NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Sunday is World Voice Day, a day to raise awareness about vocal disorders.
Dysphonia International, previously known as the National Spasmodic Dysphonia Association, connects patients with voice disorders to services and helps people receive early diagnoses through awareness campaigns.
The organization primarily addresses spasmodic dysphonia (SD), a neurological disorder that causes the voice to sound choppy, tight or weak, but with this rebrand leadership is hoping to act as an umbrella group for SD, vocal tremors, muscle tension dysphonia and vocal fold paralysis.
Former WCBS 880 reporter Peter Haskell was forced to retire from his on-air career due to SD. You can listen to an interview with Haskell and Dysphonia International Executive Director Kimberly Kuman below.
During his interview with On the Record with Steve Scott, Haskell said greater awareness could help patients get a diagnosis faster, and thereby avoid drawing out a process that can be painful and demoralizing.
“Honestly it was a challenge until I was diagnosed. Because I went to different doctors — a pulmonologist because it sounded like I was running out of breath, and it took a while until I was actually diagnosed,” Haskell said. “I think there are probably some people who face that circumstance where they don’t know what it is, and it can be difficult to figure out.”
Dysphonia International estimates 28 million Americans have either temporary or permanent vocal disorders — that’s nearly one in ten people in the U.S.
Research is scarce for these conditions, but Dysphonia International’s scientific advisory board is working to advance study of these conditions.
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