POWAY
For all of his 18 years, Ben Lou’s physical disabilities have made him dependent on others 24 hours a day. But the Poway teen’s mental abilities have no limitations.
Ben is an exceptional mathematics whiz who was born with a genetic disease known as spinal muscular atrophy, or SMA. His health care needs require hands-on assistance from others for about 60 percent of his waking hours. Since his early teens, Ben has faced off against much older students in mathematic competitions and math camps around the world.
His prowess with numbers and near-perfect SAT score have earned him spots next fall at three of the nation’s most selective universities Harvard, Caltech and his first choice of M.I.T., where he’ll start online classes in the fall. Ben said his college dream is to study math, physics and biology with the goal of one day designing assistance products for people with disabilities like himself to become more self-sufficient. He’s still not sure how that wi