Cough offset schwa as a means of eliciting initial phonation in functional aphonia: two case reports

The use of the schwa vowel at cough offset is an automatic production that can be easily prolonged and modified as a phonation-producing device without requesting initial voluntary phonation on the part of the patient. It is presented as a clinical method that was successful for the author with two female patients presenting functional aphonia. The technique lends support to the suggestions by Aronson (1969) and Boone (1971) that the symptomatic approach can be successful with the functional aphonic patient. The clinician should be mindful of the fact that in certain cases of functional aphonia an appropriate referral might be needed to deal with emotional aspects after voice is regained.