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Tic Talk: Living with Tourette Syndrome, is written by Dylan Peters, a 9-year-old boy with Tourette syndrome. In this personal narrative, Dylan Peters gives a timeline of events from the time he was diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome to the time he tells all of his friends and classmates he has tourette syndrome.
Overview
[edit]This narrative first starts with a foreward by former Major League Baseball Player, Jim Eisenreich. Jim Eisenreich, like Dylan Peters, grew up with Tourette Syndrome. He states that like Dylan Peters, he himself has lived with Tourette Syndrome since he was a young boy. Eisenreich commends Dylan Peters for writing his own narrative at such a young age. He even refers to the narrative as a masterpiece.
Dylan Peters first introduces himself by telling the reader how old he is and about his family. To delve further into his personality he states what sports and school subjects he likes most. He then segways into the beginning of his timeline of dealing with Tourette Syndrome. When he was just four years old he began to have tics, in turn his parents sent him to a neurologist. This neurologist prescribed him medicine which would help reduce the intensity of the tics; although they did this, the tics still occurred. As the tics progressed in strength and intensity, Dylan began to wonder if his friends would notice and if they would think he was strange. His friends began to ask questions about why he would do certain things such as blink twice or jerk his head. Once the third grade came along, he had a huge hurtle to contend with: to tell his friends and classmates of his Tourette Syndrome, or not to. He decided to tell his classmates and friends. As the date of getting in front of his class to tell of his syndrome loomed ever closer, his tics worsened. The day came and his mother went in to define Tourette Syndrome for the class. Dylan then got in front of the class and told his friends of his story so they could better understand him. After he did this his tics decreased in intensity greatly. In the end he stated that this was most likely because he was not scared or nervous about what his friends would think anymore. In his last paragraph Dylan Peters stated that having Tourette Syndrome does not change a person, it is just what makes that person who they are as a part of their personality.
Tourette Syndrome
[edit]"Tourette syndrome is a neuropsychiatric disorder of childhood onset. It is characterized by the presence of multiple motor tics and one or more vocal tics, not necessarily concurrently, that last longer than 1 year." [1] Tourette Syndrome consists of many different kinds of tics, each having great effect on the social life of one living with the syndrome. The two main types of tics are simple motor ticks and vocal tics. Simple motor tics consist of multiple contractions of muscles such as blinking the eye multiple times. In some instances, motor tics can incorporate an entire muscle group to create a movement. Vocal tics usually only consist of things such as clearing one's throat and less than half of these vocal tics consist of yelling words such as obscenities. [1]
Tourette Syndrome in Children
[edit]For many children with Tourette Syndrome, life at school and in other situations can be very hard. In order to continue a somewhat normal school life, some children have to take medication. Some may even need to have an assistant help them individually through school. A child's social life when having Tourette Syndrome can be greatly affected in that their ability to identify with other children's thoughts and feelings is greatly inhibited, making it hard for a child with a heavy case of Tourette Syndrome to acquire close friends.[2]
Tourette Syndrome Treatment
[edit]There is no actual cure for Tourette Syndrome, although it can be treated. The main method used to treat Tourette Syndrome is various types of medications. These different medications are prescribed to some people with Tourette Syndrome as a way to alleviate the intensity of tics and also to cause the number of tics per day to decrease. Today there are even some other alternative treatments for Tourette Syndrome. More and more people with Tourette Syndrome are now trying out these alternative methods in a fight to keep the syndrome from taking over their life.[3]
External Links
[edit]http://www.tsa-usa.org/ http://www.medicinenet.com/tourette_syndrome/article.htm http://kidshealth.org/kid/health_problems/brain/k_tourette.html http://tourettenowwhat.tripod.com/Alternative_Tourette's_Treatments.htm
References
[edit]- ^ a b Cavanna, Andrea. " Tourette syndrome: new insights into diagnosis, comorbidities, and treatment approaches. ." Psychiatric Times. 27.3 (2010): 32. Web. 31 Oct 2010.
- ^ Ohm, Bonnie. "The effect of Tourette syndrome on the education and social interactions of a school-age child. ." Journal of Neuroscience Nursing. 38.3 (2006): 194. Web. 31 Oct 2010.
- ^ Zinner, Samuel. "Tourette syndrome--much more than tics: management tailored to the entire patient: second of two parts. ." Contemporary Pediatrics. 21.8 (2004 ): 38. Web. 1 Nov 2010.
Peters, Dylan. Tic Talk: Living with Tourette Syndrome. Chandler, AZ: Little Five Star, 2009. Print.