Resilient Voices Archives - Page 2 of 16

Things That Are Harder Than They Look: A Field Guide

Michael MantzJuly 14, 2026Ataxia Awareness, Resilient Voices

Nobody tells you about this part. You just show up one day and find out that opening a bag of chips in public is, apparently, a skill you have to earn. Ataxia has a way of introducing you to the physical world at a level of detail most people never need. I now have opinions...

What Is Voice Banking and Why You Should Know About It Now

Michael MantzJuly 7, 2026Ataxia Awareness, Research and Development, Resilient Voices

On June 29, 2026, former NFL running back Chris Johnson sat down with Michael Strahan on Good Morning America to discuss his ALS diagnosis. He is 40 years old and has not spoken in his natural voice for some time. But the voice from the speech-generating device he used sounded like him because it was...

The Etiquette Nobody Wrote for Walking Slowly in a Fast World

Michael MantzJune 30, 2026Ataxia Awareness, Resilient Voices

Nobody has ever sat down to write the rules for how fast a person is supposed to walk down a sidewalk. There’s no manual, no orientation video, no fine print. And yet everyone seems to know them anyway. Walk on the right. Don’t stop without warning. Keep pace with the group you’re near, even if...

What to Say to Someone Going Through a Hard Time (When You Don’t Know How)

Michael MantzJune 23, 2026Ataxia Awareness, Overall Wellness, Resilient Voices

Most people want to be good at this. Almost nobody is. Somewhere between the first phone call after bad news and six months later, the questions tend to quiet down. Not because anyone decided to care less, but because nobody teaches people what to do with concern that has no end date. A crisis is...

What a Good Day Actually Looks Like

Michael MantzJune 16, 2026Ataxia Awareness, Resilient Voices

There’s no confetti. No soundtrack and no one shows up at the door to hand you a certificate. A good day just happens. And if you’re not paying attention, you can miss it entirely. I’ve been thinking about this lately. What actually makes a day good when your baseline isn’t what most people would consider...

When Ataxia Was Called Something Else: The History Nobody Talks About

Michael MantzJune 10, 2026Ataxia Awareness, Resilient Voices

Someone in an online Ataxia group recently asked a question that stopped me mid-scroll. They wanted to know if people with Ataxia symptoms might have been among those accused during the Salem Witch Trials… before anyone understood what was actually happening to them. It’s a good question. Honestly, it might be one of the best...

What Stress Actually Does to a Nervous System Like Mine

Michael MantzJune 5, 2026Ataxia Awareness, Overall Wellness, Resilient Voices

Most people treat stress as a mental problem. Something you manage with better habits, a cleaner calendar, maybe a meditation app. Work through it. Breathe through it. Talk yourself down. I’ve never had that option. For me, stress has always had a physical address. I have Spinocerebellar Ataxia, a progressive neurological condition that affects balance,...

When Your Body Costs More to Operate: Food, Supplements, and Energy With Ataxia

Michael MantzJune 2, 2026Ataxia Awareness, Overall Wellness, Resilient Voices

For most of my life, I didn’t think much about energy. I woke up, did my day, got tired, went to bed, and did it again. If I felt wiped out, there was usually a reason I could point to without much effort. Too little sleep, too much work, not enough food, or a night...

Home Safety When Balance Is an Issue: Small Changes That Make a Real Difference

Michael MantzMay 22, 2026Ataxia Awareness, Overall Wellness, Resilient Voices

Most people don’t think about their home as a risk until it becomes one. Tricky steps. Slippery rugs. A bathroom with nothing to grab onto. For most people, these are minor inconveniences. For anyone dealing with balance issues, they can be something else entirely – the difference between a normal Tuesday and a trip to...

Experience Is a Gift. It’s Also a Trap.

Michael MantzMay 15, 2026Ataxia Awareness, Overall Wellness, Resilient Voices

There’s a particular kind of confidence that comes with experience. Not arrogance exactly, just a quiet certainty that you’ve seen enough to know how things work. The mistakes get made, the hits get taken, the learning happens. A perspective gets earned. The problem is that the same confidence can quietly close you off. Not all...