A Vision Test Helped Me See the Need for Self-care
“Look at the mirror on the wall. Can you tell me what letters you see?” I sat there in the darkened optometrist’s office with my face pressed forward into a…
Little Victories — Matthew Lafleur
Louisiana native Matthew Lafleur’s life isn’t what he expected following his 1994 diagnosis of Friedreich’s ataxia, a rare and debilitating disorder. Instead of giving up, he obtained degrees in English and mental health counseling. Unable to find a job after grad school, he applied to write a column at Friedreich’s Ataxia News. Years later, he now serves as the Associate Director of Patient Engagement for that site’s parent company, Bionews. Through his column and his role in patient engagement, Matt hopes to elevate the often overlooked voices of the rare disease population. We are not victims. We matter.
Featured Post
From fumbles to fortitude: Learning to quiet my inner critic
Living with Friedreich’s ataxia (FA) involves daily challenges that often go unnoticed by others. Coordination, balance, and speech impairments may be brushed off as simple clumsiness, but the consequences can be more than…
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Now Is All We Have, and Sometimes That’s Enough
The clanky metallic sounds are what I remember most. Pap-pap! And then a small sound of straining as someone’s body weight shifts as they are dragged forward.
Rolling Toward Empathy
About a decade ago, I read a local news report about a pizzeria being taken to court because it was inaccessible to people with disabilities. Opened in…
I’m Confident rideATAXIA Dallas Will Happen in November
The original date for this year’s rideATAXIA Dallas was March 28. This would have been my fourth year participating in the event. RideATAXIA is…
Reconciling with My Past, My Self, My Dream
I’ve been thinking a lot about identity lately. Who am I to myself? To others? Is Friedreich’s ataxia fundamental to who I…
Learning to Shift from ‘I’ to ‘We’
It doesn’t make sense to be this fragile, I thought, as my stomach dropped and I wanted to … fight? Punch a wall? Sob? I had no logical…
Playing the Cards We’ve Been Dealt
The day was cruelly beautiful. It was the first time I had ventured out of the house in over a month. I gazed out my van’s windows as tree…
Parallels Between 2018’s ‘Bird Box’ and the Coronavirus Pandemic
About a year ago, I wrote a “Little Victories” column about the 2018 Netflix movie “Bird Box.” I was struck by its message that people…
Choosing Our Own Identity
On an otherwise typical day of my self-quarantine, I careened to the side of my wheelchair and couldn’t stop. I wasn’t sure if the culprit was a coughing fit or an inability…
The Zeego Tales: A Little Something Extra
Focusing on times of plenty and excess amid the COVID-19 pandemic seems foreign, or even rude. However, this calamity and all the pain it’s wrought cannot be all we see.
Keeping a Homebound Physical Therapy Routine
I’m really fortunate. My life hasn’t undergone a drastic change even though I’ve rarely left my house in three weeks because of the COVID-19 pandemic. I work remotely and don’t drive, so…
My Family’s Legacy Is Centered on Grandma’s Cajun Food
Long before COVID-19, a little girl named Eula walked to the end of the road to catch a school bus. It was 1935, so her bus ride to the…
