Lakeland Rehabilitation Services, Niles is now offering Lee Silverman Voice Treatments LOUD treatment for individuals with Parkinson’s disease and some other neurological conditions.

Developed in 1987, this research-based speech therapy approach has been used to treat more than 30,000 patients with motor speech disorders. The specialized treatment uses loudness training to bring the voice to an improved, healthy vocal loudness with no strain.

At Lakeland, speech therapists work with patients in 16 sessions over a four-week period (four individual 60-minute sessions per week) to improve articulation, intonation, vocal loudness, voice quality.

“LSVT treatment has quickly become the ‘gold standard’ of rehabilitation for those with Parkinson’s disease,” said Scott Nolte, director of rehabilitation services. “With LSVT certified physical therapists already serving patients in the Niles area, we are excited to offer additional treatment options for speech therapy, providing patients with a broad spectrum of rehabilitation treatment close to home.”

Abbie Davis, ST, a speech therapist with Lakeland Rehabilitation Services at the Niles-Buchanan YMCA, recently became one of only 110 speech therapists in Michigan to become LSVT LOUD certified. A member of the Lakeland Rehabilitation Services team since 2015, Davis earned a bachelor’s degree in communication sciences and disorders from Ohio University and a master’s degree in speech language pathology from the University of Cincinnati.

She is also a member of the American Speech Language Hearing Association and certified in Vital-Stim a technique that uses electrical stimulation to assist in strengthening muscles used in swallowing.

In addition to Lakeland Rehabilitation Services, Niles, LSVT LOUD is also offered at Lakeland Rehabilitation Services in Coloma and at the Lakeland Health Park in St. Joseph. For more information on the program, visit www.lakelandhealth.org/LSVT