For those of us who have jumped into the deep end of the pool, and transitioned or at least started, I had a few sessions with a Professional Speech Pathologist. She taught me a few things that I spent time working on, but I am afraid that I am no where near as diligent as I ought to be.

It is an odd situation but due to my peculiar psychology, I find that if I don't work very hard at something, and fail, I am considerably less shattered than if I work very hard at something and fail. :) There is nothing profound about it so don't dwell on that.

So anyhow, about 3 years ago, I saw this woman named Barbie Scott, I think about 3 times and then ran out of money. One of the things we talked about was making our nasal area vibrate rather than our chest when we are speaking. Another thing we talked about was thinking about "singing" our sentences. I have also slowly added many more descriptive words to my language, sometimes to the point that I sound silly even to me.

One thing the silly exageration in descriptive language does is amuse others. It is more difficult for men to call me a fagot when they are laughing.

So, imagine my surprise when I once again called her last week to make an appointment to do some more work on my voice. She was very astonished and said it was obvious that I had been working very hard on my voice.

Well, actually I hadn't but I had tried to work on my habits a little at a time all those three years. That is how we do it; a little at a time. :)

One thing I have done a fair amount is to stand in front of the mirror and practice different facial expressions. I have practiced NOT furrowing my brows enough that I no longer do it at all and in fact the surgeon said that he no longer saw a need to do the surgery that pushes your forehead back.

One expression I have down pat is to make my eyes sparkle. Yes, they really do! :) It is part of the most dazzling smile in my inventory. I can get all but the most dour person to smile at 10 paces. If they smile, then that makes it easier for me to feel good.

Well, different things work for different people.

Actually, it would be best to not transition at all. But if you must then be the very best actress you can! Break a leg.

Many Blessings

Gwen Brown