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    Research article documents a professor’s voice disorder

    March 26, 2018
    Dr. Rebecca Johnston presented an academic article on a voice disorder she suffered at the Georgia Music Educators Association conference in January.

    Article By: Staff

    When a vocalist sustains injury to her vocal chords, the threat of the loss of a career can be devastating.

    For Dr. Rebecca Johnston, associate department chair and coordinator of music education at the University of North Georgia (UNG), an academic article about neurogenic disorders of the voice was an opportunity for her to share her experience through an academic article presented at the Georgia Music Educators Association (GMEA) conference Jan 25-27 in Athens, Georgia.

    "Earlier in my career I was a coloratura soprano, with an extremely high, light and flexible voice," Johnston said. "When my ability to sing higher pitches, project volume and control my voice disappeared, it was evident something was horribly wrong,"

    A long diagnostic process revealed vocal fold paresis (VFP), a disruption of the nerve signal to the muscles that move the vocal chords. At the time, she had become an educator, but the injury dramatically reduced her ability to speak, much less sing. Through rigorous vocal therapy, medication, and some recovery of the neural circuit, she regained some of her singing ability, but the damage was permanent.

    Johnston spent a year researching and writing "One Teacher's Experience of Voice Disorder and Its Implication for Music Educators." The submission and revision process took another two years, and she presented her work at the GMEA convention.

    "Afterward, the most common comment was, 'I had no idea such a thing existed,'" Johnston said. "That was the primary reason I wrote the paper. One problem with VFP is that the symptoms mimic common functional disorders. It takes a referral to a laryngologist (a vocal system specialist) and diagnosis via LEMG (laryngeal electromyography) with an attending neurologist to receive diagnosis and appropriate intervention."

    Contact the Author

    East Asian Film Series serves as education tool

    East Asian Film Series serves as education tool

    Three East Asian films will be screened this spring to educate students on love, class and family represented in non-Eurocentric media.
    Smith authors book  on 'Friendly Politics'

    Smith authors book on 'Friendly Politics'

    UNG political science professor Dr. Glen Smith has published "Friendly Politics," a book aimed at helping people maintain strong relationships amid political divides.
    GTA continues season with 'Pygmalion'

    GTA continues season with 'Pygmalion'

    The Gainesville Theatre Alliance starts its spring performances with 'Pygmalion,' George Bernard Shaw's Nobel Prize-winning dramatization of a Cockney flower girl's metamorphosis into a lady.
    Music events set  for spring semester

    Music events set for spring semester

    The UNG Department of Music kicks off the spring semester with a variety of musical events.

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