Even freshman orientation is more complicated for students with muscle diseases — and their parents
posted on July 1, 2009 - 2:52pm
Imagine 800 middle school students arriving for freshman orientation at Trabuco Hills High School in Southern California.
All students are taking their first steps onto a campus four times the size of their current school, complete with swimming pool, tennis courts, a school store, vending machines and a gym with real wood flooring.
posted on January 1, 2005 - 4:36pm
Psychology professor Rhoda Olkin hesitated before she requested her teenage son to take out the trash.
“I was reluctant, at first, to ask him because it is physically hard for me. But then I realized that teenage boys all across America are taking out the kitchen garbage and I got over it,” said Olkin, who had polio and is a national expert on parents with disabilities.
MDA delivers ‘a piece of camp’ after summer camp cancellations
posted on August 12, 2009 - 9:00pm
Mattie Stepanek’s mother offers an inside look at the poet and former MDA National Goodwill Ambassador
posted on October 30, 2009 - 9:00pm
MDA National Vice President Jeni Stepanek will be a guest on the November 2 broadcast of ABC's "Good Morning America" to promote the release of Messenger: The Legacy of Mattie J. T. Stepanek and Heartsongs, an inside look at the life of her famous son, who served as MDA’s National Goodwill Ambassador from 2002-2004.
A co-op model of care for adult children
posted on December 31, 2009 - 1:00am
In the 1980s, our worlds changed forever, when our separate families each received the devastating news that our children had Duchenne muscular dystrophy. At the time of the diagnosis, we were told our boys probably would live into their mid-teens, or possibly early 20s.
Well, here we are — it’s 2010 and our boys are still here. Jason (Adele’s son), Patrick and David range in age from 24 to 30....
A 12-year-old with DMD shines in a youthful production of "Oliver!" – power chair and all
posted on February 25, 2010 - 5:54pm
Surrounded by loaves of bread, 12-year-old Andrew Longwell looks like a real baker. The chef’s hat helps, too.
The sixth-grader from Rochester, N.Y., completes the picture with his voice. He sings a charmingly youthful rendition of “Who Will Buy?” one of the songs in the musical “Oliver!” He and other students are performing the show at the Greece Athena Middle School Theatre in Rochester for...
Books can inspire, encourage, educate and — above all — unite people of varying abilities
posted on April 1, 2010 - 4:09pm
When I was 3 years old, I was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), the most common of the nine forms of muscular dystrophy. My parents never hid my diagnosis from me but, besides my parents, the only way I learned more about muscular dystrophy (MD) and its future effects on me was through my observation of other campers at MDA summer camp, beginning at age 9. As a child, I never read...
A GPS for students with disabilities
posted on March 27, 2010 - 4:55pm
MDA's Public WebEx , held on February 24, 2010, featured panelists Chris Rosa (Becker muscular dystrophy); L. Vance Taylor (limb-girdle muscular dystrophy) and Angela Wrigglesworth (spinal muscular atrophy) speaking about going to college with a neuromuscular disease.
Visit MDA's School Advocacy Resources page to see:
Actor Max Adler is 'making a muscle for MDA' in honor of his late mother and grandmother with FSHD
posted on July 1, 2011 - 4:20pm
The hit TV show “Glee” launched actor Max Adler into the national spotlight as football player and bully Dave Karofsky. But it’s his late mother’s fight with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy that launched him toward MDA’s Muscle Team.
Students hop to help fight muscle disease, while learning core values of awareness, acceptance and assistance
posted on April 9, 2012 - 12:02pm
Hopping isn’t just for bunnies.
Each year thousands of preschools, day care centers and elementary schools across the country are taken over by swarms of hopping students, all doing their part to help children with neuromuscular disease.
