Finding My Voice

Rating:
Summary: great reading!
Review: Diane Rehm takes a bold step in this book. I salute her for being so honest about so many phases of her life. Even for the person who does not listen to "The Diane Rehm Show" on NPR, this book provides a blessing about the value of life and the importance of positive parenting, setting goals, and being oneself.

Rating:
Summary: Finding My Voice - The Whole Story?
Review: Diane Rehm's book, Finding My Voice, has two aspects - finding her voice, her inner self, expressing who she is and literally, not figuratively, finding her voice. The first part, finding herself, and who she is, is a tale of gradual development and slow realization of herself and what her capabilities are. The second aspect, finding her physical or actual voice, is a different story. She indicates in her book that she has had trouble with her voice for a long time.

Finding my Voice by Diane Rehm is a story of a little known voice affliction called Spasmodic Dysphonia (SD). The condition was first described in 1871 by Traube. In over 125 years, the medical profession has had no cures of the condition - whether by psychiatry, surgery, or botulinum toxin (Botox); speech therapy also has had no cures. Ms. Rehm tells of the development of her spasmodic dysphonia. She brings to the public an awareness of this little known condition. Her journey to obtaining a diagnosis of SD had its uplifting aspect - finally she found out what her voice problem was named. Ms. Rehm was relieved to know what her problem was; the problem now was how to deal with it.

She opted for injections of Botox, or botulinum toxin, a deadly poison. Botox was her option after she failed to find help by psychiatry, psychotherapy, drugs, and speech therapy. Dr. Gerald Berke, Chairman of UCLA Head and Neck Division, reports regarding Botox: "...there are some obvious drawbacks. It requires lifelong visits from 4 to 10 times per year for repeat injections. The injections are not inexpensive. The interval between post injection breathiness, good voice, and the return of symptoms may not be very long in some patients. Hypersensitivity and antibody formation have been shown to produce some long term structural changes in muscle cells." This quote was taken from National Spasmodic Dysphonia Association Newsletter (December, 1999, p.7). (Ms. Rehm is an Honorary Board Member of this organization.)

Diane Rehm is an expert interviewer, intellectually stimulating. I was privileged to be on her radio program approximately four years ago, talking about my book Stop Committing Voice Suicide. This book deals with SD and other serious voice problems and explains that such disorders are due to voice misuse and abuse, and different voice disorders, including SD, by a non-medical, non-invasive, non-risk approach called Direct Voice Rehabilitation.

Ms. Rehm was told by me that Direct Voice Rehabilitation (DVR) is not speech therapy - that it is entirely different and has achieved cures of SD, her voice problem. Ms. Rehm's book, Finding My Voice, doesn't address DVR or cures of SD.

I believe Ms. Rehm developed SD by misusing her voice for many, many years. She notes that she had voice problems for almost all of the years she has been in broadcasting. Her view is that Advil began the SD, and that God is sending her a message. My view is that she is not aware of misusing her voice (the pitch and tone focus), and adheres to a voice image that keeps her voice in the lower throat, where all SD patients erroneously focus their voice. She believes SD is a dystonia; I find it a dysphonia. The difference being is that dystonia is neurological (involuntary); a dysphonia is functional misuse and abuse of the voice (voluntary, but unintentional and unknowing).

The concern I have with Diane Rehm's book is that she omits an alternative choice of treatment for those suffering from SD, and other voice problems, for her readers, listeners and viewers.

On my website there are a number of cures reported by patients who once had SD and many other types of voice problems, patients who were diagnosed by leading medical doctors and medical centers. This site also gives information about how DVR works and why it achieves cures.

Morton Cooper, Ph.D., Voice and Speech Pathologist and author of Stop Committing Voice Suicide and Change Your Voice, Change Your Life.

Rating:
Summary: Finding My Voice - The Whole Story?
Review: Diane Rehm's book, Finding My Voice, has two aspects - finding her voice, her inner self, expressing who she is and literally, not figuratively, finding her voice. The first part, finding herself, and who she is, is a tale of gradual development and slow realization of herself and what her capabilities are. The second aspect, finding her physical or actual voice, is a different story. She indicates in her book that she has had trouble with her voice for a long time.

Finding my Voice by Diane Rehm is a story of a little known voice affliction called Spasmodic Dysphonia (SD). The condition was first described in 1871 by Traube. In over 125 years, the medical profession has had no cures of the condition - whether by psychiatry, surgery, or botulinum toxin (Botox); speech therapy also has had no cures. Ms. Rehm tells of the development of her spasmodic dysphonia. She brings to the public an awareness of this little known condition. Her journey to obtaining a diagnosis of SD had its uplifting aspect - finally she found out what her voice problem was named. Ms. Rehm was relieved to know what her problem was; the problem now was how to deal with it.

She opted for injections of Botox, or botulinum toxin, a deadly poison. Botox was her option after she failed to find help by psychiatry, psychotherapy, drugs, and speech therapy. Dr. Gerald Berke, Chairman of UCLA Head and Neck Division, reports regarding Botox: "...there are some obvious drawbacks. It requires lifelong visits from 4 to 10 times per year for repeat injections. The injections are not inexpensive. The interval between post injection breathiness, good voice, and the return of symptoms may not be very long in some patients. Hypersensitivity and antibody formation have been shown to produce some long term structural changes in muscle cells." This quote was taken from National Spasmodic Dysphonia Association Newsletter (December, 1999, p.7). (Ms. Rehm is an Honorary Board Member of this organization.)

Diane Rehm is an expert interviewer, intellectually stimulating. I was privileged to be on her radio program approximately four years ago, talking about my book Stop Committing Voice Suicide. This book deals with SD and other serious voice problems and explains that such disorders are due to voice misuse and abuse, and different voice disorders, including SD, by a non-medical, non-invasive, non-risk approach called Direct Voice Rehabilitation.

Ms. Rehm was told by me that Direct Voice Rehabilitation (DVR) is not speech therapy - that it is entirely different and has achieved cures of SD, her voice problem. Ms. Rehm's book, Finding My Voice, doesn't address DVR or cures of SD.

I believe Ms. Rehm developed SD by misusing her voice for many, many years. She notes that she had voice problems for almost all of the years she has been in broadcasting. Her view is that Advil began the SD, and that God is sending her a message. My view is that she is not aware of misusing her voice (the pitch and tone focus), and adheres to a voice image that keeps her voice in the lower throat, where all SD patients erroneously focus their voice. She believes SD is a dystonia; I find it a dysphonia. The difference being is that dystonia is neurological (involuntary); a dysphonia is functional misuse and abuse of the voice (voluntary, but unintentional and unknowing).

The concern I have with Diane Rehm's book is that she omits an alternative choice of treatment for those suffering from SD, and other voice problems, for her readers, listeners and viewers.

On my website there are a number of cures reported by patients who once had SD and many other types of voice problems, patients who were diagnosed by leading medical doctors and medical centers. This site also gives information about how DVR works and why it achieves cures.

Morton Cooper, Ph.D., Voice and Speech Pathologist and author of Stop Committing Voice Suicide and Change Your Voice, Change Your Life.

Rating:
Summary: Towards Commitment? Some People ought to Be Committed?
Review: Even more incredible and galling than her first "literary masterpiece" is volume two of "My Life for Sale." While I am not near retirement age, I can only hope that I can continue to write, challenge and generally annoy media and ruling class types like Diane Rehm who don't know when to quit. Despite the fact that I am in my mid-50s, I play drums in a rock and rock band and hope to have the manual dexterity to continue. Yet, I hope I have the grace and sense to bow out when it becomes medically necessary. Instead of gracefully bowing off the air, Diane Rehm prefers a regimen of shots to the throat at Johns Hopkins.

"Towards Commitment" sounds like someone who has been married for a long time but is still unsure. I remember listening to a segment of Diane's show in which she interviewed an author of a book on infidelity. On the air, she stated that if she ever caught her husband cheating, she would ...If I was married to her (heaven forbid), and she said something like that about me, I would have divorced her immediately.

"Towards Commitment" sounds like someone still struggling with whether or not they want to be manacled together with another person when there are so many nubile 18 years old about the land.

It is difficult to imagine that anyone could stoop so low as to think that their life is of such enormous interest to anyone else that one would pay good money to read about their trials and tribulations. Selling one's life in the pages of a book means that with everything happening in the world, with all of one's life, having lived through momentous events, that the only subject worthy of literary attention is your sorry life and how your struggling "Toward Commitment."

Maybe the authors ought to be committed and this ridiculous effort committed to the bargain basement.

Rating:
Summary: Compelling, poignant but misleading personal testimonial
Review: From her modest begninnings, NPR talk show host Diane Rehm reveals her poignant--sometimes agonizing--struggle to find her own identity, career, success, and, yes, her VOICE.

Proving that no mountain is too high to climb, including overcoming spasmodic dysphonia--a mysterious speech problem robbing her of her livelihood, namely, her voice. After submitting to psychiatric treatment and dutifully taking various antidepressant and antiaxiety medications, she followed the advise of her physician and submitted to controversial Botox injections, permitting her doctor to inject her vocal folds with the deadly bacterial agent, botulinum toxin.

While the treatment ostensibly worked for Ms. Rehm, namely, she 'recovered' her voice, it fails to yield consistent results with many patients diagnosed with spasmodic dysphonia--or strangled voice. Now a leading spokesperson for the Spasmodic Dysphonia Association, Ms. Rehm regrettably ignores a balanced discussion about other effective treatments, including, the non-toxic, non-invasive process of direct voice rehabilitation.

While it's exemplary that Ms. Rehm adopted the cause of spasmodic dysphonia, readers deserve a more even-handed discussion of other available treatments. Blessed with good fortune, readers shouldn't generalize too far beyond Ms. Rehm's own happy ending.

Rating:
Summary: Finding My Voice--A Real Find For The Reader
Review: I loved this book! Finding My Voice by Diane Rehm is an inspiring and insightful autobiography that women (and men) can relate to. It is a treasure of a book relating Diane's life struggles with a difficult and emotionally distant mother; marriage, divorce, remarriage and parenting; becoming successful and respected in the highly competitive field of broadcasting; and finally facing a health challenge which hits right at the heart of her success, both professionally and emotionally--the loss of her voice. The triumph of Finding My Voice is that it depicts a life journey towards finding one's true self and purpose. It is the journey most of us are taking.

Anyone who has listened to Diane Rehm on NPR will find her written voice as intelligent, compassionate, and thoughtful as the one heard talking with her guests and listeners. Each page let's the reader in on a little more of Ms. Rehm, and by the end of the book you feel like you know her as a friend and would love to go to lunch with her.

Rating:
Summary: Finding My Voice--A Real Find For The Reader
Review: I loved this book! Finding My Voice by Diane Rehm is an inspiring and insightful autobiography that women (and men) can relate to. It is a treasure of a book relating Diane's life struggles with a difficult and emotionally distant mother; marriage, divorce, remarriage and parenting; becoming successful and respected in the highly competitive field of broadcasting; and finally facing a health challenge which hits right at the heart of her success, both professionally and emotionally--the loss of her voice. The triumph of Finding My Voice is that it depicts a life journey towards finding one's true self and purpose. It is the journey most of us are taking.

Anyone who has listened to Diane Rehm on NPR will find her written voice as intelligent, compassionate, and thoughtful as the one heard talking with her guests and listeners. Each page let's the reader in on a little more of Ms. Rehm, and by the end of the book you feel like you know her as a friend and would love to go to lunch with her.

Rating:
Summary: STILL seeking her voice
Review: I positively anticipated the insights that Diane Rehm might have for me regarding the speech disorder, Spasmodic Dysphonia, one I share with her and which frustrates me every day.

The beginning of her life's story is mildly engaging; only "mildly" because her telling of it lacks the insight and perspective necessary to create a truly compelling memoir. I continued reading, hoping that all this set-up may be leading to something enlightening.

As her life progresses on the pages, it becomes less and less intriguing, and I began to wonder when she was going to address Spasmodic Dysphonia (the apparent "hook" of the book, according to the dust jacket). Well, all you get is a skimpy relating of her condition near the end of the book, with a startling lack of examination from the author as to how the events leading up to this climax are related to the disorder itself.

Very disappointing. Little more than celebrity autobiography, and not outstanding in that context, either.

Rating:
Summary: A very moving story you can't put down.
Review: I read this book in about two or three days, and had a hard time putting it down. Diane's writing takes on the familiar warm and friendly tone of voice her listeners have grown to love. In this book she writes openly of her very personal struggle of coping with the stresses of her life. I was very moved at times, sometimes laughing and cheering out loud, my jaw dropped in awe and surprise at others, and my heart sank at some of the crushing blows she's been dealt, both from within and without. A highly recommended book for both fans of the Diane Rehm Show and/or anyone interested in a fascinating human story.

Rating:
Summary: An intelligently written book by an interesting author
Review: I too enjoy the Diane Rehm show, and was delighted to hear that she had written an autobiography. This is one classy woman. The information about her voice disorder was both distressing and fascinating. Very enjoyable read.