Box 325-5525 West Boulevard - Vancouver BC Canada - V6M 3W6
604.878.8383 - 1.866.780.2233 - info@balanceanddizziness.org

Font too small? Select a more appropriate font size:

base size | + | ++

HISTORY OF THE SOCIETY

by Muriel Kauffmann, Founder and Past-President

In 1998, I had to give up working as an ESL tutor because of severe, disabling dizziness which lasted for over a year. I continued, however, to write columns at home for local newspapers. To my surprise, when I wrote about what I was experiencing, I received more mail in response than I had to any other article. One woman wrote that she had not been able to leave her home for 12 years because of dizziness. I shall never forget her letter.

I asked Dr. Graham Bryce, my Otolaryngologist, if there was a support group for people with vestibular disorders so I could inform these readers who suffered.

"No, why don't you start one?" he responded.

BADD would never have happened if Dr. Bryce had not continued to encourage me and make it possible. I started a list of interested people, Dr. Bryce obtained a meeting room for us at St. Paul's Hospital and gave up precious time to join us for that first meeting. Then, Dr. Bryce agreed to be our very first speaker.

Things just fell into place after that. A board was formed. Member Shirley York took on the task of completing myriad forms to register us as a society; Rae Smith soon found herself keeping track of members and our treasury, and before we knew it, BADD was a viable organization offering support to hundreds of people who deal with vestibular disorders.

GOAL OF THE SOCIETY

To improve the lives of people affected by balance and dizziness disorders by:

becoming more informed about these disorders and related topics
building a support network for people with balance and dizziness disorders
helping to educate the public and health professionals about balance and dizziness disorders and their effects
supporting medical research and quality treatments for balance and dizziness disorders

BOARD MEMBERS - 2010

President	John Smith
Vice President & Information Co-ordinator	Betty Macmillan
Recording Secretary	Bobbi Clarke
Treasurer & Membership Chair	Rae Smith
Hospitality Co-ordinator	Vicki Cuthbert
DVD Co-ordinator	Cliff Hills
Member-at-large	Shahbudin Dhanji
Member-at-large	Rudy Carlson

OTHER MAJOR VOLUNTEERS

Phone Response Co-ordinator	Margaret Kenney
Newsletter Distribution Co-ordinator	Margaret Kenney
Volunteer Phone Co-ordinator	Emma Baldwin
Website provider	Neal Chan
Newsletter Distribution	Brenda Lawton
Newsletter Editor	John Smith
Technical setup at meetings	Cesar Gravé

From left to right: Cesar Gravé, Rudy Carlson, Rae Smith,
John Smith, Cliff Hills, Vicki Cuthbert and Bobbi Clarke.
Absent Board members: Shabudin Dhanji, Betty Macmillan.

BADD ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Dr. Graham Bryce
Dr. Neil Longridge
Art Mallinson, MSc

Dr. Mark Carpenter
Dr. Nicole Acerra
Brian Welwood, CGA