BIG & LOUD

The LSVT BIG and LOUD Program is a highly specialized exercise program designed specifically for patients with Parkinson’s Disease and other movement disorders. The program teaches patients to move BIG and speak LOUD based on the principles of amplitude, sensory calibration, and self-awareness of motor patterns without cognitive overload. Success of the program translates into new motor plans that carry over into everyday activities, thus positively impacting quality of life.

LSVT BIG® is an intensive one-on-one treatment program designed to train people with Parkinson’s to use their body more normally. Treatment is customized to individual needs and goals and has been shown to be effective at all stages and severity of the disease. Participants have shown improvement in motor function including: faster walking with bigger steps, improved balance, and increased trunk rotation.  The BIG part of the program focuses on increased large limb movements making improvements to balance, speed of movement and overall quality of life. The BIG therapy incorporates proper exercise techniques to engage big limb movements with core strengthening. LSVT BIG therapy can be administered by a physical or occupational therapist.

For many people, Parkinson’s Disease affects the quality and volume of their voice. The LVST Loud® portion of our Parkinson’s treatment program helps participants develop vocal tone and volume to make oneself more clearly understood.

LSVT LOUD® is an effective speech treatment developed for people with Parkinson’s to use their voice at a more normal loudness level while speaking at home, work & in the community. Participants have shown improvement including: increased vocal loudness, greater articulation and speech intelligibility.  Speech-language pathologists work with you to strengthen the muscles of the larynx, or voice box. Strengthening these muscles helps enhance the ease of speech, improving intonation, pitch, and volume. While this portion of the program is a big commitment, it’s also one of the most life-changing therapies available for people living with Parkinson’s Disease.

Patients who have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease have options for targeted therapies to help alleviate or slow some of the side effects related to speech and movement, and maintain a better quality of life.  We have therapists in many of our service areas who are trained in Big and Loud.  Contact us today to see if we can help you not only manage, but thrive throughout your neurological changes.

The research proven method for Parkinson’s rehabilitation called LSVT BIG & LOUD® was first developed in 1987 as LSVT LOUD®, named for Mrs. Lee Silverman and was funded by the National Institute for Deafness and other Communication Disorders of the National Institutes of Health. The principles were then applied to limb movement, thus the creation of LSVT BIG®.