Re: Facial tics

Hi Rem,

You might want to read more about Tourette's Syndrome. This might help you understand what your son is going through.

There are many great books out there. There's a free book from the Tourette's Syndrome Association http://www.tsa-usa.org/ called "Erica's Little Secret," as well as "Icy Sparks" an Oprah featured book. There's also "Twitch and Shout" by Lowell Handler, and I especially recommend reading a book by Oliver Sachs, "The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat." Sachs reminds us to look at the WHOLE PERSON, and not the "disease" and then the "person" as separate. It is important not detach one from the other.

Many Touretters have amazing personalities, energy, and creativity. It is believed that Wolfgang Amadeus Motzart had Tourette's Syndrome. Many Touretters are quite talented when it comes to music, mathematics, etc. Many find that engaging in something like creating music, singing, or other such activities puts them in a "in a tic free zone."

Polly Draper (an actress who played on the show "Thirty Something" married a man with Tourette's (Michael Wolff). When their son developed tics, it forced Michael to come to terms with his TS, and Polly wrote and produced a movie called, "The Tic Code." I highly recommend it (you can probably find it on ebay.com). I read an article in a Redbook Magazine, November 2003 about Polly and her family called "One Family's Struggle to be Normal." Her son compared his tics need to scream when a bomb drops, "only there's no bomb."

Most important, as I'm sure you know, love your son for who he is...all aspects of him.

Warmly,
1834