My Story: Childhood
I was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) when I was 6 years old. My parents and my pediatrician both noticed that I began having some difficulty walking around the age of 5. My pediatrician recommended that we go see a specialist in neuromuscular diseases in New York City. He was pretty sure that I had Duchenne, but needed to be certain. In order to confirm, I underwent a "catscan" (obviously a while ago) and a muscle biopsy. The catscan was more because of research, so the biopsy was actually the determinant. Once the diagnosis was made I started making my semiannual visits to the Muscular Dystrophy Clinic.
I had started attending school at a two-story private school, but by the 3rd grade it became obvious that I would no longer be able to climb up and down the flight of stairs several times a day. In the 4th grade I transferred to a nearby one-story public school. I wasn't happy about this at first, but soon realized that it was much less tiring than my previous school and I could easily make new friends. It was difficult not being able to participate in certain activities and regular gym classes. Then, over Christmas break of that year it became impossible to walk on my own and I started using a manual wheelchair, at about age 9. I wasn't sure how kids at my school would react, but everything worked out well and I found much more freedom with a wheelchair than without (many non-disabled people would probably not understand this).
A new obstacle occurred, not because of my disability, but because my family and I moved from New Jersey to Texas when I was 10, halfway through the 5th grade. This again started my concern about how kids at my school would react to my being in a wheelchair. I didn't make many friends, at first, until I started 6th grade. The summer before 6th grade I started using my first electric wheelchair, because of difficulties pushing around. I was the first disabled student at my middle school, which turned out to be less of an obstacle that I expected. Kids there had no idea what to expect from a kid in a wheelchair, so when I acted just like them they saw that I was just like them and enjoyed the same things. I made many good friends, attended birthday parties and a few dances. When I moved again at 13 I was all set to go and had no qualms about making new friends.
