Wendy Henderson,  —

In this Muscular Dystrophy UK video, Dr. Ros Quinlivan from the Queen’s Square Centre for Neuromuscular Diseases in England explains the different types of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and the special needs that those with the disease will require throughout life. Read how a British charity is…

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a genetic condition which affects a child’s range of movement due to the ongoing degeneration of muscle tone. There are three main symptoms of the disease, the severity of which will depend upon the type of SMA the patient has: Type 1 presenting the most…

In this Huffington Post video shared in July 2015, meet artist Dwayne Szot and his amazing painting invention. Szot wanted children with disabilities to experience the joys of art but knew that many could not hold pens or brushes. With his artist mind at work, he fashioned a way for kids to…

Earlier this year, when lingerie company Panache asked women to nominate role models, hundred of names poured in, six were picked, but one stood out above all – Sylwia Blach, a software programmer who happens to have SMA. Read about some of the issues faced by young adults…

While there is currently no cure for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), there are ways to manage the disease to improve the quality of life for the patients. Here are some of the treatments available for SMA patients according to the UK National Health Service. 1. Exercise Exercise is extremely…

When a child is diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a tremendous amount of stress and burden is heaped on the entire family. In this WomenTalk TV video, Rebekah Choong allows us into her daily life as a full-time working mother of two daughters — one of whom has type 1 spinal muscular…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOTFiztJBuI Nine-year-old Izzy Zahn wanted to help someone, so she decided to make a book of her photography and sell it to raise money for the Make a Wish Foundation. Book sales came to $6,600. Bright, funny, and talkative 2 and 1/2-year-old Scarlet happens to have SMA. Little did Izzy know that…

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a genetic disease that affects about 1 in 10,000 babies. The neurodegenerative disease is usually diagnosed between the ages of 6 months and 2 years old. Four different types of SMA exist with type 1 as the most severe with poor prognosis, to type 4 which…

This MediaStorm documentary is all about Philly Mayer. Philly is a bright and happy nine-year-old boy who was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) as a toddler. Read about the four types of spinal muscular atrophy here.  The Mayers realized something was wrong when Philly suddenly stopped…

  In this video from the DNA Learning Center shared in July 2012, attorney Steve Mikita recalls attending Duke University and then taking the bar exam as an adult with type 3 spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Find out about issues faced by young adults with SMA. Click here. Mikita was so…