Dystonia
Support Group - Alabama 
Upcoming Events - Birmingham Group
Upcoming Events - Southeast AL Group
Deep Brain Stimulation Information Page
News Articles and Publications
Member Awareness Activities - click to view
Because dystonia is considered an "orphan" disease, and causes of dystonia are not well-known, there is a great need to spread the word about dystonia, not only to the patients suffering with it, but to the health care providers that are charged with diagnosing it.
Most of our support group members say that it took them years to get a proper diagnosis and were shipped from doctor to doctor in order to get that proper diagnosis.
How You Can Help Spread Awareness
What can you do to help spread awareness of Dystonia?
Check out our Materials for Awareness Projects (further down this page). Print some of these out and distribute them to family members and co-workers.
Tell everyone you know about Dystonia. At this point, word of mouth is the best and fastest way to spread information. Most of us at the DSG-Alabama can tell interesting and humorous stories about how we end up telling everyone we meet about Dystonia. So take the time to share what you know! You never know who you might help.
If you're so inclined, take the time to write your elected officials about Dystonia. Check out our Legislative Tool Kit (in the same place as our Materials for Awareness Projects further down this page).
Rotary Presentations - Ongoing
If you would like to set up a presentation on Dystonia for your local Rotary Club, please contact Ken, as he has been coordinating these presentations.
Thanks go to Ken for setting these presentations up with the Rotary Club. Ken was a Rotarian for 30+ years!
The Daily Home - Click to read the article from The Daily Home on June 6, outlining Pat's battle with Dystonia and her efforts to raise awareness. Keep up the good work, Pat!
"Dystonia Awareness Efforts Honored" - Linda got us another article in the Shelby County Reporter!
Twisted - A Film about Dystonia - on PBS
DSG-Alabama a copy of Twisted for our viewing needs. Please let Pat know if you would like to borrow it for viewing.
Twisted - Official site from the filmmaker.
Materials for Awareness Projects
DYSTONIA FLYER - Click here to download a PDF of an excellent one-page flyer that outlines the various forms of dystonia.
LIBRARY BOOKMARK PROJECT - We have bookmarks entitled "What? You've Never Heard of Dystonia?" available to distribute to libraries. Contact Ken Williams at Klwmgw@aol.com to let him know how many bookmarks you need. These bookmarks have been very effective in spreading the word about what Dystonia is.
SPEAKERS BUREAU
DSG-Alabama maintains a Speakers Bureau for speaking engagements. If you are interested in having a Speaker for your group, please contact Pat at pcangel1102@aol.com for arrangements.
Recent speaking engagements include The Alabaster Rotary Club.