By Dedham Square Circle
Wicked Local Dedham
 How did you end up in this line of work?
I have always felt our human ability to communicate is one of the most important things in terms of creating relationships, community and society. It is the means by which we share ideas, learn our history and advance as a civilization. In particular, the human voice is able to express an almost infinite combination of emotions and meaning that goes beyond words. It is that philosophy that drew me to becoming both a speech-language pathologist and a singing teacher.
What you like most about your work?
With Voicewize, I am able to help people communicate better in so many different ways. In voice and speech therapy, we are able to help people whose ability to communicate has been compromised. In voice training and singing lessons, we are able to help people communicate more of what and how they'd like to.
What makes your business unique?
In terms of singing training, our strong foundation in the anatomy and physiology of the voice as well as the neurobiology of motor learning (skilled movement training) gives us knowledge of the singing voice and how to manipulate it that many other teachers simply don't have. All of my teachers and I have studied more than one teaching method and apply our scientific knowledge to our analysis of the appropriateness of any given approach for the individual student we are working with instead of taking a cookbook "this is always right" approach. Our in-depth knowledge also gives us a competence in working with a number of challenging areas of singing training: young children, power belting and pop/rock singing, vocal rehabilitation and teaching students who have a history of injury.
In terms of our speech-language pathology work. There are two of us who are voice specialized. We are one of the few practices outside of the city where people can get competent specialized care for their voice problems. We also each have our own other areas of competence that make us a well-rounded practice. We have some availability for pediatric speech-language treatment with our clinician and fellow Dedham resident Nancy Williamson. Our clinician Jordan has become an expert in Parkinson's Disease and stuttering.
What's a typical day like for you?
Quite varied, which is one thing I love about it. I may see a few voice therapy patients, then write a blog post and follow that up with several singing lessons. Some other day, you might find me working on refining our curriculum with our singing teacher Rachel Rynick. Every day is different.
What do you like most about Dedham Square?
I love the sense of community among the merchants. We all know and are there to support each other. I love that everything is so local here. I can be walking down the street and run into Frank Galvin or one of the other Knights of Columbus who own our building and have a chat. It's not just some distant PO Box I interact with each month. Then I can hop across the street and Maria at Dedham House of Pizza knows just how I like my salad. I love the way in which the Square is becoming a hub for people to find friendship and make the acquaintance of the shop owners who line the streets. There's a whole lot of first-name basis going on here! It's wonderful!
More about Barbara Wilson Arboleda
Business: Voicewize
Address: 597 High St.
Phone: 781-329-2262
Website: www.voicewize.com
Years in Business: 6.5
Years in the Square: 5 (this September)
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