Elmwood Sixth-Graders Stand With Miller
Lessons On 'Impact' Lead To Fundraising For Charity
Posted: March 19, 2013 at 5 a.m.
Jacob Foster, right, a sixth-grade student at Elmwood Middle School, talks Friday with Patrick Woodruff, left, about raising money for the Miller McNeil Woodruff Foundation. The foundation supports families of children with spinal muscular atrophy, a genetic muscular disorder.
Sixth-grade voices echoed around the commons of Elmwood Middle School on Friday as they stood in support of Miller Woodruff, who died in 2011 after being diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy.
At A Glance
Spinal Muscular Atrophy
Spinal muscular atrophy affects voluntary muscles, like those used in swallowing, crawling and walking. About one in every 40 people carry the recessive gene that causes spinal muscular atrophy. If both parents carry the gene their child has a 25 percent chance of having spinal muscular atrophy.
There are three classifications of SMA:
• Type I
Typically diagnosed before 6 months of age, a child with Type I SMA is unable to sit or stand without help and may also have trouble swallowing, coughing and breathing.
• Type 2
Typically diagnosed before 2 years old, children with Type 2 SMA cannot sit up without support and cannot walk. Some may have difficulty swallowing.
• Type 3
Children with Type 3 SMA may have trouble standing walking, running or climbing stairs either as young children or as they grow older. They may also develop tremors or have bones that break easily.
• Type 4
Typically diagnosed after age 35, Type 4 SMA is also known as adult-onset SMA. Although less common, there may be muscle weaknesses, tremors or twitching.
Source: fsma.org
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