We are happy to announce that in January 2014 the Canadian Association for Familial Ataxias (CAFA) – Claude St-Jean Foundation became Ataxia Canada – Claude St-Jean Foundation. We will continue to use both names for a period while the new name gradually replaces the old one.

The association’s representative and most active members received a name change suggestion: Ataxia Canada for English, and Ataxie Canada for French. The community was inspired by this new name and welcomed it with great enthusiasm, adopting it with 90% of the vote.

The main motivation behind the name change was its length and complexity along with its initial social cause. For quite some time, the public, journalists and even some members of the association have had difficulty correctly saying the former name. This has caused errors to make their way into print and broadcast media hindering the association’s visibility and identity, not to mention that it occasionally posed problems for our translators. Therefore, we decided a name change had to be made.

The purpose of the name change is to:

• make the name easier to say and remember;
• facilitate our representatives’ job, since most of them have an ataxia and in turn sometimes difficulty with speech;
• avoid errors from making their way into media, and emphasize the unity of the association.

Without changing anything in our mission and values, the new name embodies the dream of the founder, supports the unity of the association and substantiates the work done by members across Canada.

Founded in 1972, the mission of Ataxia Canada – Claude St-Jean Foundation is to bring together people with ataxia, individuals who provide their support on a personal and on a professional level, and researchers. It also aims to advance research on ataxias to combat the causes and the effects of the disease.

The term “ataxia” means problems with coordination and voluntary movements, especially walking, and a lack of balance. There are many types of ataxias, most of which are hereditary. The variations in ataxias are due to symptoms, causes, the rate at which they progress and their age of onset. An ataxia is usually caused by a dysfunction in the cerebellum, the spinal cord and the nerves that connect the cerebellum to muscles. For more information on Ataxia Canada and hereditary ataxias, visit www.ataxiacanada.org.

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Source :
Ataxie Canada
514-321-8684, ataxie@lacaf.org