For the longest time, I thought New Year’s resolutions were one of the corniest, hokiest, most pointless traditions in our culture. Every year, people set unrealistic goals that they never follow through with, which only leaves everyone feeling disappointed and apathetic by the time March or April rolls…
Embracing My Inner Alien
— Kevin Schaefer
Kevin Schaefer (he/him) is a writer, podcaster, and lover of all things pop culture. Diagnosed with SMA type 2 at the age of 18 months in 1995, he shares a vast array of hilarious and eye-opening stories from his life with a neuromuscular disability. He works as the associate director of community content for this site’s parent company, Bionews. He also hosts the SMA News Today Podcast. Kevin is a graduate of North Carolina State University and lives with his parents in Cary, NC. People regularly mistake him for Tony Stark, on account of his intellect and advanced technological equipment.
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In her anthology “Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-first Century,” the late activist and writer Alice Wong offers profound insight into the power of storytelling. She says in one of her essays, “Storytelling can be more than a blog post, essay, or book. It can be an…
I was maybe 4 or 5 years old the first time I saw the original “Star Wars” trilogy. It was a VHS set, and I still remember the old-fashioned covers that featured characters like Yoda and Darth Vader. For those of you ultra-millennials out there, VHS tapes are…
As Christmas lurks around the corner and everyone is hustling and bustling for last-minute gift deals, I’m reminded that this time of year requires extra preparation for myself as well. The holidays are great, but it’s the weather that accompanies this season that I have to handle with…
At the time of this writing, I’m halfway through my Spinraza (nusinersen) loading doses. As I mentioned in a previous column, I’m receiving mine through the neck instead of doing the standard spinal tap injections. It’s certainly not for everyone, but it’s worked great for me.
We’ve all heard the saying that PT is short for “physical torture,” and for the longest time I clung to that notion and refused to go. I did physical therapy when I was in preschool and early elementary school, but all throughout middle and high school I…
A few days ago, I found myself strapped to an operating table while a radiologist injected a needle into the side of my neck. From there, I felt a tingling sensation in my body as a specialized spinal fluid flowed throughout my insides. All the while a…
The other night, I was out at Barnes & Noble with my dad. As we went to grab a table in the coffee shop area, I ran into an old friend and spent a few minutes talking with him and his friend over by one of the store’s…
November is a pretty jam-packed month for me. I’m working on a book project for the annual NaNoWriMo contest, juggling two separate podcasts, getting ready for the North Carolina Comicon. And on top of all that, I start my Spinraza injections a week from the…
Green Arrow costume, image provided by Kevin Schaefer October is one of my favorite times of the year, and not just because it’s my birthday month. Call me childish, but I never grow tired of the creative Halloween costumes, the festivities, scary movies and the buckets…
A couple weeks ago I was out with some friends from college for a trivia night at a local brewery. My friend Russ gave me a ride, and as we approached our destination the clouds covered the sky, culminating in a stormy display like something out of…
In a few days I’ll be 24, and every year my birthday is accompanied with at least some sentimentality. I hate being sappy, and anytime I reach a milestone it’s usually followed by an emotional speech by one of my parents. At my college graduation party last…
I’ve been writing this column since April, and while I haven’t shied away from addressing personal topics like adapting to my weakening body and at times feeling burdensome, dating is a subject I’ve steered away from. When I was on a panel at the Cure SMA…
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