The Spinal Muscular Atrophy Podcast with Kevin Schaefer · SMA News Today

#137: Jared Wayland: Graphic Designer and Music Connoisseur

·48 min·3 clips

At 13, Jared was told, “here’s a pamphlet” and “this is what your life is going to be like.”

1. The Spinal Muscular Atrophy Podcast with Kevin Schaefer features Jared Wayland, a graphic designer from Ontario, Canada, talking about life with SMA. 2. Kevin Schaefer hosts the episode, and Jared Wayland matters because he works in graphic design, advocacy with SMA My Way, and adult life with SMA. 3. The episode asks how Jared moved from a 13-year-old diagnosis and sports loss to work, marriage, and fatherhood. 4. Jared says he was diagnosed with SMA around age 13 after hockey, baseball, and golf started getting harder and a hand tremor showed up while he held a CD. 5. He describes a local neurologist visit where he was told he might have muscular dystrophy and given a pamphlet that framed his life in bleak terms. 6. Jared says a specialist in the province later corrected that picture, and he stayed with that doctor until about three years ago. 7. He notes that he now sees an adult SMA specialist, which he says has been missing in many places. 8. Jared says he stopped playing hockey and golf as SMA progression made those sports harder over the next few years. 9. He describes bullying, a school change between seventh and eighth grade, and the strain of entering new cliques during puberty and high school. 10. He says he used a cane until 2017 and then transitioned to a wheelchair after a fall that broke a couple of bones. 11. Jared says punk rock shows gave him a community, and he promoted local and touring bands while still in high school. 12. He says he took bass and guitar lessons on and off until 16 or 17, then found finger strength and guitar weight becoming a problem. 13. He says a summer job at a print shop doing car wraps, vinyl wraps, and posters redirected him from a history degree toward graphic design. 14. Jared says he worked there for another couple years, freelanced on the side, and eventually moved into marketing-agency work and a six-or-seven-year contract with a Massachusetts company. 15. He says he was a 35-year-old dad going to punk rock shows, and he still meets other parents with kids in tow at venues. 16. Jared says his parents moved him to the main level, added an extension to their house, and became his core support system while he was growing up. 17. The conversation stays personal and reflective, with Kevin Schaefer asking follow-up questions about dating, caregiving, and adaptation. 18. Jared’s tone is direct and self-aware, and he uses concrete details like stairs, adaptive driving, and hotel rooms to explain daily logistics. 19. People interested in SMA, accessibility, punk rock, and inter-abled relationships would likely connect with this episode. 20. People wanting a strictly medical or technical SMA discussion may skip it.

As heard by us

A steady, personal SMA story about adapting to changing mobility and making room for help.

Jared Wayland's conversation with Kevin Schaefer offers a measured look at living with SMA over time. It follows the diagnosis at about 13, the family support that helps without hovering, and the gradual adjustment as mobility changes, while keeping the focus on ordinary…

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Why you'd press play

Jared's story if you want a calm, personal look at SMA, work, and adapting.

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