Speech guidance will depend on the type of surgery the student has had, as detailed below.
The length of time required to finish a meal (30-40 minutes, over 1 hour, or 2 hours) indicates whether there is narrowing of the hypopharynx or esophagus and whether the swallowing function works well.
4. Types of Postlaryngectomy Speech
The two types of speech formation involve the following:
(1) Speech formation using a mechanical device: artificial larynx with a pipe or electrolarynx (an electromechanical device placed against the neck to produce sound).
(2) Speech formation without using a mechanical device: laryngoplasty (plastic surgery of the larynx), shunt (or tunnel) speech, or the Singer-Blom method. These three methods involve guiding air from the lungs to the esophagus through a shunt or a tube between the trachea and the esophagus.
Esophageal speech (using air in the esophagus to produce a vibration in the hypopharynx).
The different types are shown in Figure 2.
