Listening to the Voice of Laryngeal Dystonia: Advocating from the Inside Out.

Some 29 million people in the United States have the neurological voice disorder spasmodic dysphonia (SD), a type of what is now more accurately called laryngeal dystonia (LD), characterized by an altered voice, the result of involuntary and intermittent contractions of the laryngeal muscles. This personal account details key facts about LD, as its etiology and treatment are still in research. It attests to how LD compromises communication and can threaten people's self-esteem, even their lives, and provides implications for nursing practice.