The Spinal Muscular Atrophy Podcast
Join Bionews Associate Director of Community Content Kevin Schaefer as he explores current SMA issues through engaging conversations with those living with the disease, medical professionals, and caregivers. Listen to the latest episodes below, and follow SMA News Today on SoundCloud to catch up on all discussions in this exciting series.
#145: Carrie Manriquez, Mother of adult son with SMA
In episode 145, host Kevin Schaefer talks with Carrie Manriquez from Sacramento, California. Carrie is an elementary school principal, and her 24-year-old son Ryan has SMA type 2. She talks about her experiences as a parent and caregiver, connecting with the SMA community, and helping Ryan transition to adulthood.
About Kevin Schaefer
Kevin graduated from North Carolina State University with a bachelor’s in English in 2016, and he is passionate about different forms of storytelling. He started at Bionews in 2017 as a columnist for SMA News Today, sharing his experiences as an adult with SMA type 2. He eventually transitioned to a full-time role, helping build the company’s multimedia and forums divisions.
As director of forums, he is responsible for supporting the director of multichannel content in bridging the gap between our patient populations and our websites. He does this through building and maintaining patient and caregiver forums across Bionews’ disease sites. He oversees every step of the process, including hiring, training, and guiding forum moderators. His goal is to create engaging and supportive online communities for patients and caregivers to connect.
