Kevin Bell first noticed something wrong when he was just a little boy in kindergarten.

When he ran around at recess, his joints locked up and he fell. Bell was diagnosed with Freiderich's ataxia when he was just 7. Over the years, the genetic disease has stolen the use of his arms, legs and hands, most of his eyesight and some of his hearing. Bell used a wheelchair by the age of 10, and needed the help of a scribe in school by the time he was 11. By the age of 16, a guide dog accompanied Bell to school.

Nevertheless, Bell graduated early from high school, enrolling at Auburn University when he was barely 17. His grade point average that first year was 3.77.

Bell graduated from college when he was 19 with a degree in psychology--then went back for a degree in Spanish when he discovered he couldn't get a job.

"When he walked across the stage to receive his diploma, he got a standing ovation," remembers his mother, Debbie Allen. Allen coordinates special events for AU.

Now, Bell is writing his autobiography with the help of amanuensis Betty Burgess, a former Auburn City Schools English teacher who has been working with him for a year and a half. She visits every Friday.

"I wanted to tell my story," Bell said. "I wanted to let everyone know what I've been through--it's really not the end of the world. It could be a lot worse."

That good humor distinguishes Bell, now 28, who for the last three years has received around-the-clock care at the Arbor Springs Health and Rehabilitation Center in Opelika. Allen could no longer keep Bell at home because she couldn't find reliable help.

Every day, young women from AU's Sigma Kappa sorority spend four hours with Bell, helping him surf the Internet and playing games with him. He has a Facebook page and is able to keep in touch with friends via e-mail if someone types the message. He taps his Bluetooth to talk on the phone.

"We try to schedule four hours a day so he doesn't get bored," Bell's mother said. "Boredom causes depression, and he is so sharp. We cannot leave him out here alone to just sit."

"Sharp" is an understatement. Bell was the kind of child who read the dictionary and encyclopedias, Allen recalled. She said meetings at school were really something, because her son got special education in two areas--as handicapped and as gifted. Now, he's a Trivial Pursuit champion.

"He says he can fill his mind with nonsense because he doesn't have to worry about a job," Allen said.

Bell's story begins in Auburn, where he attended city schools until the age of 10. He finished his schooling in South Carolina, after his father got a job at Clemson. His parents divorced, and Bell graduated from high school at the ripe old age of 16.

"I applied to Auburn, and Mom moved heaven and earth to get back here," Bell remembered.

At Auburn, Allen said, the Students with Disabilities Office was a godsend. Other students provided carbon copies of their notes, although Bell honed his memory to recall lectures in detail. He used books on tape--he still listens to "hundreds" of books--and worked at a voice-activated computer to complete his homework at school while Allen finished working.

"When he got to Auburn, he had a life for the first time," his mother said.

She said Bell made a lot of friends through the Reformed University Fellowship, the campus ministry of the Presbyterian Church.

"Those boys gave him the life we never thought he would have," Allen said. "They are still friends, in touch by e-mail. We've been to their weddings. They're great kids who opened up his whole world."

Bell went everywhere, even out for the evening. In those days Bell had more use of his arms, and he scooted around town in his wheelchair, accompanied by his guide dog Shelby.

"I never knew where he and that dog would be," Allen said. "I got phone calls all the time from people saying they saw him at Kroger or Hastings."

Bell maintains that Shelby was a "chick magnet." The black Labrador retriever from Dogs for the Disabled in South Carolina accompanied him everywhere. Shelby barked when the doorbell rang, because Bell's hearing was affected by his ataxia. If anybody got too close to him, she wanted to know why.

His hands worked better then, and when Bell dropped something, Shelby picked it up and gave it to him. Allen said she saw Shelby pick up a dime with her teeth.

The Lab stayed with Bell when he had back surgery at East Alabama Medical Center, and the first night they moved into Arbor Springs Shelby stayed in bed with him all night because she was so "freaked out," Bell said.

In fact, when Bell graduated from AU, the college registrar wanted to give Shelby a diploma, too.

"I came home and told him," Allen said. "He said, ‘No way! She slept through all the classes!'"

After he graduated from college the first time, Bell was able to substitute teach for Auburn City Schools. After he got his second degree, he continued to substitute for a year but, he said, he "quit" school because he was too disabled to continue.

"He's a drop-out," Allen laughed.

Now, Bell has lost the feeling over most of his body. He moves his legs, but doesn't know he is moving them. He can pick up his arms, but has no fine motor abilities. He operates the television remote with his tongue, sitting within inches of a giant TV screen.

The Kevin Bell Fund, started by Andy and Pam Lamar, helps pay for the extra sitters who come every day. Proceeds from Bell's book, when finished, will help pay his expenses, and Bell said he wants to contribute half the profits to the fund to help pay for his daytime sitters.

Burgess said she expects the book will be self-published, at least at first. She said that, in truth, she's not entirely sure how to go about getting the book published, but she's seeking help with the expense.

"I've sent an e-mail to one of my former students, DeMarcus Ware, and I've even e-mailed Oprah," she said. "I'm trying to figure out what we can do with limited funds, especially since we don't want to deplete the Kevin Bell Fund."

Allen said she and her son just feel lucky they have someone like Burgess. She breaks up when she talks about the effort.

"Writing this book has entertained Kevin immensely," she said. "It's good for him to put his life down on paper, and there are lots of people who care."

©2009 The Auburn Villager and Access Auburn