As I considered my reaction to self-isolation in response to the now officially proclaimed pandemic of Covid-19, I considered this health scare may forever change the way people work. This phenomenon and the increased relevance of remote working is the hot topic of the moment.
Some people are reticent to adopt new strategies for communicating with others. I have found it to be an undeniably necessary change – my family live in another country with a time difference of 5 hours, so email and messenger have proved to be the most effective means of staying in touch. My children live 1.5 hours away and it is no exaggeration to say that if I want to connect with them, it must be through digital communication and social media. Distance is not the only motivator for the use of digital communication – somewhat embarrassing to confess, my husband often chooses to communicate with me via email, even though I am sitting in the same room!
Most members of the workforce are not at liberty to change the way they work (health and social care workers, diagnosticians, people who move goods, many small retailers, etc.). I’m one of the fortunate ones who can, and I already use technology to connect with others and share information.
One might think that a therapist working on a physical issue would not be able to work remotely, but I’ve been doing it for a while, now. I have experimented with providing voice therapy via Skype and it seems to work rather well. This combination of video and audio enables me to see and listen to someone for perceptual assessment of voice and it allows me to demonstrate and discuss ways to transform the voice sound signal.
Using Skype allows my sessions to be more affordable. Clients do not need to travel to see me in London or Buckinghamshire, the cost in time and expense of which is considerable. It allows me to offer evening sessions, which also is beneficial to people who work, as they needn’t take time off to attend a clinic. Lastly, I don’t have to pay for room rental. As such, I can pass the savings on to my clients in the form of a 25% reduction of my fee.
There are drawbacks, however. My style of teaching can be rather tactile, so obviously, I have to alter how I explain concepts and how I demonstrate. As stated by Devin Coldewey in How to Work During a Pandemic (https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/01/how-to-work-during-a-pandemic/). “When you’re forced to fall back from your strengths, you necessarily encounter your own weaknesses.” I realise I rely heavily on face-to-face teaching strategies, so I am now considering how I might adapt my instruction to better suit remote teaching, such as use of pictorial illustrations to enhance understanding of vocal concepts.
The point is this: fear of contracting or transferring Coronavirus need not stop you from developing you voice. By having voice therapy sessions via Skype, you are able to continue therapy whilst reducing your exposure to the virus.