By: Mardi Conde Puno (a language instructor and a mother of a son with Tourette Syndrome)
tourette syndrome is a neurological disorder manifested by at least two motor tics and one vocal tic. motor tics can be as simple as the blinking of the eye, to facial twitches, head jerkings, movements of the arms and even the legs or the abdomen. vocal tics can also be grunting, to the worst cursing and swearing of words..all these tics are involuntary and can't be controlled though there are times that they can be suppressed.
my son, john j has tourette syndrome. he was ten years old when i noticed that his eye keeps on blinking and later on his mouth moves as in facial twitches...i was frightened and alarmed. he was constantly scolded coz we always tell him to try to control the movements. i didn't know anything about tourette syndrome. i brought him to our family doctor and later to two eye doctors but no findings came. i walked in to a clinic of a neurologist but still nothing was diagnosed. the tics come and go and timely that they don't appear when we are in a clinic.
after a year, i was able to watch "front of the class", a movie about a teacher who has t.s. i gathered the whole family and we watched the movie in silence and with tears in our eyes. it was then that i realized that my son has tourette syndrome. i researched almost daily and i also let him read my researches. there is no real cause yet of t.s. and no cure although there are a lot of researches being done . medications are given to some but not to cure but to minimize the tics...i decided not to give him any coz the tics are mild and many are complaining with the side effects of the medicines. they are much worried about the side effects. and so i told my son that we won't be taking meds. since they don't cure but instead we offer this disorder to the Lord and pray. in His infinite love and mercy, i pray to the Lord that his t.s. will be cured one day in His time. according to research 75% of children with t.s.. lose the tics as they rreach early adulthood. they do become rampant and very noticeable on puberty age coz this is the age the child is very much stressed. i expect the worst to come coz he is now 13 but i trust in Him to help us cope with this. i pray for strength and acceptance daily.
at present, john j is having a lot of facial movements like eye blinkings, facial twitches, noddings, head jerkings , hand movements...the tics come and go, wax and wane. sometimes they are very visible but sometimes hardly noticeable. as he is now in to high school, into a new school i talked with his adviser about his t.s. everyone in school knows about his t.s. and so they are aware of it and so almost no one teases him or ridicules him. his vocal tics include grunting and sometimes he repeats words although his vocal tics aren't as strong as his motor tics.
many thanks to the Lord for my answered prayers like i no longer cry when i talk about his t.s., less bullies in school, his being happy in his new school. more strength for all of us esp. his pa. actually the least worrier in the family is john j. he has a great attitude towards his t.s. he only gets affected when people stare at him. this is his cry to all...please don't stare at me.
when we were interviewed by GMA , he was very willing and didn't hesitate. i explained to him that the interview is for public awareness and public education. i am so proud of my son and i love him so very much. with or without t.s., i thank the Lord He gave me john j.
By: Mardi Amadora Conde Puno (a language instructor and a mother of a son with TS)
0 comments:
Post a Comment