There are 9 million children in the U.S. with special needs. Here, find out what some of them are thinking.

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Meet J.

Hi, my name is J. and I’m a normal kid just like you. I play with my dog. I read books. I go to school. I love to draw. And I have Tourette syndrome.

Tourette syndrome is a disease where your nerves and brain can’t communicate very well. That means I have things called tics and they are when I blink my eyes or make squeaky sounds or even shake my head and I can’t help it. You may be wondering why.

I have a certain feeling in my body where I feel like I have to do that certain tic otherwise my throat feels scrunched up and my body feels really stiff.

I’ve heard that some people think that people who have Tourette’s and do their tics have a mental disease. Or they’re just crazy. Some people think tics are done on purpose to get attention and others don’t know what to make of tics.

The other week I was in a very big testing period and I kept doing my tics. I kept seeing people turn in my direction and I was afraid I was disturbing the class. Eventually when you’re doing something that makes you not think of your tics, they go away. So as long as I focused on my work, I didn’t tic.

At home I still get my tics. But there are ways that I can make my tics stop or not happen as often. For example when I draw and I get into my own little world and I just draw, I don’t do my tics as much because I’m not thinking about them.

My tics happen more often when I’m stressed out or I’m plain old tired.

I never knew why I was doing my tics or even that they were called tics.

One day my mom took me to the doctor to find out what was going on. The doctor asked me lots of questions and then diagnosed me with Tourette syndrome. I was scared, I was confused and I didn’t know what to make of Tourette syndrome.

Luckily there is medicine I can take to help tics. At first my medicine made me tired and gave me headaches but now I find that my medicine is really helping me to overcome my tics.

My guidance counselor is helping me make up a presentation on Tourette’s so my class won’t wonder what I’m doing when I’m doing my tics.

The next time you see a kid doing something out of the ordinary don’t assume that they’re crazy. They may have Tourette syndrome just like I do. And you know what? We’re normal kids who lead normal lives just like you do.

Meet our bloggers!

J.

Hobbies: drawing, swimming, reading
Favorite season: summer
Pets: a dog named Buffy
Friends: so many i can't count!
Sports; softball, swimming (competitively), swimming (for fun),
basketball, volleyball