Name: Fiona Cauley on What People Don't Know About Living with a Disability
Uploaded: 2026-01-26T15:45:08.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Fiona Cauley on What People Don't Know About Living with a Disability' from Theo Von Clips on Comedy Buff. Published 2026-01-26. Transcript available.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Fiona Cauley on What People Don't Know About Living with a Disability' from Theo Von Clips on Comedy Buff. Published 2026-01-26. Transcript available.

Your house is beautiful, by the way.
Oh, thanks.
Yeah, I feel lucky to have a place to live.
I got to get, I think, a new couch or something.
How many times after you sit on a couch, you have to get a new one?
That's a thing.
They should put like a little counter on the side that kind of goes down.
I like that.
It's like the lollipop question.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, like how many sits does it take to-
Like, oh, you're out, and it catapults you out.
The springs just activate at a certain point.
I like that.
No nonsense.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's what we need now.
It's like, yeah, how many sits does it take to get to the center of your sofa?
I would be screwed.
Really?
Because all I do is sit.
Oh, that's true, huh?
Mm-hmm.
You're right here.
You're what some people would consider a heavy sitter, huh?
Yeah, I'm professional.
Yeah.
Yeah, y'all ain't got shit on me.
For some of our listeners that don't know, so you have, you live with a,
uh, ailment.
What do you people, do people call it a disease, an ailment, just because you're
already talking
about it?
Yeah, it's a disease, a disability.
It's called Friedrich's ataxia.
Yeah, what is it?
Is it okay to ask you about it?
Are you okay?
Yeah, yeah, it, uh, so it's, like, a really rare neurological disease, and it's
progressive.
Um, and there are, like, 5,000 people in the U.S. that have it, and I'm one of
them.
And, uh, the only difference between us, the reason you can walk and I can't,
is I don't
make enough of a protein called fritaxin, and that's kind of it.
Like, both my parents were carriers, didn't know, and then they had kids, and
we're screwed.
And do, duh, and so are you the only child that has it?
No.
So if two parents have it, and they have a child, any child they have can have
it?
Can, yeah, but also they might not, some of them, but I'm one of three.
I'm the middle, and we all have it.
I got diagnosed first, so, so they can suck it, you know.
It's like that twin that's born later.
Yeah, yeah.
Did you feel like they were copying off you at any point?
Yeah, I mean, I'm the middle child, so it's like I can't have anything to
myself.
Yeah.
My sister's even in the same wheelchair as me now.
Rude.
No, same brand?
Yeah.
Oh.
I know.
But is she the younger sister?
Older.
Oh, that's, we're not good.
Because I noticed, I noticed my nephews at Thanksgiving were dressing the same
as each
other, but they're one, they're like two years apart, and I was like, oh, it
kind of
makes sense the younger one is dressing like the older one.
Yeah.
It's even, well, imagine if, like, your siblings, like, got the same car as you.
Yeah.
It's the same thing.
Oh.
Yeah.
Do you say handicaps?
What do you, what do you, what do you, what's kind of the preference, you know?
So, I actually recently learned it's person by person.
All people feel different, but for me, I prefer, like, disability, disabled.
I think handicapped, it's like a thing, like a handicapped parking spot or
stall, you know?
Yeah, or handicapped plaque or like that thing that people hang.
Like, it's like an item, but I'm a person with a disability.
Do you use handicapped parking?
Yeah.
Fuck yeah.
Yeah.
It's worth it.
What were some of the first times whenever, like, your, um, whenever Friedrich's
attacks,
you came along, what were some of the early signs, and did you misplace it for
something
else?
Oh, this is good.
So, when I was 15, it started, I started walking weird.
I was a volleyball player, and I couldn't do, like, the practices, we would do
suicides.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
And I would start, like, falling a little bit, just getting clumsy.
My coach was like, you're, you know, not taking this seriously.
They thought I was high.
Did they bench you?
Yeah.
And so, I.
What?
Which is where you were going to end up anyway, which is insane.
They were just getting me prepared for my future.
They were like, sit down.
You should be real good at this.
Oh, man.
That's so good.
And did your parents pick up on it pretty quick?
I mean, how did that kind of go?
This could make you so mad.
It is?
Yeah.
Maybe.
Why?
Were your parents drinking and stuff?
Were they having a tough time?
Oh, well, yeah.
Yeah.
But, no.
So, 15, I was like, something's wrong.
My principal was, like, smelling my breath because she thought I was drunk.
Because I would spill everything, drop everything, or talk to her.
I get it.
And the red hair, too, probably.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's, like, number one indicator.
Yeah.
You're St. Patrick's daughter in here.
Something was wrong.
Yeah.
And then I went to my mom, and I was like, I think I need to go to the doctor.
I don't know what, but something.
And my older sister had health issues that weren't this, but, like, different
stuff.
And so my mom was like...
Like, what, like, acne or whatever?
Well, yeah.
But, like, scoliosis and stuff.
Oh, my God, I'm sorry.
Yeah.
Wow.
I'm just kidding.
And that's so...
Dude, and I'm very sorry.
God.
And that shows what, like, that shows what, like, somebody who doesn't have to
deal with
a common ailment thinks of as, like, issues.
Agree.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's actually so real.
No.
I love it.
But she was like, you're copying your sister.
Because my sister walked away, but we blamed it on other stuff, and I had
nothing wrong
with me.
And then I kind of got in trouble for faking it by my family a lot, and yada, yada.
Then once I turned 18, it was my senior year of high school.
So you had to go that long dealing with it?
Mm-hmm.
And would it always be there, or is it just kind of every now and then?
It was getting worse.
Yeah, it was always all the time.
I didn't know why.
Like, I used to get in trouble, because I would, there was, like, an elevator
in the
school for, like, people that broke their legs or whatever, and I would use it,
and I got
detention all the time, because I would fall down the stairs all the time, and
I didn't
know why.
Oh, my God.
I couldn't even laugh at this.
Sorry.
I'm not laughing.
There's something wrong with my face in a voice box.
Oh.
That's insane.
And did you, was part of you still unsure, too?
Because I'm sure if a lot of your surroundings are like, nah, you're just not
figuring this
out correctly.
Was part of you still kind of unsure, too?
Like...
Well, I, my, I was gaslit, like, crazy.
I fully thought I had a mental issue, and I was making this all up.
Like, I, I really, I just wanted an answer.
I fully believed it was something I could get fixed before I went to college.
Like, I did not think it would be this serious.
Yeah.
So, at 18, I went, I took myself to a neurologist.
I eventually ended up being a neurologist, but I had to involve my mom in that,
and she was
like, fine, but, like, this has to be the end of the road for the, like, they
were so
sick of me being, like, something's wrong, you know?
And then I was right.
And then they were like, oh, my God, what's wrong with your sister?
And they got her tested, same shit.
And my little brother, a year and a half ago, got tested, and he has it too big
and still
walks, so.
So, you cracked the code, really?
Yeah, I ruined our family.
Yeah.
It's another way of saying that, yeah.
Yeah, if you never figure it out, you're just a bunch of people who, like.
You're just a bunch of weeble wobble.
Yeah, dude, you're just a bunch of people who just break out into the electric
slide
every now and then, you know?
That's insane, dude.
You're just doing the Cupid shuffle.
Your mom's like, stop Cupid shuffling.
Wow.
And so, was that, like, was that almost, uh, was that, like, a real
breakthrough moment
for your family?
Like, oh, my God, this is what's been going on?
And for your sisters as well?
Um, yeah, my mom felt so bad.
Oh.
Like, cried and, you know, because she had been telling me I was wrong.
And I was just excited to be right.
So, I didn't even, like, hear her under, I was 18.
Yeah.
I didn't get the seriousness of it.
And I was like, fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, you know?
Like, I'm celebrating that she was wrong and I was right.
Oh, yeah.
You're just like, get fucked, I'm going to vape.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
I'm going to vape.
And did, yeah, dude, did they think, was that ever part of it, like, oh, you're
just vaping
too much or whatever?
Yeah, I smoked a lot of weed in high school, too.
What?
I partied a lot.
And then I got diagnosed and I partied even more.
Did you?
So, I was like, what's the point of all this?
Oh, did you go through a point where you were, like, depressed about life and
stuff?
Oh, for six, seven years.
No way.
Yeah.
Oh.
It was hard to, like, find a reason.
I was like, why am I in college now?
Like, I don't have a future.
Right, like, I'm not going to be a farmer or, like, a pharmacist.
But I guess you could still think, I mean, do you think, looking back on that,
that there
was different ways you could have gone with that thought process or just kind
of, that's
just where you were?
Because I, it's tough for somebody to just imagine what they would be like in
that scenario.
I think.
Man, I'm sorry to go through that.
That's hectic.
Hey, it builds character if you make it out, you know?
And I'm grateful for that.
I wouldn't be who I am today.
I have more perspective now than I think most 29-year-olds do, probably.
I don't know.
I think it's important when you're given something that's serious and kind of
life-altering to,
like, allow yourself to mourn.
Because I'm mourning what I thought I had, right?
And I'm trying to, like, get accustomed to what I know I'm going to have or not
have in the
future, you know?
And humans, we are, we adapt.
I'm fine.
People feel bad for me.
And I'm like, you brought tickets to my show.
I'm doing all right, you know?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'm happy.
Yeah.
Yeah.