Mar. 31, 2012
I first met Dr. Clouse at a NAF conference in 2005 and have also worked with him at some of the Florida support group meetings he was involved with. Since I last saw him a couple of years ago I’ve been having more problems with my movements and I was getting worse. Therefore, it was very fortunate that I had the opportunity and pleasure of working with him again two months ago to start turning things around. It was great and this time the experience was even better because he stayed in the area where I live and we worked together several times. The information and techniques he shared with me really helped me understand why I’ve been having so many problems. I have to emphatically say that his techniques and tips have helped to keep me on my feet and as “normal” as I can be. I’m getting better!
Dr. Clouse keeps reiterating to me when we’re working that “I’m more normal than I think I am.” That’s difficult for me to believe because since my diagnosis in 1995 of SCA (type unknown), I’ve been told or lead to believe by many people in the medical field that it’s only going to get worse. At first I thought he was just trying to humor me but then after a few sessions I began to understand he was right. I just couldn’t see that part of me anymore because of the problems I was having. As we all know, a very positive attitude is so important in our well-being but it’s difficult to have and/or keep one if you have no hope!
The work with Dr. Clouse does require work and exercise but the results are impressive. It was like he was reading my mind. Because he’s “been there” he can understand concerns/issues I have and he then helped me address them. He helped me make sense of so much of the confusion I had with my ataxia and then he showed me how to correct a lot of it, and then he showed me what I needed to do to remember how to keep all this good stuff when he’s gone. How is that for encouragement! Thank you Dr. Clouse.
I still have a lot of work to do on my own and I will continue to practice these techniques. I strongly recommend working with Dr. Clouse to any ataxic person who would like to improve their quality of life and want to do more than just wait for their symptoms to get worse.
Ann Mayo
St. Augustine, FL
annwaynemayo@bellsouth.net