NAF has launched a petition on Change.org calling on the FDA to prioritize treatment options for rare diseases with urgent unmet needs, including Spinocerebellar Ataxia (SCA).
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A person’s voice is a unique and identifying trait. From one aisle in the grocery store, a familiar friend can be recognized by the sound of their voice. Your friends or family can tell if you’re near just by hearing your laugh. People sound different because of the shape and Read More…
Have you ever thought about why doctors tell us to eat protein-rich food? Why eating proteins is so important for our health and wellbeing? Well, it is because of what they consist of and how important proteins are to maintain our body functions under control. Amino acids are organic chemicals Read More…
If you’ve ever felt shaky when speaking in public or after drinking too much coffee, then you’ve likely experienced tremor. Tremor is an involuntary, rhythmic shaking of parts of the body, such as the hands or the head. Everyone experiences a normal, physiological tremor at a certain level, which is Read More…
Dystonia is a disorder that affects the way a person moves. Specifically, people with dystonia have involuntary muscle contractions, which can cause abnormal twisting postures. Dystonia can affect muscles anywhere in the body, including the face, neck, torso, and limbs. The impact of dystonia can vary greatly across individuals. Some Read More…
Incomplete penetrance is a characteristic of a wide range of genetic diseases, including hereditary forms of neurodegenerative disease, heart disease, and cancer. In short, it means that individuals carrying a disease-causing mutation may not necessarily develop disease symptoms. “Penetrance” refers to the proportion of individuals carrying the disease-causing mutation that Read More…
Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) is an umbrella term that has many meanings. Simply put, AAC is every way we communicate other than speaking. At its core, AAC uses symbols. For a message to be considered AAC, it must be represented symbolically. AAC must stand for something else. A simple Read More…
Dysmetria is a medical term used to describe a condition that affects one’s ability to control and coordinate their movements accurately. In simpler terms, it is like having a glitch in the brain’s “motion control system”. When someone experiences dysmetria, their movements, such as reaching for an object or touching Read More…
Spasticity is a condition where muscles involuntarily stiffen, impeding normal smooth movements. Spasticity can present in varying severities with varying impacts on daily life. For example, minor spasticity resulting in overly stiff muscles can make precise, dextrous tasks difficult, whereas painful, uncontrollable muscle spasms can cause confinement to bed rest. Read More…
Articulation refers to the ability to produce speech sounds using the tongue, lips, jaw, and the roof of your mouth. All of these organs are also known as articulators. The term “articulation” comes from the Latin word “articulatio,” which means “a joint” or “a connection.” In the context of speech Read More…
In speech-language pathology, the term resonance refers to nasality in speech. In other words, how nasal a person’s speech sounds. When someone is congested, they likely sound hyponasal, or not nasal enough. This is because the congestion is blocking sound from being resonated in the nasal cavity, or the nose. Read More…
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