Kate's Voice

In September,  I was honored to coach a father/daughter team at TEDx OrangeCoast.  The talk was about their experience with autism.  You will be amazed by their story. The once-silent Leya is now blooming, and has become a vibrant, passionate speaker on behalf of children who are without communication.

The message is one that needs to be heard for as Eyal states, “We are in the midst of a public health crisis.” It is affecting tens of millions of children all over the world.  Leya confirms clearly, that if things keep going as they are today, by 2024, 1 in every 3 families will have a child on the autism spectrum.  However, this video shows that those statistics do not have to be true.  Eyal gives a solid argument for why autism is on the rise, and Leya is living proof of the success of a program that works to counteract the effects of autism.

Right now, they are trying to get 50k online viewers of their talk with the hope that it will qualify to become a featured clip on TED.com,  and thus be exposed to hundreds of thousands of people who need to hear this message, the message that autism is treatable.  Please help  promote the clip by raising your voice.  You can do this by viewing, liking, commenting and forwarding this link to interested parties and people in the community.  The clip is being promoted in three different locations.  Here is where you can find it (besides below:)

1. TED.com, Autism, A Journey of Hope
This is the main TED site. They have a form there for recommending the clip to become a featured clip. If you like the message  and you  think that what they are doing is important,  please fill in that form.

2. Then there is the YouTube version, as you see it below.  It is important for them to have likes and if you could also leave comments, in particularl they are interested in an honest discussion about the idea that autism is treatable. And of course if you like it, please embed it on your facebook page:

3. Last, there is the Mendability page; this is the company that Eyal has formed to give people access to a program to treat autism in the same way that he and his wife were able to help Leya.   The treatment is clinically proven and very affordable.  You can refer people that you think might need the therapy or visit the site if you’d like to learn more about the process.  Here is the link to the video on that site: TEDx – Autism: A Journey Of Hope

Dressing up in a costume on Halloween is great fun!  Sometimes, a costume requires a vocal disguise as well.  There are three basic ways that most people try to disguise their voice.  They lower their voice or raise the pitch of their voice, or try an accent.

I recommend another method which is far more effective.  For this technique, you have to change your mind.  Here’s what I recommend:

1. Know your intention…what you want to sound like, a particular attitude you want to convey, or an emotion. Study your character and imagine what it feels like to be them.

2. Align that with your content, which is what you want to say.  Perhaps your character has some signature phrases that he/she uses.  Learn them.  You actually don’t need to say much.  You can give an impression of your character with only a word or two.

4.  Speak, keeping these two things in mind. It’s even better when you can hear your character speak in your mind as you speak out loud. This approach is an oversimplification of the Stanislavsky method of acting.

Finally, make sure that you keep your vocal health in mind when you disguise your voice.  Never speak too low or too high.  Rest your voice if you feel it getting tired.  And remember that too much candy just isn’t good for you!

For some great ideas on Halloween costumes that may also give you some fodder for vocal disguises, please click here.