Answer to Question 1
Puberty normally occurs between 13 and 15 years of age for boys, and 9 and 16 years of age for girls. Puberty is characterized by rapid muscle development, growth in height, weight gain, and development of the thyroid cartilage and thyroarytenoid. A boy's larynx grows considerably larger than the larynx of a girl, resulting in major changes in the boy's voice. Boys pass through periods of mutation during which their voices break down in pitch when talking.
Puberphonia involves maintaining the childhood pitch, even though the boy has completed the development stage of puberty. Thus the boy is still speaking in falsetto, which can be quite disturbing because the boy's body is now developed. Over the summer, and in the absence of peer pressure, the young man usually learns to lower his voice, sometimes with the help of a therapist.
Answer to Question 2
A vocal register refers to the different modes of vibration of the vocal folds for phonation. There are three types of vocal registries:
1. The model register, or modal phonation, is the first type of vocal register. We use the model register in our daily speech. The speech-language therapist works most often with clients who have model register disorders.
2. The glottal fry, or pulse register or Strohbass (straw base), is the second type of vocal register. This register produces a voice that has a crackly quality. If the person's voice is rough and low in pitch, he or she may have a respiratory illness.
3. The falsetto is the third and highest phonation register. The vocal folds lengthen and become very thin, producing vocal sounds that are higher than the normal range. Falsetto requires increased vocal fold tension.
