For the second It’s a Lot episode of Rare Disease Month, I spoke with Tyler Lima-Roope, a content creator and advocate who has spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). I’ve followed (and admired!) Tyler for years and was so excited when he said yes to chatting. Tyler was one of the first people I thought of after my son was diagnosed with SMA, and I’ve used his content as an example of fantastic storytelling in the college level social media course I teach.

We talked about the joy of opening new baseball cards, what it was like growing up with a disability, falling in love and being in an inter-abled relationship, the ridiculous limits on income and assets for folks on SSI, and lots more. In the second half of the episode, we explored his career as a content creator, the temptation to make a fool of yourself just to go viral, the feeling of being stuck in a box because people expect a certain type of content from you, and brand partnerships Tyler would love to do.

Tyler’s cat joined us for part of the conversation, which was delightful! I really hope you’ll give this episode a listen. And if the conversation inspires you to give, Cure SMA is a great organization to donate to.

You can find the episode wherever you get your podcasts! Until then, enjoy these quotes and memes from the conversation.