My Voice, My Way
Welcome to “My Voice, My Way” – the podcast that gives a voice to those living with voice disorders.
I’m your host, Margaret Stoddart. I live with a complex voice condition – a combination of Muscle Tension Dysphonia and Spasmodic Dysphonia – and I’m also proud to serve as an Area Contact Leader for Dysphonia International, supporting others across the UK who are living with these often misunderstood conditions.
I created this podcast to raise awareness and start honest conversations about what it really means to live with a voice disorder.
Each episode, I speak with people who understand voice disorders from the inside – fellow sufferers, voice users, and expert clinicians, including ENT specialists, speech and language therapists, and clinical psychologists. Together, we explore the challenges, the treatments, the emotional impact – and the resilience it takes to reclaim our voices.
Whether you’re living with a voice disorder yourself, supporting someone who is, or working in voice care – you’re in the right place. This is a space for shared stories, practical insights, and above all – connection.
This is My Voice, My Way. Let’s get started.
My Voice, My Way
My Voice, My Way with Professor Sadie Khwaja ENT Consultant
Today’s episode is especially close to home. I’m joined by someone who plays a pivotal role in my own voice journey—my ENT surgeon, Professor Sadie Khwaja.
Ms Khwaja is a Consultant ENT Surgeon and Laryngologist based in Manchester. She specialises in voice disorders, with particular expertise in diagnosing and treating conditions such as Spasmodic Dysphonia and Muscle Tension Dysphonia. Her work combines surgical care, Botox treatment, and close collaboration with voice therapists. She is passionate about helping patients reclaim not just their voice, but also their quality of life.
For over eight years, Ms Khwaja has been part of the Manchester Voice Team, treating the full spectrum of benign and pre-malignant laryngeal conditions—from diagnosis through to therapy, Botox clinics, office-based procedures, and advanced laryngeal surgery. She also runs dedicated dysphagia clinics and is an active member of the complex adult airway multidisciplinary team.
In this episode, we sit down as patient and surgeon for an honest conversation about the complexity, treatment, and emotional impact of voice disorders—particularly the ones I live with, Muscle Tension Dysphonia and Adductor Spasmodic Dysphonia and If you or someone you know is navigating a voice disorder, this episode is for you.