Alexa Dectis | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | March 5, 1993 Allentown, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Education | George Washington University, (BA) Chapman University School of Law (JD) |
| Occupation | Attorney |
| Years active | 1998–present |
Alexa Dectis (born March 5, 1993) is an American lawyer and former child actress. [1] She has been a spokesperson for the Muscular Dystrophy Association since age five. Diagnosed with type 2 spinal muscular atrophy as a child, she uses a wheelchair. [2]
Dectis was born March 5, 1993, in Allentown, Pennsylvania. She was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy at 16 months and has used an electric wheelchair since age two. [3]
Dectis graduated from the George Washington University in May 2015. [2] While in college, she became a member of Kappa Delta sorority. [4] Dectis went on to attend the Chapman University School of Law, where she concentrated in entertainment law and protecting minors in the entertainment industry. Dectis says her childhood in the entertainment industry made her realize the importance of protecting children in the industry. [5]
After enrolling in acting classes at age five, Dectis appeared in numerous television shows, commercials, and movies, including PBS Kids, Scholastic Books, Sesame Street , The Guiding Light , and the movie Admissions , starring Tina Fey. [3]
After graduating from law school in 2019, Dectis passed the California bar exam in July of that year. [6] In 2022, she was named to the Forbes 30 Hollywood and Entertainment List for her work overseeing child labor law compliance across film and television projects. [7]
Spinal muscular atrophies (SMAs) are a genetically and clinically heterogeneous group of rare debilitating disorders characterised by the degeneration of lower motor neurons and subsequent atrophy (wasting) of various muscle groups in the body. While some SMAs lead to early infant death, other diseases of this group permit normal adult life with only mild weakness.
Hypotonia is a state of low muscle tone, often involving reduced muscle strength. Hypotonia is not a specific medical disorder, but a potential manifestation of many different diseases and disorders that affect motor nerve control by the brain or muscle strength. Hypotonia is a lack of resistance to passive movement, whereas muscle weakness results in impaired active movement. Central hypotonia originates from the central nervous system, while peripheral hypotonia is related to problems within the spinal cord, peripheral nerves and/or skeletal muscles. Severe hypotonia in infancy is commonly known as floppy baby syndrome. Recognizing hypotonia, even in early infancy, is usually relatively straightforward, but diagnosing the underlying cause can be difficult and often unsuccessful. The long-term effects of hypotonia on a child's development and later life depend primarily on the severity of the muscle weakness and the nature of the cause. Some disorders have a specific treatment but the principal treatment for most hypotonia of idiopathic or neurologic cause is physical therapy and/or occupational therapy for remediation.
Spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA), popularly known as Kennedy's disease, is a rare, adult-onset, X-linked recessive lower motor neuron disease caused by trinucleotide CAG repeat expansions in exon 1 of the androgen receptor (AR) gene, which results in both loss of AR function and toxic gain of function.
Kim Tserkezie is a British actress and television presenter. She is best known for portraying the role of Penny Pocket in the children's series Balamory and as a presenter for BBC's 'Disability Today' and BBC2's 'From the Edge'.
Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a rare neuromuscular disorder that results in the loss of motor neurons and progressive muscle wasting. It is usually diagnosed in infancy or early childhood and if left untreated it is the most common genetic cause of infant death. It may also appear later in life and then have a milder course of the disease. The common feature is progressive weakness of voluntary muscles, with arm, leg and respiratory muscles being affected first. Associated problems may include poor head control, difficulties swallowing, scoliosis, and joint contractures.
Jane Susan Campbell, Baroness Campbell of Surbiton, is a British disability rights campaigner and a life peer in the House of Lords. She was Commissioner of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), and served as the Chair of the Disability Committee which led on to the EHRC Disability Programme. She was the former Chair of the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE). She was a Commissioner at the Disability Rights Commission (DRC).
Distal spinal muscular atrophy type 1 (DSMA1), also known as spinal muscular atrophy with respiratory distress type 1 (SMARD1), is a rare neuromuscular disorder involving death of motor neurons in the spinal cord which leads to a generalised progressive atrophy of body muscles.
Laura Ann Hershey was a poet, journalist, popular speaker, feminist, and a disability rights activist and consultant. Known to have parked her wheelchair in front of buses, Hershey was one of the leaders of a protest against the paternalistic attitudes and images of people with disabilities inherent to Jerry Lewis's MDA Telethon. She was a regular columnist for the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, and on her own website, Crip Commentary, and was published in a variety of magazines and websites. She was admired for her wit, her ability to structure strong arguments in the service of justice, and her spirited refusal to let social responses to her spinal muscular atrophy define the parameters of her life as anything less than a full human existence. She was also the mother of an adopted daughter.
Victor Santiago Pineda is a Venezuela-born social development scholar, serial social impact entrepreneur and disability rights expert. He is also an international speaker and consultant on accessibility related issues. Early in his career, he served as the youngest government delegate to participate in the drafting of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and thereafter launched the World Enabled Global Initiative, a disability affiliate program that combines the reach of the world's most active disabled persons' organizations (DPOs) and intergovernmental agencies. He also launched the Pineda Foundation, a voluntary non-profit that promotes the rights and dignities of young people with disabilities. Both were established in 2003.
Congenital distal spinal muscular atrophy is a hereditary condition characterized by muscle wasting (atrophy), particularly of distal muscles in legs and hands, and by early-onset contractures of the hip, knee, and ankle. Affected individuals often have shorter lower limbs relative to the trunk and upper limbs. The condition is a result of a loss of anterior horn cells localized to lumbar and cervical regions of the spinal cord early in infancy, which in turn is caused by a mutation of the TRPV4 gene. The disorder is inherited in an autosomal dominant manner. Arm muscle and function, as well as cardiac and respiratory functions are typically well preserved.
Comic Store Heroes is a reality television program set inside Manhattan's Midtown Comics, the largest comic book store in the United States. Described as a one-hour documentary about comic book subculture, it is British production company Parthenon Entertainment's first U.S.-based factual entertainment production, and premiered on the National Geographic Channel on July 13, 2012, at 8pm Eastern Standard Time. As with Comic Book Men, a similar series airing on AMC starring Kevin Smith, the program focuses on the interactions among the store's staff, and with its customers.
Sarmistha Pritam is an Assamese writer. She is also an advocate for people with spinal muscular atrophy.
Chia Yong Yong is a Singaporean lawyer, disability advocate and a former Nominated Member of Parliament of Singapore from August 2014 to September 2018.
Jillian Mercado is an American actress and fashion model represented by CAA Fashion. As a wheelchair user, she is one of the few professional models who has a visible physical disability in the fashion industry. A prominent figure in the new wave of models challenging beauty ideals in the fashion industry, Mercado is keen to fight the lack of representation of people with disabilities in the fashion industry and their enduring stigma.
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Nawaal Akram is a comedian, model, athlete and disability rights campaigner. She was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy at the age of six, and was forcefully removed from education against her wishes at the age of 10 by the school; she became a wheelchair user at the age of 12. She has since founded Muscular Dystrophy Qatar to raise awareness of the condition, and was named one of BBC's 100 Women programme in 2017.
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