Disabilities

The National Institutes of Health defines retinitis pigmentosa (RP) as an eye disease involving damage of the retina. The disease often runs in families. Symptoms can include

Recently, I featured 43-year-old New Jerseyan Dorothy Smaniotto, who has antiphosopholipid syndrome (APS), also called "sticky blood disease." In 2008, due to APS, she had two disabling strokes and a heart attack before doctors could figure out what was wrong.

Nicholas Evans of Spring Hill, Florida, had just scored an exceptional 1450 on his SAT and was planning on majoring in meteorology at Florida State University. In 1999, he had a bright academic future even though he was having severe migraine headaches affecting his studies.

will call her "Rita." She is a middle-aged copy editor for a Midwest publishing company. In her teens, she began having mental health struggles and in her 20s was diagnosed with a form of bipolar disorder

Gary Joseph LeBlanc reads this column in the Hernando (Fla.) Today newspaper. For eight years, he was the primary caregiver for his father, who died a year ago at age 85 of Alzheimer's disease.

You may have heard Nelson Lauver speak on the radio. His syndicated radio program, American Story Teller Radio Journal, has been heard in homes across America. Yet you may not be aware Lauver has his own amazing story

Perhaps you remember Troy McClain appearing on Donald Trump's highly rated "The Apprentice" television show in 2004. Since then, besides starting numerous business ventures, McClain ultimately became worldwide a passionate advocate for people with disabilities

She's in her 50s and reads this column in the Pekin Daily Times (Illinois). In 2006, a specialist diagnosed her with “idiopathic environmental intolerance,” also called multiple chemical sensitivity syndrome (MCSS).

Becky Felton reads this column in the Ord Quiz, of Ord, Nebraska. In 2001, her experience with a disability began when she injured a shoulder after tripping over her dog.

A number of readers have drawn my attention to “Team Hoyt” and graciously asked me to feature this amazing father-son running team associated with disability. The first email came from a reader of Grainger Today in Tennessee.