Adolescent male-to-female transgender voice and communication therapy

Current research to describe and evaluate effectiveness of voice and communication therapy for male-to-female transgender people is limited to adults. This paper provides rationale, procedures, and outcomes from voice and communication therapy for a male-to-female transgender adolescent 15 years of age. Treatment addressed vocal hygiene, breath support, fundamental frequency, intonation, resonance and vocal quality, and rate. Positive acoustic, perceptual, and client self-report outcomes confirm treatment effectiveness for this adolescent. Learning outcomes: The reader will be able to recognize common aspects of transgender voice and communication therapy provided by a speech-language pathologist. The reader will also be able to explain the effectiveness of therapy provided to an adolescent speaker. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.