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Unless it's your acronym.

Melinda Donnelley's is a rare one. SMA: spinal muscular atrophy.

The disease pushed her from her days as a dancer at the Copacabana in New York 40 years ago to a volunteer in Albuquerque organizations trying to improve life for people with disabilities.

Because her brother has SMA, Donnelley, 61, wondered about her own condition when she couldn't do deep-knee bends or get out of a swimming pool easily.

The former dancer and swimmer learned at 42 that she also has SMA.

In 20 years, her disease has progressed slowly, but it is progressing.

"My top thigh muscles are gone. I can walk with my knees locked. If not, it's like someone whacked me in the back of my knee," Donnelley said.

To say Donnelley is a fighter understates her attitude.

A developer who was building Donnelley's house on the West Side about five years ago wasn't listening to her needs. As a person with a handicap, she wanted some simple design changes, like wider hallways and doors, and step-in access to a shower without a bathtub.

Builders said no to about everything she requested.

" `It's customized work,' they'd say. The attitude of the builders made me mad," Donnelley said.

Her insistence and persistence through that time and subsequent volunteerism motivated Barbara Leonard, health services coordinator of the Muscular Dystrophy Association of New Mexico, to nominate Donnelley for a personal achievement award.

Donnelley's work for people with disabilities earned her the state honor, pitting her against other state winners for the national MDA award, to be announced late this summer.

"She wasn't going to put up with a contractor who wasn't listening to her concerns," Leonard said. "She just took control. She said, `This is what I want, and this is why I want it.' She went beyond that to help other people see what's needed and how to do it."

Showing others that they can change situations makes Donnelley a good example, Leonard said.

Donnelley serves on the board of directors of the Albuquerque Independent Living Resource Center and on a city subcommittee that advocates incorporating Universal Design features, special accommodations like knee space under sinks and levered handles on doors and faucets.

She hopes to make everyday tasks easier for people whose disabilities are often overlooked by builders.

Donnelley said design changes in homes should be incorporated at the beginning.

"If you're aware, you can start from scratch and grow old in the same place," she said. "People are living longer and are going to need this stuff. . . . You might as well, if you're going to build a house, be prepared."

She has another acronym: ASAP. Get it done. Now.