When Elisa Ramos, a 28-year-old Central Valley, California, resident with myasthenia gravis (MG), walks into a restaurant with her partner, she’s keenly aware of the looks. “I already face discrimination and displacement because of my disability,” she says. “My scars, medical equipment, and dragging feet get attention, and being with a female partner amplifies that.” . . .
For 18 years, Linda VanVliet spent most of her non-working time taking care of her daughter, Shelby, who was diagnosed with congenital muscular dystrophy at 3 years old. (That diagnosis was later changed to titin myopathy.) Linda’s work as a school nurse also allowed her to step in quickly when Shelby needed care. “For a . . .
Like many middle-school kids, 11-year-old Callen, of Emmaus, Pennsylvania, has turned his mom, Jamie Moulthrop, into a chauffeur, she jokes. He participates in karate, baseball, hockey, and surfing, and he meets up often with friends at the pool and splashes around for hours. Unlike the other kids around him, though, Callen has Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT), a . . .
When Kristine Welker’s son was young, he wanted to be as involved in sports as everyone else in the family — and that meant a high level of activity, from biking and boating to organized sports and running. “Our son is our third child and by the time he came along, we figured he’d follow . . .
