Parkinson’s Poetry

Let us introduce you to HAL…

An interactive, voice sensitive app, named after Hal Sirowitz — Parkinson’s patient and popular American poet.  HAL visually measures your vocal strength as you use it.  Because poetry is a rich, augmented language, the use of poetry can encourage people to utilize a wide range of vocalizations, breathing techniques, and promote the use of compelling vowel and consonant pairings.  People with Parkinson’s disease who spend thirty minutes a day doing poetry-karaoke with this user-friendly, cutting-edge tool will have dramatic improvement with their vocalization and speech.   Stream film on ReelAbilities Stream.

Why poetry?  The very nature of poetry is to inspire, and Hal’s poems – witty, insightful, moving – will motivate patients to return again and again to HAL as they discover a collection of over fifty captivating poems.  Spending time with HAL allows participants to emotionally connect to a vital vocal exercise, as well as enjoy the solace of Hal Sirowitz’s humorous investigation of life in general and life with Parkinson’s disease.

Hal began as a New York City slam poet performing in downtown clubs which led to an MTV appearances and five accomplished books of poetry.  His work is accessible, illuminating, and surprisingly both wry and deeply felt.  What happens when a performance poet becomes challenged by the increasing loss of an essential tool, his functioning voice?  Despite living with Parkinson’s disease for over twenty years, Hal admirably continues to meet the challenges of Parkinson’s with vibrancy and creative tenacity.  He and his partner, the talented writer, Minter Krotzer, have become advocates for people and families struggling with Parkinson’s disease.

Read Hal Sirowitz’s poems / Stories by Minter Krotzer and Hal Sirowitz / Walking the Line – An Anthology of Parkinson’s Writing

Living with Parkinson’s Disease for so long…

“Having Parkinson’s Disease is like skating on thin ice. You worry so much about falling that when you do fall, it’s like a sigh of relief – you’ve gotten it over with. It’s like a game – now you estimate how long until your next fall. One physical therapist says if you break your fall by not hitting the floor by holding on to a wall, you have to count it as if the wall was not there. Therefore, it’s considered another fall.

Parkinson’s is a very individualistic disease. It’s different for every patient. At this time there’s no cure for it. You can’t make it go away. You can, by nutrition and exercise, lower the severity of symptoms. My neurologist said if some drug company can merchandise the extra oxygen that I get from exercising, I could cut down on the amount of medicine I take.  The symptoms are hard to define. When I was first diagnosed with Parkinson’s, my doctor could only guess it was there. Now doctors can give you definite proof. I feel like I’m a veteran of the Parkinson’s War.

“Some people let their illness define their life. I planned to define the illness.” — HAL SIROWITZ

HAL app (Beta version)

Parkinson’s disease is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. Over 6.2 million people suffer from it, and more than 50,000 Americans are diagnosed every year. There is no cure, but treatment can improve their lives. Often people with Parkinson’s disease lose their verbal skills, however their voice can be strengthened through daily vocal exercises. 

The HAL app is an excellent therapeutic tool for people with Parkinson’s disease.  Our project incorporates Hal’s poems into voice reactive app called HAL. People with Parkinson’s disease who spend 30 minutes a day reciting his poems with the interactive tool will have dramatic improvement with their vocalization and speech. 

Vocal Exercises

“The disease requires intense mental activity. When I walk down the street I have to keep thinking of games I can play in my head, like how many steps it will take me to reach the corner. It’s exhausting but also satisfying when rhythm comes back. I have to do speech exercises every day to make sure my voice doesn’t falter. The whole body gets involved in this fight for your sanity.

The best location for doing voice exercises is in front of a mirror. That way you can monitor your facial muscles. If your excited face is similar to your scared face, then you should practice more. The faces should be aligned to the emotions you are portraying. Therefore, you are making cracks in the Parkinson’s face. Many times I’m approached by friends who want to know what I’m mad about. I tell them I’m not mad, and they look at me as if I’m crazy. It’s easy to hide behind a face, but the purpose of these exercises is to bring them out and improve your voice.

Parkinson’s is a very slow disease — slowly degrading and slows you down. You don’t wake up one morning and find that your skill level is zero at butting a shirt. You notice that it takes a little longer to button it.

One of the purposes of the HAL app is to show how you can use the slowness to your advantage. People with Parkinson’s are the best to test the HAL app and give us feedback.”