When 18-year-old Jennifer Wells graduated from Lake Highlands High School last year, she had plans similar to most of her classmates. In the fall, she would enter Southern Methodist University as a freshman, pursuing a degree in Psychology. The only difference is that, unlike her classmates, Jennifer would have to achieve her goal while coping with muscular dystrophy.

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So SMU it was; Jennifer has never let her lifelong battle with a rare muscular disease called “dermatomyositis” stop her from planning and moving forward, despite severely limited mobility. The condition can be controlled with steroids and eventually goes into remission. However, as a secondary condition, the damaged muscle tissue can calcify, causing a loss of strength and mobility.

 

“Not everyone has the secondary condition,” says Jennifer, “but lucky me, I have both!”

 

Jennifer was diagnosed with the disease at age 18 months. “We noticed that she was falling down all the time,” says Jennifer’s mother, Diane Wells. “All infants fall down when they’re learning to walk, but she seemed to be getting worse.” Jennifer’s initial bout with the disease lasted until age five, at which point she went into remission.

 

The calcification resulting from this first flare-up caused Jennifer to lose her ability to walk on her own. She has been moving around on her scooter since the sixth grade. The disease flared up again when she was a sophomore in high school, attacking her throat muscles. “I couldn’t swallow, so I couldn’t eat,” she recalls. “I lost a lot of weight and I had to stay in the hospital for six weeks.” Dermatomyositis is as complicated a disease as it is a rare one. However, it is Jennifer’s friendliness, optimism, intelligence and quick sense of humor that define her — not this condition that she views merely as an aggravation, not a roadblock.

 

“Sure, there are things I can’t do by myself,” she says, “but I’ve had to learn to ask for what I need.” She says that she was very shy as a child, but that she has learned to be more assertive. “My parents always told me that if there was something I wanted to do, I should just go for it,” she says.

 

And that’s exactly what she’s always done. In high school, Jennifer was an active volunteer at her church and a member of many service organizations. She received the Lake Highlands Exchange Club 1999 Award for “Overcoming Adversity.” She maintained a high GPA at LHHS, despite missing an entire six weeks while in the hospital.

 

“I was able to make up all the work I missed and stay on track,” she says, “but unfortunately my grades dropped a little.” Jennifer graduated with an 89.6% average, only four-tenths of a point away from graduating with honors. “I’m still a little bitter about that,” she laughs.

 

At SMU, Jennifer is involved in Alpha Phi Omega, a service fraternity. She decided to go into the field of Psychology despite other strong ambitions. She says: “I really love young children, and I’ve always wanted to be an elementary school teacher. But, realistically, the physical demands of teaching young children are probably too much for me. I have thought that I would like to go into counseling at an elementary school, or even private practice. Maybe I could advise people like me, who are having to cope with getting through school with a disability.”      

 

At her dorm at SMU, Jennifer relies on the assistance of a home health aid for four hours each morning and night to help her bathe, dress, and get in and out of bed. This system works well for her, with a few exceptions.

 

“The aid leaves at 11 each night,” she explains. “This means that I have to have all my studying completed by then — I don’t ever have the option of pulling an ‘all-nighter’ like everyone else.” She also finds the schedule constraining on weekends. “College kids don’t even go out until 9 or 10,” she says, “so being home by eleven is really hard!” Fortunately, Jennifer has several friends who know how to help her with her evening routine when the party runs late. Jennifer has achieved most of her success by simply believing in her ability to do anything she really wants to do. She will tell you that her daily life can be hard, that the effort required to do the simple things, like eat at the cafeteria, can leave her exhausted at the end of the day.

 

“Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be able to jump out of bed and run to class if I’ve slept late,” she says. But, she has adapted to life on campus. And she feels that anyone, facing any obstacle, can find the same success. “You must learn to advocate for yourself,” she says.

 

“Demand what you need, and then just go for it!”