A combination of training in deep muscle relaxation, instruction in phonation in controlled vowel contexts, and gradual reintroduction of a normal voice quality restored normal voice quality after five sessions to a 40-year-old female with hoarseness of sudden onset and of suspected psychogenic origin. (Author/KW)

Five cases of adolescents with functional aphonia (lack of speech despite normally appearing vocal chords) are presented. Therapeutic management is described which followed the symptomatic voice therapy approach. A consistent theme for four of the adolescents was stressful family environment, academic failure, and inadequate peer support.…

Case studies are presented of four children, age four to six, with severe phonological disorders, demonstrating three generations of family members with speech/language problems. An autosomal dominant mode, a multifactorial-polygenic model, and a sex-specific threshold model for expression are discussed. (Author/JDD)