“The greatest musical instrument given to a human being is the VOICE” – Swami Dayanand Saraswati As rightly said by Swami Dayanand Saraswati, indeed the human voice is the most complex yet beautiful instrument that we have been gifted with. It acts a mirror to our emotional states and well-being. Thus, in many instances we can identify the emotional state that a person is going through based on their voice; be in angry, sad, or terrified. Our voice holds a very important position in our lives which is often taken for granted. The World Voice Day is celebrated worldwide on April 16th to increase global awareness about voice, voice problems and remediation options. Several individuals are dependent on their voice for a source of living. Any individual whose voice is essential and a basic requirement of their job is called as an occupational/professional voice user. These include actors, singers, teachers, drama artists, salespersons, lawyers, priests, call center workers, etc. These professionals are at a great risk of developing a voice disorder due to heavy demands they place on their voice. Further, even a minor deviation in their voice can have a significant impact on them. Sadly, in most cases these individuals are unaware about their voice problems and consider voice change as a part and parcel of their job. They continue to overuse, misuse and abuse their voice for professional and social needs. Often they seek help from voice experts after a very long time since the onset of the problem. A voice disorder is said to exist when the voice quality, loudness or flexibility differs from other individuals of the same age, gender or profession. The causes of voice problem include over use, abuse or misuse of voice. The vocal abusive behaviors include behaviors which when used in excess can lead to vocal fold injury such as excessive talking, throat clearing, screaming, smoking and excessive coughing. Vocal misuse includes abnormal voice usage thereby causing injury to the vocal folds such as speaking loudly, singing at wrong pitch or loudness. Environmental factors include smoke, dehydration, fumes, pollution, allergic pathogens can also trigger voice problems. The other causes include infections, allergies, gastroesophageal reflux, hormonal disorders, cancerous and non- cancerous vocal fold lesions. If you or anyone you know is experiencing any of these symptoms; consult a speech language pathologist/voice therapist at the earliest: • Change in voice quality/hoarseness • Vocal fatigue/tiredness • Dryness in throat • Pain in throat • Sore throat • Weak voice or inability to speak at all • Voice breaks while speaking • Feeling of tightness in throat • Discomfort while speaking • Reduced pitch and loudness • Change in voice quality after prolonged speaking • Excessive effort needed to talk • Frequent desire to clear throat

Voice is a medium of social verbal communication, a feature unique to human beings. It acts as a source of identity for a person. Our voice holds a very important position in our lives and is often taken for granted. The human voice is the most complex yet beautiful instrument and acts a mirror to our emotional states and well-being. The voice of a person reflects his self-confidence and self-esteem as well acts as a means for social acceptance. The quality and pitch of voice share a strong link with the gender of an individual. The term transgender includes individuals who have a gender identity or expression that is different from the sex assigned at birth. This community faces considerable amount of discrimination by the society. They have to tackle several challenges such as body related, psychological (depression, low self-esteem, anxiety), social (lack of equal opportunities, discrimination) and legal (lack of equal rights) and cultural (stigma and beliefs). These issues can have an impact on their quality of life. The mismatch between gender identity and the sex they are born with, leads to a lot of distress. Female to male (FTM) and male to female (MTF) are the two main categories of transgender. In order to bridge the mismatch, these individuals undergo several social and medical transitions. One such area is the need to change their voice to match it to their changed appearance. Transgender people need assistance to make their speech and voice masculine or feminine. Speech/Voice therapy helps to provide assistance for making speech and voice feminine/masculine as well as aspects of nonverbal communication. Voice feminization therapy aims at changing a male sounding voice to a female sounding voice while male masculinization is changing voice from feminine to masculine. Communication norms are established for males and females, which are considered as typical features for a particular gender. These include high pitch voice for female while a low pitch voice for male as well as softer and clear speaking style for females compared to males. Further, differences in body language, hand gestures, distance from speaker, eye contact and smiling differentiate a female from male. Transgender voice therapy also focuses on these aspects of communication. These changes helps to facilitate a better presentation of gender, which in turn boosts the self-esteem, well-being and quality of life. Voice therapy for transgender population is available which would help them to be a part of the society. A speech language pathologist/voice therapist is a certified professional trained for assessing and managing this population. The therapist provides the required treatment without being discriminative or critical about the population. Every year, 16th of April is globally celebrated as ‘World Voice Day’. The motive behind this day is to increase awareness among the public about the importance of voice. The theme for this year is ‘Be kind with your voice’. On this World Voice day, let us all aim to be kind with our own voice as well towards this community. This will help them to find their voice and lead a happier life.

Voice is a medium of social verbal communication, a feature unique to human beings. It acts as a source of identity for a person. Our voice holds a very important position in our lives and is often taken for granted. The human voice is the most complex yet beautiful instrument and acts a mirror to our emotional states and well-being. The voice of a person reflects his self-confidence and self-esteem as well acts as a means for social acceptance. The quality and pitch of voice share a strong link with the gender of an individual. The term transgender includes individuals who have a gender identity or expression that is different from the sex assigned at birth. This community faces considerable amount of discrimination by the society. They have to tackle several challenges such as body related, psychological (depression, low self-esteem, anxiety), social (lack of equal opportunities, discrimination) and legal (lack of equal rights) and cultural (stigma and beliefs). These issues can have an impact on their quality of life. The mismatch between gender identity and the sex they are born with, leads to a lot of distress. Female to male (FTM) and male to female (MTF) are the two main categories of transgender. In order to bridge the mismatch, these individuals undergo several social and medical transitions. One such area is the need to change their voice to match it to their changed appearance. Transgender people need assistance to make their speech and voice masculine or feminine. Speech/Voice therapy helps to provide assistance for making speech and voice feminine/masculine as well as aspects of nonverbal communication. Voice feminization therapy aims at changing a male sounding voice to a female sounding voice while male masculinization is changing voice from feminine to masculine. Communication norms are established for males and females, which are considered as typical features for a particular gender. These include high pitch voice for female while a low pitch voice for male as well as softer and clear speaking style for females compared to males. Further, differences in body language, hand gestures, distance from speaker, eye contact and smiling differentiate a female from male. Transgender voice therapy also focuses on these aspects of communication. These changes helps to facilitate a better presentation of gender, which in turn boosts the self-esteem, well-being and quality of life. Voice therapy for transgender population is available which would help them to be a part of the society. A speech language pathologist/voice therapist is a certified professional trained for assessing and managing this population. The therapist provides the required treatment without being discriminative or critical about the population. Every year, 16th of April is globally celebrated as ‘World Voice Day’. The motive behind this day is to increase awareness among the public about the importance of voice. The theme for this year is ‘Be kind with your voice’. On this World Voice day, let us all aim to be kind with our own voice as well towards this community. This will help them to find their voice and lead a happier life.