MDA's Personal Achievement Award recipient for New York City is thriving in the Big Apple
posted on September 8, 2011 - 8:57am
Tabitha Estrellado is living her dream. She’s a 27-year-old career woman with a nice apartment in Manhattan. She loves her job, has a sweet commute, and writes music and performs locally in her spare time.
Ralph Braun, who has spinal muscular atrophy, turned his scooter and modified van designs into a multimillion-dollar business
posted on June 14, 2011 - 2:30pm
Ralph Braun clearly remembers the day he learned he had “muscular dystrophy.” The experience taught him a lesson that shaped who he is and helped drive him to achieve great success.
In his autobiography, Rise Above, (2010, The Braun Corporation), Braun describes the hot day in 1947 when his parents took him to be evaluated at a hospital in Indianapolis. Braun was 6, and had been having...
After eight years in prison, Terrence Stevens, who has spinal muscular atrophy, founded a nonprofit that’s helping children of inmates succeed in life
posted on December 30, 2010 - 11:27am
For eight long years, Terrence Stevens — who goes by the nickname "T-Wheels" — had the dubious distinction of being the only inmate in the New York state prison system with “muscular dystrophy.”
Stevens actually has spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) type 3, but he says no one in prison knew or cared what his true diagnosis was.
Conditions were horrible for inmates with disabilities, says Stevens...
Researchers hope to learn how people with impaired mobility manage to do their jobs
posted on December 28, 2010 - 2:42pm
If you’re a person with a disability who also manages to hold down a job, researchers are interested in finding out how you do it.
A new study is looking for people who work outside the home at least 20 hours a week and who also have significant mobility impairments, such as difficulty moving their legs and/or arms.
‘The wheelchair comics are coming,’ warns Michael O’Connell (Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy), who loves to leave ’em laughing
posted on May 28, 2010 - 2:54pm
What started out as an item on O'Connell's bucket list is now an almost nightly occurance: performing comedy on stage.
“So this woman comes up and tries to give me a dollar. I wanted to say, ‘Hey! Just because I’m in a wheelchair doesn’t mean I’m homeless!’”
When the recession brought an end to his 25-year journalism career, Peter Callas Jr. remembered his parents’ message: Never give up
posted on April 15, 2010 - 12:35pm
Peter Callas Jr. remembers as if it were yesterday the day his father gave him “the F.D.R. talk.”
It was 1973, and Peter Jr., then 13 years old, had just been diagnosed with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD).
Nonprofit offers scholarships and practical support to people with disabilities
posted on April 1, 2010 - 4:11pm
Scott Hatley is the 30-year-old co-founder of Incight, a nonprofit organization based in Portland, Ore., that helps people with disabilities set and achieve career goals through scholarships, mentoring relationships, microloans and other resources.
