WHAT IS WORLD VOICE DAY?
World Voice Day is an annual awareness event dedicated to recognizing the importance of the human voice and raising awareness about various voice-related issues. It serves as an opportunity to acknowledge the significance of vocal health, expression, and communication. The theme for 2024 is RESONATE. EDUCATE. CELEBRATE! Awareness is a critical factor influencing early diagnosis, best treatment practices, funding for research and, hopefully, cures. World Voice Day helps support these goals. Your voice is unique and should be heard today and every day! Join us in raising awareness about spasmodic dysphonia and related voice conditions.
WRITE A HAIKU FOR WORLD VOICE DAY
World Voice Day is followed by National Haiku Poetry Day on April 17, so we are encouraging our community to write a haiku about your voice! It consists of three lines: Line 1 has 5 syllables, Line 2 has 7 syllables, and Line 3 has 5 syllables. You can email it to voice@dysphonia.org or post it on social media using the hashtag #WVD. Special thanks to all who have submitted already. Click on the graphics below to read these powerful words!
VOICES IN OUR COMMUNITY
RUNNING FOR RESEARCH
Congratulations to Bill Slaney, who ran the Boston Marathon on April 15, raising awareness while supporting Dysphonia International! Bill shared, “For those who have spoken to me over the past 30 years, you know, at times, I struggle to speak in my normal voice. Spasmodic dysphonia is a rare neurological condition that has no cure and little funding. As many of you also know, I don’t do anything halfway. So, I’ll run the Boston Marathon for the first and probably last time. If you could help me towards my fundraising goal, I would be extremely appreciative. Hopefully, someday, this will lead to a cure, and I can find my old voice.” Thank you, Bill, for all of your efforts!
NJ Support Group Leader Risa Clay shares a message for World Voice Day. She also secured a proclamation from her town of Tinton Falls, NJ, which will be presented on April 16, along with one from her NJ State Senator Vin Gopal. Thank you, Risa!
Listen to a special three-part podcast series launched in honor of World Voice Day. Each episode showcases unique voices from our community. Special thanks to Eileen Meehan (episode released on 4/15), Andrina Rose (episode released on 4/16), and Margaret Stoddart (episode released on 4/18) for sharing their inspiring stories of living with voice disorders.
Award-winning reporter Peter Haskell reflects on the past year since he publicly revealed his spasmodic dysphonia diagnosis on World Voice Day in 2023. He shared, “A year ago, I wrote, “I might have trouble speaking, but I haven’t lost my voice.” Today, I still have trouble speaking, but I can say I’m finding my voice. Metaphorically, of course.” His editorial was published in the Bergen Record and online at northjersey.com
Special thanks to speech-language pathologists (SLPs) Sara Davis and Sara Charney for presenting to the Western Regional Dental Experience (WRDE), with over 3,000 providers in attendance on Saturday, April 13! They gave a three-hour presentation all about speech pathology within the otolaryngology/laryngology setting, as well as the clinical pathway for a collaborative model involving dental providers and SLPs. Our thanks to the Arizona Dental Foundation and Dr. Ed Feinberg. The talk was entitled, The Dental Provider’s Role in Advocating for Patients with Voice, Upper Airway, and Swallowing Disorders.
RAISE AWARENESS ABOUT VOICE ISSUES BY POSTING ON SOCIAL MEDIA
If you are active on social media, help raise awareness about spasmodic dysphonia and related voice conditions by sharing World Voice Day images on your profile. If you are comfortable, share something about your own experience of living with a voice condition. Be sure to use #WVD so we can find your post! To save an image, click on the graphic you like, and it will pop up. Then you can right click on it and save it.
PARTICIPATION IN WORLD VOICE DAY EVENTS
Vice President Susan Beck and Executive Director Kimberly Kuman presented at the Grand Valley State University World Voice Day Program
Board Member and Area Contact Director Dennis Kaszeta attended the World Voice Day Concert hosted by Lakeshore ENT Center.