Friedreich's Ataxia is a life shortening disease. However, the disease does not affect a person's ability to think and reason. Individuals will experience difficulty in standing, walking, running and maintaining balance. Eventually a wheelchair will be required. Handwriting becomes increasingly illegible and requires considerable time and effort.
Manipulative tasks become increasingly more difficult to the point where many become impossible.
Fatigue is a concern and will affect performance in the classroom. Eyesight and hearing may be affected. Educators and parents must keep this in mind continuously when setting educational standards and designing curriculum for students with this disease. When an individual is confined to a wheelchair and no longer capable of caring for themselves, how they feel about themselves will be the determining factor in their quality of life. The long term view is that in the future the individual will not be able to write, but will be able to use a typewriter albeit slowly Handwriting is physically tiring and may cause hand cramps because the individual will grasp the pen or pencil very tightly in order to try to control it.