Freelance columnist Daniel J. Vance (pictured left) recently profiled architect Stu Soneson in his weekly column “Disabilities” which can be found in more than 200 newspapers around the United States. Stu Soneson has spinal muscular atrophy, the number-one genetic killer of children under the age of two.

From the article:

Soneson has spinal muscular atrophy, which a National Institutes of Health website describes as a hereditary disease causing “weakness and wasting of the voluntary muscles in the arms and legs of infants and children.”

All this, and yet he has led a “normal” life.

“It was great growing up,” said 48-year-old Soneson in a telephone interview. “I had a great time. My family and friends treated me like I didn’t have any kind of physical problem. I had great friends at school and church. My family made sure I did all the things a little boy would do growing up. I water-skied on my dad’s knees. I climbed mountains riding on my dad’s or brother’s back. I swam in both oceans before I was in college.”

Yet in kindergarten, he could barely stand through the Pledge of Allegiance. In first grade, other students began pulling him around in a red wagon, and in second grade, he started using a wheelchair. His classmates readily accepted him.

“I tended to not think of myself as being different,” he said, “and that probably helped other people not think of me as different.”

To read the full column, visit the archives section of www.danieljvance.com.