#CMTAM23: Learn How to Navigate CMT
It’s already September, which means we’ve finally reached CMT Awareness Month! This year, we are calling on all members of our community to help us spread awareness about CMT far and wide.
Make a Difference: Spread Awareness
During CMT Awareness Month (CMTAM) in September, join the Charcot-Marie-Tooth Association as we highlight not only challenges that people with CMT may face, but the importance of creating awareness to support the more than 3 million people with CMT worldwide. Use the power of your voice to make a difference.
Learn more about CMT:
- Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease is a hereditary peripheral neuropathy. It is a progressive disease of the peripheral nerves that cause loss of function and/or sensation in the areas connected to the peripheral nervous system, such as the hands, arms, legs, and feet.
- CMT affects 1 in 2,500 people, or more than 3 million people around the globe, without regard to age, gender, or ethnicity.
- CMT is one of the most commonly inherited neurological disorders, yet so few have even heard of it before.
#CMTAM23 Activities
Add Someone to the CMTA Sky of Fame!
Honor the CMT STAR in your life by adding their name to the CMTA’s virtual Sky of Fame! Honor a CMT loved one in your life by adding their name to the CMTA’s virtual sky of CMT stars! When you donate $5 or $10, the CMTA will honor a person of your choice by adding their name(s) to our virtual sky of CMT stars! Donate $35 to the CMTA and you’ll receive a ‘STAR in Their Name’ and a beautiful full custom color print. Check out the Sky of Fame.
Register for the 2023 Patient & Research Summit
The 2023 CMTA Patient & Research Summit on Saturday, November 4th will offer life-improving presentations on living well with CMT and will provide a comprehensive update on STAR research. Spend the day learning how to manage CMT and hear what you can do to be involved in advancing CMT research through clinical trials and studies.
CMT youth join us as we explore Boston, have lunch together and check out a famous Boston candy shop. This is an amazing way for youth with CMT to meet other youth and learn that they are not alone! It is a wonderful way to see old friends and make new ones. Youth with CMT (age 10+) and their siblings are welcome to join.
To register, please visit 2023 Patient & Research Summit Registration
Get Social to Encourage Action
Follow us on social media and change your Facebook profile picture or upload it on Instagram to help spread awareness about CMT during CMT Awareness Month. Challenge your friends to do the same and use the following hashtags in your social media posts: #CMTAM23, #CMTAwareness, #1in2500.
Download the CMT Awareness Month Social Media Toolkit:
- CMTA Awareness Month 2023 Toolkit (2674 downloads )
- 5 Ways to Bring Awareness to CMT (1907 downloads )
- 1 in 2500 Awareness Month Graphic (1558 downloads )
- It's CMT Awareness Month Graphic (2481 downloads )
- September is CMT Awareness Month Graphic (1669 downloads )
- Someone I Love Lives with CMT Disease (770 downloads )
- Ask Me About Charcot-Marie-Tooth (1914 downloads )
- What is CMT? Awareness Month Graphic (1 of 2) (2130 downloads )
- What is CMT? Awareness Month Graphic (2 of 2) (1931 downloads )
Social Media Profile Picture Frames
Add one of three CMTA Awareness Month 2023 profile frames to your Facebook profile picture:
CMTA Facebook Profile Frame – Navigating CMT
CMTA Facebook Profile Frame – Plain
CMTA Facebook Profile Frame – With Ribbon
Share Your Story
Share your CMT story with the world – whether that be through your social media channels, email, your blog, your local news station, or by sharing your story with the CMTA to share on our platforms. Wherever you join us on the CMT journey – if you’re a person with CMT, a friend, a family member, a caregiver, a teacher, a healthcare professional, or someone with another connection to CMT – you can help spread awareness about CMT disease.
If you would like your story to be considered for a post on the CMTA’s social media channels, emails, or website, please email your story to the CMTA awareness month team.
Other Ways to Spread Awareness
- Host or Join a Walk 4 CMT Near You! – Register and learn more.
- Join Our In-Person Cycle Events or Start Your Own Ride – Register and learn more.
- Learn more about CMT – What is CMT.
- Send CMT Info to Your Health Care Team – How much does your local doctor’s office know about CMT? You can play a vital role in CMT education! Invite your local neurologist, physical therapist, occupational therapist, your physician, and any other medical professionals involved in your care to earn CME credit CMT Clinical Summit – a curriculum designed specifically to bring education about CMT to healthcare professionals.
- Blue and Orange Day – Pick a day to dress in all blue and orange and share facts about CMT to raise awareness about CMT at school, work, the gym, the grocery store, etc. Invite others to join you ahead of time.
- Create a Poster – Use your artistic skills to create a poster or flyer with CMT and ask your teacher, boss, gym, or local restaurant if you can post it on an announcement or bulletin board during the month of September.
- Give a Short Presentation – Ask your school or job if you can give a short presentation to your peers. You can talk about your own journey with CMT and what it means to you.
- Sidewalk Chalk – Use blue and orange chalk to draw pictures or share CMT facts to spread the word in your neighborhood.