I’ve never been a “blogger” before, but I’ve been a frequent reader of blogs for almost 10 years now. As blogs have become more of a business, I’ve seen more and more of them pop up. And while I worry that there are already so many blogs that mine will never get seen, I think that I have a unique point-of-view that I haven’t been able to find anywhere else on the internet.

I’m a 28-year-old woman, living in Pittsburgh. I work in Public Health research at a local university, am working part-time towards a Master’s of Public Health, and have a Yorkshire Terrier named Lily who I’m obsessed with. I watch a lot of Netflix, and I love seeing live shows – concerts and musicals (I saw Hamilton on Broadway last year!).

I also have Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a neuromuscular disease that causes me to have weak muscles. I’ve never been able to walk, and I’ve used a power wheelchair since I was three years old.

There are certainly other blogs written by people with disabilities, but they all seem to focus on disability advocacy issues, or on tips for traveling in a wheelchair – not just life that includes living with a disability. I think, especially in the current political and social climate, that it’s important for people to understand what life is like for people who they might not normally get to talk to. And while I’ve never focused on my disability – and really, I’ve tried to live as close to a “normal” life as possible – my disability is a part of my life that I can’t ignore, and wouldn’t want to.

I don’t want anyone to think this blog is going to focus on my disability, or disabilities in general. I’m just going to talk about my life, and hope that it helps to give people a little more of an understanding of what that’s like.