Vocology

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Vocology is the science and practice of vocal habilitation, or vocal training and therapy. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] Its concerns include the nature of speech and language pathology, the defects of the vocal tract (laryngology), the remediation of speech therapy, and the voice training (voice therapy) and voice pedagogy of song and speech for actors and public speakers.

Contents

In its broadest sense, vocology is the study of voice, but as a professional discipline it has a narrower focus: the science and practice of voice habilitation, which includes evaluation, diagnosis, and intervention.

History

Vocology was invented (simultaneously, but independently) by Ingo Titze, and an otolaryngologist at Washington University in St. Louis, Prof. George Gates. [1] Titze defines vocology as "the science and practice of voice habilitation, with a strong emphasis on habilitation". To habilitate means to “enable”, to “equip for”, to “capacitate”; in other words, to assist in performing whatever function that needs to be performed". He goes on that this "is more than repairing a voice or bringing it back to a former state ... rather, it is the process of strengthening and equipping the voice to meet very specific and special demands". [1]

Requirements and educational programs

It is not yet its own professional degree, thus it only assists the voice medicine team. Usually a person practicing vocology is a voice coach with additional training in the voice medical arts, a prepared voice/singing teacher, or a speech pathologist with additional voice performance training—so they can better treat the professional voice user. The study of vocology is recognized academically by courses and institutes in India, Italy, United States and Chile.

Chile

Colombia

India

Italy

United States

Korea, Republic of

Reflecting the increased recognition of vocology, the Scandinavian Journal of Logopedics & Phoniatrics and Voice merged in 1996 with the new name Logopedics, Phoniatrics, Vocology. [6] Additionally, a new association bearing the name of vocology (Pan-American Vocology Association) has also been started.

See also

Related Research Articles

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Voice therapy consists of techniques and procedures that target vocal parameters, such as vocal fold closure, pitch, volume, and quality. This therapy is provided by speech-language pathologists and is primarily used to aid in the management of voice disorders, or for altering the overall quality of voice, as in the case of transgender voice therapy. Vocal pedagogy is a related field to alter voice for the purpose of singing. Voice therapy may also serve to teach preventive measures such as vocal hygiene and other safe speaking or singing practices.

Ingo R. Titze is a voice scientist and executive director of the National Center for Voice and Speech and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. He also teaches at the Summer Vocology Institute, also housed at the University of Utah. He is a Distinguished Professor at the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Iowa and has written several books relating to the human voice.

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Jan Švec is a Czech voice scientist. He is the inventor of videokymography, a method for high-speed visualization of vocal-fold vibrations, which is being used for advanced diagnosis of voice disorders.

Emil Fröschels was an Austrian speech and voice therapy specialist. As a laryngologist and chief speech therapist, in 1924 he introduced the term logopedics, i.e., speech therapy, into medical usage. He established the International Society of Logopedics and Phoniatrics and was a co-founder, with Karl Cornelius Rothe, of the Vienna School for Speech-Disturbed Children.

Aatto Albanus Sonninen was a Finnish physician and speech and language pathologist known for his work in phoniatrics and logopedics.

Timo Leino founded the Department of Speech Technique in the University of Tampere in 1974. He was the head of department from 1974 to 2001. Leino pioneered speech analysis in Finland. He worked to develop speech education in Finland.

Anne-Maria Laukkanen is a Finnish researcher (1990–) and a permanent full professor (2001–) of speech technique and vocology at the University of Tampere.

Johannes Georg Pahn was a German physician, speech therapist and music educator. He was a co-founder of phoniatrics in Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohamed Nasser Kotby</span> Egyptian academic

Mohamed Nasser Kotby, is an Egyptian Professor Emeritus of Otorhinolarygology and Phoniatrics at Faculty of Medicine, Ain Sham University. He is considered the founder of the Phoniatrics and Logopedics in Egypt and the Middle East. Kotby published many papers in scholarly journals and textbooks. His works investigated different topics e.g. vocology, dysarthria, dysphasia and child language. He is a member of many professional societies, national, regional and international. He was elected as president of Collegium Medicorum Theatri [CoMeT], Pan African Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies [PAFOS], Collegium Oto-Rhino-Laryngologicum Amicitiae Sacrum [CORLAS], International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics (IALP), International Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (IFOS). He is now President of the Egyptian Society of Phoniatrics and Logopedics (ESPL). In addition to his scientific work, Kotby is a certified guide in Egyptology. He wrote a series of books exploring history of Egypt.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Titze IR. (1996). What is vocology? Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology, 21:5-6. doi : 10.3109/14015439609099196
  2. Titze IR (Jan 2008). "The human instrument". Sci. Am. 298 (1): 94–101. Bibcode:2008SciAm.298a..94T. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0108-94. PMID   18225701.
  3. Carroll LM (Oct 2000). "Application of singing techniques for the treatment of dysphonia". Otolaryngologic Clinics of North America. 33 (5): 1003–16. doi:10.1016/S0030-6665(05)70260-7. PMID   10984766.
  4. van Mersbergen M, Ostrem J, Titze IR (Jun 2001). "Preparation of the speech-language pathologist specializing in voice: an educational survey". J Voice. 15 (2): 237–50. doi:10.1016/S0892-1997(01)00024-8. PMID   11411477.
  5. Titze, Ingo R. (1994). Principles of voice production. Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice Hall. ISBN   0-13-717893-X.
  6. Kjær BE. (1996). Welcome to a New Journal. Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology, 21: 3 doi : 10.3109/14015439609099194

Further reading