1) Look where you are going, not where you are. YOU are moving, not the floor.
2) The harder you try to look normal, the more you look abnormal. Overconcentrating is counterproductive.
3) Gym memberships and equipment are NOT what you need. Repetitive exercise just wears you out. Regular daily activity is what you need.
4) Walk, swim, bike, stretch, MOVE. Do whatever you can safely do.
5) Being in a wheelchair, unless you are incapacitated, does not exempt you from movement. Roll ankles and feet, wiggle fingers and toes, stretch, rotate your core and head, wave arms, lift legs and flex muscles, etc.
6) YOGA...Chair yoga...almost any pose can be adapted to disability. Yoga is about stretching and breathing!
7) Rather than walking around like a ruptured chicken, use an assistive device. Canes are USELESS for ataxia. They offer NO stability, cause you to hunch, lean, and shuffle, and are for temporary injuries. You are MUCH better off with a walking stick.
8) There are a variety of walkers and rollators. Use GOOGLE, and narrow down which is best for you.
9) ANY water activity is great....swimming to even just walking around swishing your arms...you cant fall!
10) NO DRUG will give you REAL energy. Energy comes from eating right and moving. An ataxian in motion stays in motion....an ataxian at rest stays at rest. A gallon of coffee won't help.
11) Eat healthy, exercise to your capacity, and wake up each day looking to improve. If you eat crap, smoke, drink excessively, watch lots of mindless TV, spit piss and vinegar, and think the world owes you, you have bigger problems than ataxia.
12) No matter how dumb you think it is, going DOWN the stairs backwards is much easier.
13) You will get more fatigued/tired as the day goes on. Get physical stuff done earlier, or it won't get done.
14) It takes longer to do things...ADAPT & PACE! There is no such thing as 'hurry up'.
15) Don't try doing everything in one shot. Accomplish a task, rest until your battery is recharged, and have at it again. It works much better than going like crazy at once, and being shot for the rest of the day.
16) Getting up at night to pee is hard and dangerous for many. Any medical supply place has a variety of urinals to put bedside. It is much safer to lean against your bed/dresser than to stumble, stub toes, or fall on your way to the bathroom. Besides, when your knee is throbbing, or your eyebrow is bleeding, or your shoulder is dislocated, it's hard to get back to sleep.
17) If you have double vision, just close one eye. It is much more practical than a surgery which is only temporary, or prism glasses which really don't work. The lenses are fixed, and your eyes still wander.
