Community Voices

Welcome to our virtual community! Start by browsing through the personal stories featured here.

We have organized these stories into two categories: Your Stories – stories sent to us at the Spondylitis Association of America – and selections from The Faces of Ankylosing Spondylitis project.

We’d love your story as well! Send it to us at Programs@spondylitis.org

Tell A Story with SAA Storytellers, Your Stories on Stage! Send Us Your Story Pitch!

Are you interested in being a part of SAA Storytellers, Your Stories on Stage?

SAA is always looking for those in the spondyloarthritis community to tell their story (patients, caregivers, medical personnel, and friends of the community – all are welcome!).

ByDon Markham

Don Markham

Hello, my name is Don Markham and I was formally diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis in 2014 after a major flare. Like a lot of us, I had never heard of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) before this diagnoses. I…

ByJessica Moreland

Jessica Moreland

I am 40 years old and I was diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis in spring of 2017. My symptoms began with multiple attacks of Uveitis, an inflammation in the iris of the eye...

ByKristen Ray

Face 2033

Kristen Ray My journey with Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) has been very long, my first memories of symptoms starting at around age 6. Back then AS was only considered to be a man’s disease, it wasn’t until the…

ByRiley Newman

Riley

My symptoms began when I was 16 in the year of 2014. I would miss weeks of school because the pain was too much to handle. I was called names and a druggie because I was losing…

ByJane Bruckel

Face 1983

Co-Founder of Spondylitis Association of America, The first President of the Board of Directors and the first Executive Director In 1983, when I co-founded this organization, there was no information available about AS – not a single…

ByMac Reynolds