National Spasmodic Dysphonia Association Symposium - 5 May 2007.

The following invitation is from David Barton, President of the National Spasmodic Dysphonia Association. I have included some informative links in this article for your convenience.

Dear Members, Friends and Supporters of the NSDA,

We hope you will join us for the National Spasmodic Dysphonia Association's 2007 Symposium which is being held on Saturday, May 5, 2007 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in White Plains, New York. The goals of the NSDA Symposium are:

To provide a learning environment in which people with Spasmodic Dysphonia may enhance their understanding of the disorder;

To facilitate an exchange of information of how to live effectively with the disorder;

To increase NSDA's capabilities in measuring and understanding the needs of its members in order to develop future programs.

This annual meeting draws together hundreds of people dealing with Spasmodic Dysphonia to hear the latest information on treatment and research while offering the opportunity to share experiences. There will be a Welcome Party on Friday, May 4, for those coming in the night before.

Speakers and panelists include (in alphabetical order):

Andrew Blitzer, M.D., St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital, New York, NY
Jamie Koufman, M.D., The Voice Institute of New York, New York, NY
Mark LeDoux, M.D., Ph.D., University of Tennessee School of Medicine, Memphis, TN
Christy Ludlow, Ph.D, National Institute of Neurological Disease and Stroke, Bethesda, MD
Tom Murry, Ph.D., Columbia University School of Medicine, New York, NY
Michael Pitman, M.D., New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, New York, NY
Lucian Sulica, M.D., Weill-Cornell Medical Center, New York, NY
Celia Stuart, Ph.D., Head And Neck Surgical Group, New York, NY
Miodrag Velickovic, M.D., Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, NY
Peak Woo, M.D. The Grabsheid Voice Center, Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, NY

The meeting will begin at 8:45 a.m. and adjourn at 5:00 p.m. There will be panel discussions on the following topics:

Overview of Spasmodic Dysphonia
Management of Spasmodic Dysphonia
Spasmodic Dysphonia Research

Break-Out Sessions

Session I.
Treatment-Related Speech Therapy
Botulinum Toxin Injections
Surgical Procedures for SD
Treating ABductor Spasmodic Dysphonia

Session II.
Living with SD
Family and Friends - spouses, friends, and those supporting someone with SD
Young Adults - For the younger generation living with SD
Living with Spasmodic Dysphonia - Panel Discussion
Especially for SLPs - For Speech Language Pathologists

Keynote Speaker: Karen Jennings
Karen Jennings serves as the Senior Executive Vice President-Human Resources and Communications for AT&T. She is responsible for all aspects of human resources and executive support, as well as AT&T advertising, professional and technical learning programs, corporate communications and media relations, advertising and sponsorships. She assumed her current position at SBC in July 2002. She is also a member of the board of the AT&T Foundation, the philanthropic entity of AT&T Inc. Previously, Ms. Jennings served as Senior Executive Vice President - Human Resources.

In 1994, Karen developed a strangled and choked-like quality sound to her voice. With the encouragement from her peers and her determination to overcome this obstacle, Karen relentlessly sought answers and was rewarded with a relatively quick diagnosis of Spasmodic Dysphonia within 3-4 months. With treatment, Karen regained her voice, her self- assurance, and her career continued to soar. We are pleased that Karen will join us at this meeting.

CEU InformationContinuing Educational Units through the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association will be available for this meeting.

Hotel Information

The Crowne Plaza White Plains Hotel is situated in downtown White Plains, NY, which is the heart of Westchester County. This property is only 30 minutes from Manhattan by train, and the hotel is adjacent to world-class shopping at the Westchester with Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom.

The hotel also offers transportation to and from the Westchester County Airport, White Plains Metro North Train Station, as well as local businesses and attractions. New York Airports, La Guardia, JFK and Newark, are all accessible from the Crowne Plaza White Plains.

NSDA has secured a special room rate of $125 per night (plus tax). To make room reservations, please log onto:

The National Spasmodic Dysphonia Assosiation's website for full registration information.

There is a special room rate between the dates of May 2 and May 6. The NSDA has included extra days in case you would like to travel early to explore New York. You may also call the hotel directly at 914-682-0050. You will need to mention the NSD group code to secure the special group rate (click on the NSDA site above to do this).

Our hosts will be the New York City Spasmodic Dysphonia Support Group and they will be your guide for this trip. They are working on some great ideas of what to do while you are in the New York City area.

We hope you will mark this date on your calendar and plan to attend this exciting meeting!


Sincerely,

David Barton, President
National Spasmodic Dysphonia Association
E-mail: nsda@dysphonia.org
Phone: 800-795-6732
Website: http://www.dysphonia.org

If you suffer from spasmodic dysphonia and are able to attend this meeting, please consider doing so. I did not realize this meeting was coming up at the same time I booked a trip to the UK from early May until early June. I am unable to change our tickets for my family and me to travel via New York. I apologize for not attending but will be there in Spirit with you all!

Sue Bayliss. Cairns, Australia.