Kavita, was born withspinal muscular atrophy (SMA), and has been under the care of Hopkins Children’s neurologists since she was a toddler.

SMA is a neuromuscular disease characterized by progressive degeneration of the motor neurons and leads to progressive weakness and loss of muscle tone and movement. The disease can range from life-threatening to mild.  It usually requires management by amultidisciplinary team including pediatric neurologists, pediatric pulmonologists, critical-care specialists, rehabilitation techs and physical therapists.

Kavita was born in India and moved to the United Sates before she turned 1. By the time she was 2, Kavita’s parents became concerned because she was not crawling. At Hopkins Children’s, Kavita had a life-saving spinal surgery, which allowed her to sit up. Without the surgery, her spine would have been useless.

Kavita has a quite severe form of SMA that only allows her to move the index finger on her right hand. She has feeling in her entire body, but can only control the muscles on her face. She also has to sleep with an oxygen mask to maintain her breathing and receives help from her mom, dad and two younger brothers. 

Despite these challenges, Kavita graduated summa cum laude from University of Maryland where she studied computer science and math. She is currently enrolled as a graduate student in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at the University of Maryland. Kavita’s ambition is to write a computer program to design a robot for people with disabilities and special needs. 

HEAR Kavita discuss her ambition to design a special needs robot at Radiothon 2010

Another one of her passions is being an advocate for people with disabilities in this country and overseas. Kavita is a great example of how even people with devastating conditions like SMA can lead a fairly normal life and achieve great success.

HEAR Kavita talk about staying positive at Radiothon 2010