AUSTIN, Texas — Mindy Henderson knows a thing or two about things that suck. She also knows how to make them suck less. It’s all detailed in her book, "The Truth About Things That Suck and How To Make Them Suck Less."

“I decided to take the opportunity to write a book while sitting in a big pile of adversity  — about overcoming adversity,” Henderson said.

Aside from when she’s focused on editing a piece for the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s Quest Media Group, Henderson seems to always emit joy.

The editor-in-chief was diagnosed at 15 months old with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a genetic neuromuscular disorder that causes certain muscles to become weak and deteriorate.

“The doctors told my parents that I probably wouldn’t live beyond 3,” she said.

Henderson says her parents were told to let her be comfortable and enjoy the time they’d have together. But her parents weren’t satisfied with that. The pair helped Henderson through therapy and exercise.

“I started to get a little bit stronger and a little bit healthier, and I’ve seen a lot more birthdays than three,” Henderson said.

Henderson grew up to see possibilities rather than limitations, often getting herself involved in things other people with SMA might think twice about.

“I was fortunate to have the mindset that I did,” Henderson said. “I tended to be neck deep in things before I realized how much harder they were going to be to accomplish than they might be for someone else.” 

She eventually went off to college, got married and had a 20-year career in high tech before being laid off. That’s around the time she decided to share her experience with others through her book.

Henderson has always had a relationship with the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA), but the association was paying close attention to Henderson’s career moves at that point.

She was asked to help them launch a podcast and eventually was recruited to take on the editor-in-chief role she currently holds.

“It was just this natural fit because I could go to work every day and think about the tools, resources and information that I needed, and then my team and I could create that content,” she said. 

More recently, Henderson has been advocating for disability rights in hotels and airports on Capitol Hill. The MDA captured some of the challenges people like Henderson face in these spaces in a video posted to YouTube.

Henderson has a goal to see more equity in her lifetime.

“Anywhere you go today I would argue emphatically inclusion is not the norm,” she said. “It begins with all of us.”