The International Association of Laryngectomees

How to start exploring the possibility of using Esophageal speech. Here are some basic elementary things to try before attempting to use ES, in no particular order. Try making any kind of noises with your mouth. Vibrate your lips. Can you puff your cheeks out with air? Can you smack your lips and make a repetitive sound? Try opening your mouth and pump your tongue from the bottom of your mouth to the roof of your mouth. Go slow and then speed up the roof smacking.Can you put your hand up to your mouth and blow air onto your palm? Can you make a kah kah or puh puh noise pushing through your lips. If you can puff out you cheeks all of these sounds can be easily made and repeated. Hold your nostrils closed and pump your tongue up and down with your mouth closed. You will be able to feel changes orally in air pressure and have the basis for experimenting with ES speech. Once you can do these simple things try saying cup with that pressurized air, then try saying cup cake. Keep trying until it becomes understandable to you or a friend. Now go on to the word scotch. Look at yourself in a mirror and try and say scotch. Say it slowly exaggerate the sylables and over enunciate. Watch your facial expressions in that mirror and use your lips, teeth and tongue to form your first intelligible sounds and words. Esophageal speakers do not try to swallow air down to their stomach, that will bring up an uncontollable burp. Take only a half a mouthful of air and try not to let it go more than an inch down your esophagus before you release that air back up and into your mouth where you form that air into sounds and then words.Once you are able to consistently say a word try saying a similar sounding word. Concentrate on consenants at first, vowel sounds are more difficult to master. This is only meant to help you start ES 101. An SLP will be able to help you advance, avoid clunking, stoma blast and build your vocabulary and ability to say more than one word at a time, until eventually you can speak smooth clear sentences. Try it you have nothing to lose. Bob H

Hi Bob,
Got assistance from SLP's and Graduate Students while at Voice Institute at San Mateo, CA from June 24th to 27th 2009, and got some good words to try for Esophageal Speech, and some worked well, in their presence.
Unfortunately, we do not have SLP's at home who can teach/guide for ES
However got some booklets from Vendors, and it would be helpful to learn ES, and spread the detail to Larys and their Caregivers at home.
Noor Ali (Lary of 2001)
Karachi-Pakistan
www.newvoicelary.org