessions can help individuals resume or continue daily self-care activities. The larger-than-life movements used during LSVT BIG® treatments help people improve:
- Walking speed
- Stride length
- Twisting and turning motion
- Posture
- Flexibility
- Balance
- Strength
- Endurance
- Arm movement
- Leg movement
The movements encourage people to think big and move bigger as they complete the targeted exercises using maximum effort and the largest range-of-motion possible. LSVT BIG® therapy helps people create new associations between their perceived level of
effort and normal output.
When treatment starts at diagnosis or when symptoms appear, it has the greatest effect. People often can resume or maintain an active lifestyle. However, the benefits of LSVT BIG® are seen no matter where in the disease progression a person begins therapy.
Learning to control and improve their ability to move gives people confidence and allows them to enjoy a better quality of life.
LSVT LOUD® to restore speech and communication
Imagine thinking you are shouting, but your voice is barely a whisper.
This example is just one of the sensory misperceptions and cognitive challenges that conditions like Parkinson’s disease can cause. People, who suffer from Parkinson’s disease, often talk too softly to be heard or understood – even though their minds
tell them they are yelling.
LSVT LOUD® can improve the quality of life for individuals who suffer from neurological disorders that affect speech. The therapy retrains the brain using targeted vocal exercises and immediate feedback to help people speak at normal levels.
LSVT LOUD® is an evidence-based, intensive therapy used to increase respiratory function and develop voice quality while it teaches a person to recalibrate his or her perception of loudness. LSVT LOUD® stimulates and strengthens the voice box muscles
and reorganizes the neural connections in the brain to help individuals apply LOUD training to their daily lives. The targeted vocal workouts improve:
- Air movement in the respiratory system
- Vocal fold closure in voice box
- Vocal volume control
- Speech function
- Articulation
- Understandability
- Facial expression and gestures
- Swallowing
During treatment, people learn to recognize cues that signal their voice volume is too low. Then, they can use the skills practiced during LSVT LOUD® training to increase their volume, improve their vocalization and sustain conversations.
LSVT LOUD® is most effective when treatment starts shortly after diagnosis or as soon as changes in speech and communication are noticed.
