#ATAXIA

[lovesnapcats]

Pepper is 6 months-old and sponsored by Vendetta Yenter. SNAP Cats rescued Pepper from Madera, CA. Pepper is a spicy girl! She has lots of energy and loves to play play play! She also likes to eat eat eat (wet food). Pepper’s ataxia is moderate+, but she gets around just fine. Pepper would benefit from being with another kitten about her age although she does well at entertaining herself to burn-off all of that energy.

If you’re interested in Pepper please fill out an adoption application at https://www.snapcats.org/category/adoption/catsforadoption/. Thanks!

SNAP Cats uses Smart Cat, all natural cat litter.

[skys-archive]

I genuinely feel so confused and lost with my disability.

I have post treatment lyme disease, I was tested positive for lymes years after gaining treatment. But all of my symptoms are unconventional. They're all things that have been loosely linked to lymes but I don't have the conventional symptoms. I have fatigue but it's not my main overbearing symptom like it is for most people. I never had the bullseye rash and my main problem has always been joint and muscle pain and stiffness. I have tics and recently I've been having a horrible deterioration of fine motor skills. I can walk but I often have to choose between activities. If I am at a full day activity that's not very laborious, I might not be able to participate in my band or theatre. I've always had to choose between school and other things or work and other things.

One day of work for 4 hours leaves me bedridden for a day. I've been unable to draw and put on clasp necklaces or any other fine motor skills. I want a wheelchair to conserve energy and not be hurting all the time but ptlds isn't a "real" disability so I can't get one that best suits my needs covered by insurance and I'm not sure I'm able to get one on my own.

All of this is just, not conventional to ptlds. I feel like there's something else going on but I don't know how to get doctors to test me. I don't know how to keep them from saying no we don't need to test for that. I feel like lyme is not all that this is and I want to be able to have a "real" disability and be seen and accommodated and I just feel so lost and hopeless.

I'm at the best mentally I've been ever, but my physical health is just getting worse and worse with no answers.

I don't know what to do and everything just feels so hopeless.

[gayaest]

Next of the first years for my paravolley AU is: Tsukishima 🏐🤍

[wheelie-sick]

was looking up examples of ataxic gaits just out of curiosity because I have an ataxic gait and they're literally all just non-ataxic people imitating us. it all looks like someone mocking me and the way I walk and move. and some of these are clearly being used as resources to teach medical students. medical students are learning about ataxia from imitative mockery of my gait

[weirdstrangeandawful]

Anyone who has lost the ability to work as a result of disability... any advice? I think I need to start preparing for this very near eventuality.

I can't get on disability assistance here because I am only allowed to have CA$5000 in savings and I currently have more than that because a) I'm trying to finish my undergrad and get a PhD, b) I technically have other money I can't access because of financial abuse and c) I need to save CA$8000 (at least) to $11 000 (realistic) for a wheelchair that I desperately desperately need. Not to mention a $30 000 service dog which I also desperately need plus my CA$8000 hearing aids which are only meant to last 4 years and are currently pushing 5.

I don't have a partner. All my close friends are also disabled or don't have money to spare or both. My parents are the financial (and other) abusers. The only family I feel safe with are academics and have a child so money is very tight. I'm gonna be on my own if I can't continue working and I won't be able to keep my place to live since my tuition is over $5000 which is the max I could have on disability assistance and my housing is dependent on my studying.

Advice desperately needed and welcome. Even if you're from a different country (I do a lot of disability advocacy work so I am pretty good at parsing out what's useful from US-centric advice)

[sillylandmagic]

Poem and drawing I made about having ataxic cerebral palsy.

[crippleprophet]

in need of involuntary movement advice

hi besties, so i have lupus that is currently untreated and have been developing a lot of neurological issues, most likely as a consequence of this. we are suspecting:

1) cerebellar ataxia because i list to the left, i have an intention tremor, my balance has gone to hell standing & walking and is worse with my eyes closed, and i’ve got dysmetria (issues with finger-to-nose test)

2) some sort of movement disorder(s) affecting the basal ganglia. i experience what seems to be dystonia (slow twisting movements & muscles being held still in a certain position), chorea (jerky sudden movements), and ballismus (large flinging movements). the involuntary movements seem to get worse with directed movements, especially fine motor skills (possibly in some sort of relationship with the intention tremor), and strong emotions such as distress or excitement.

these have been getting significantly worse recently, and i’m especially concerned because my involuntary movements have “spread” to involve my legs and throat/tongue. i’m really struggling to find any practical advice & not just bullshit about exercise & taking care of your mental health or how brave caregivers are. my questions are including but not limited to:

if i’m walking while my legs start flinging, what do i do? i’ve started using my upright rollator around the house but i don’t think it could keep me from falling in that scenario

harm reduction in cooking for myself? i already don’t use knives but i’m worried about spilling boiling water or injuring myself with scissors

how to not break dishes. i need to use ceramic & glass because they can more reliably be cleaned for my allergy needs. someone suggested several small tables between the kitchen and couch which i’m going to try but would love any additional ideas as well

eating. i already use adaptive silverware and i think i’m going to invest in some bibs but it’s still so difficult

advice for choking - how to minimize it, what to do during it, etc

do you just take a pillow with you all the time or…? like i start hitting things around me really hard

we’re trying to find a community member who would be willing to drive me to appointments but in the event that i have to take a lyft somewhere, what do i tell the driver in case i start whacking their car?

if i for some reason have to be out alone, advice for not getting murdered by the police and/or forcibly hospitalized?

thank you so much to anyone who has advice, including any resources on where to look up this type of information!! i would really appreciate any reblogs for visibility

[d0nutzgg]

Analyzing An Ataxic Dysarthria Patient's Speech with Computer Vision and Audio Processing

Hey everyone, so as you know I have been doing research on patients like myself who have Ataxic Dysarthria and other neurological speech disorders related to diseases and conditions that affect the brain. I was analyzing this file

with a few programs that I have written.

The findings are very informative and I am excited that I am able to explain this to my Tumblr following as I feel it not only promotes awareness but provides an understanding of what we go through with Ataxic Dysarthria.

Analysis of the audio file with an Intonation Visualizer I built

As you can tell this uses a heatmap to visualize loudness and softness of a speaker's voice. I used it to analyze the file and I found some really interesting and telling signs of Ataxic Dysarthria

At 0-1 seconds it is mostly pretty quiet (which is normal because it is harder for patients with AD to start their speaking off. You can notice that around 1-3 seconds it gets louder, and then when she speaks its clearer and louder than the patients voice. However the AD makes the patients speech constantly rise and fall in loudness from around -3 to 0 decibels most of the audio when the patient is speaking. The variation though between 0 and -3 varies quickly though which is a common characteristic in AD

The combination of the constant rising and falling in loudness and intonation as well as problems getting sentences started is one of the things that makes it so hard for people to understand those with Ataxic Dysarthria.

The second method I used is using a line graph (plotted) that gives an example of the rate of speech and elongated syllables of the patient.

As you can see I primarily used the Google Speech Recognition library to transcribe and count the syllables using Pyphen via "hyphenated" (elongated) words in the speech of the patient. This isn't the most effective method but it worked well for this example and here is the results plotted out using Matplotlib:

As you can see when they started talking at first there was a rise from the softer speech, as the voice of the patient got louder, they were speaking faster (common for those with AD / and HD) my hypothesis (and personal experience) is that this is how we try to get our words out where we can be understood by "forcing" out words resulting in a rise and fall of syllables / rate of speech that we see at the first part. The other spikes typically happen when she speaks but there is another spike at the end which you can see as well when the patient tries to force more words out.

This research already indicates a pretty clear pattern what is going on in the patients speech. As they try to force out words, their speech gets faster and thus gets louder as they try to communicate.

I hope this has been informative for those who don't know much about speech pathology or neurological diseases. I know it's already showing a lot of exciting progress and I am continuing to develop scripts to further research on this subject so maybe we can all understand neurological speech disorders better.

As I said, I will be posting my research and findings as I go. Thank you for following me and keeping up with my posts!

[stripeixii]

Okay it's actually so fun to write Jessica jut stumbling side to side when try to walk of nearly falling while standing still or getting light headed from turning a corner or

[rainingmusic]

Ataxia- Dust

[animerunner]

Not me just figuring out that my flares can get triggered by rowing machine. It just feels different then when normal walking triggers it

[sansxfuckyou]

Scenarios/Headcanons assorted like gummy packs, angst edition

this is all self indulgent angst/horror/gore fuel, and I have no clue how much this fandom likes angst, so I'm just throwing this in to see what happens

Donatello has fatal familial insomnia, it just hasn't shown enough symptoms for him to realize that its nearly onset

Once paranoia and hallucinations start to kick in he's sure he's just touched flesh infected by kuru or cruetz-jakob disease instead

Then comes isolation, he'll find a cure, he has to, what if his brothers also get a TSE? A cure has to be ready for them, once he reaches total insomnia he's to entrenched in his work to notice

Leonardo, with anxiety? Absolutely, he just puts on a show to act like he has everything under control for his brothers

He's muttering to himself that everything will be fine, nothing is wrong, everything is perfectly fine, even as they lose the fight

Even as he's dragged away to be drugged and gutted for science, or worse, he's still fine, he's still perfectly fine and nothing is wrong because he said so, and its fine until it isn't but by then its to late

Michelangelo, with telling signs of ataxia? Angsty and delicious, his brothers can see, he knows they can but forces it down

Missions being jeopardized because his arm decided to act up and muscles convulsing, nearly beheading Leonardo because of it

When he's finally confronted about he's begging them to go away, because I'm fine, this is normal, even as Donatello explains it isn't normal, he still tries to convince himself it is normal

Raphael goes foot and turns on his brothers, oh, yes, amazing, he stays undercover though, watching and recording

When the truth comes out, he already has the crest burned into his neck and he's begging that his brothers get any form of mercy

He didn't want to betray, he really didn't, but he had no choice, it was submission or he gets fed to the wolves, and he chose submission so he could be with his brothers, even in betrayal

[wheelie-sick]

dysmetria is horrible because I type like this without autocirrve it's really bad I'm sos ick of jt I cant fucking oress the right keys if I tey ti typ a tmy ordferred speed

corrected text:

dysmetria is horrible because I type like this without autocorrect it's really bad I'm so sick of it I can't fucking press the right keys if I try to type at my preferred speed

like I'n s really fast typer and I want my coordinstion bacj because I'm tired of typing soiely. soemtimes I fuck op a word so badly not even autocorrect cn rigure iut what I'm trying to say

corrected text:

like I'm a really fast typer and I want my coordination back because I'm tired of typing sowly. sometimes I fuck up a word so badly not even autocorrect can figure out what I'm trying to say

ataxia will be the death of me

[cantate-domino]

I have had brain Injury related ataxia for a good chunk of my life now but I always conveniently forget about it when it’s time to fill my mug of tea. I have not not spilled tea in years.

[sillylandmagic]

I did it, I managed to do jump rope 10 times!! Even if hard, but, participated and did it. Haven’t done since 5th grade physical therapy. So, did good job.

[milkywaypudding]

The main crew for ataxia

From top to bottom

1. Moonie, Demon, She/They, Pansexual, 20 years old, main bitch, uses a magic mirror to travel and from earth, kinda an idiot.

2. Grabele, Demon, He/Him, Bisexual, 19 years old, Moonie’s brother and Roommate, slightly more intelligent than his sister.

3. Koi, Mermaid, He/They, Pansexual, 22 years old, Moonie’s best friend and second roommate, usually the only braincell(god help them).

4. Suzi, Human, She/Her, AroAce, 19 Years old, got transported to ataxia by accident and is now moonie’s third roommate.(@diphllya’s character)

5. Jenna, Albirean/Parasite hybrid, She/Her, Heterosexual, 21 years old, lives in Sparklesville in a cupcake shaped house.