After watching this video, let me ask you a question. Did you laugh? If your answer is yes then let me ask you some more questions. Do you know what Tourette’s Syndrome is? How it affects peoples’ lives? Or most important do you know that it is not funny? Well after I give you some information and a new perspective on this disease I would like you to watch this video again and tell me if you laugh.
What is Tourette’s Syndrome? It is a neurological disorder that affects all people, different races, gender, and age, and it is incurable. It is characterized by involuntary and unusual movements and sounds called tics. Symptoms usually start to appear between the ages of seven and ten, and males are at a much high risk of getting Turrets than females. Some people out grow this disorder, but many do not and Turrets usually becomes progressively worse in the teen years.
Now for the Symptoms, the symptoms of Turrets can be either simple or complex tics. These repetitive movements and sounds can be either motor or vocal. Simple motor tics include: blinking, jerking the head, eye darting, flexing the fingers, sticking the tongue out, and shrugging the shoulders. Complex motor tics are much more extreme and sometimes use the entire body. These include smelling things, touching the nose, extreme arm movements, hopping, touching other people, and can even include inappropriate motions (flipping the Bird). Some tics can be extreme enough to cause physical injury .Simple vocal tics are things like yelling, clearing the throat, barking, and hiccupping. Complex vocal tics include repeating words and phrases, echoing others, and cussing. Symptoms of Turrets usually are worse when the person is sick, excited, or nervous, but they usually slow down when the person is engaged in an activity that is calming. Interesting things at many people do not realize is that the tics do not completely go away while the person is sleeping. To many people this sounds like fun, being able to cuss in public and flip people off and blame it on a disorder, but to someone with turrets it is embarrassing to not only them, but their friends and family.
What causes Tourette’s syndrome? Well, no one knows. Some specialists believe it can be inherited or that the environment plays a part, but there is no solid answer to this question. Without a cause of Turrets this also means there is no way to prevent it or cure it, but treatment is available. The most important issue with this disorder is getting educated about it because this will make life much easier for you and the person suffering from it. Here is another video clip that I just want you to watch a little bit of to help you understand the life of a person with turrets.
***** Warning Viewer Discretion is Advised
Now I want you to step into a person with turrets shoes. You wake up in the morning, try to brush your teeth, but that simple job is hard to manage with your tics getting tooth paste all over your face. Walking to school you flip the mail man off and he lectures you about manners and asked what he ever did to you. In the class room you bark and jerk and the other students laugh; your teacher can only take so much until she takes you out of class. Going to the mall after school with your friends your tics become worse, people stare, your friends back away, and then you set into your verbal tics. You cuss out every person who walks by, kids cry, mothers scorn you, men get angry with you, and the old ladies hit you. Now how does that sound? I understand that it is human nature to stare at people who are not considered normal, but all I ask is be educated about this disease and understand that the person with Turrets does not think it is funny. They have no control over their tics, how would you feel if you had no control over your body? When you see someone with this disorder please think before you laugh and stare and encourage others around you to do the same. Tourette’s syndrome does not make life any easier and people’s rude comments, staring, laughing, and making a person with turrets the punch line of a joke is Hate. So let me ask you again, are you still laughing?
Tourettes syndrome is seriously a sad disease. One of my residents in particular suffers with this on a daily basis. It is so sad because they struggle with it and try so hard to talk normally. What is really sad is they apologize when they start to stutter. It makes feels so bad for them because they know they are doing it but they cannot help it. As a child I always would feel awkward around people who had Tourettes, but now it is totally different. I know understand what they suffer through and how bad they want to be normal.
ReplyDeleteI know someone that has slight tourettes, but I would have never guessed that is what he had. I knew he did weird things with his head, but it never hit me that maybe he had this disease. Although I recently found out, I do not look at him differently because he is the same guy I met before. I like the MTV true life on this disease because it shows how real people have to deal with it in their everyday lives. I like how the people can have their say, and tell people how bad it affects them. Whenever I watch the episodes where people have different diseases, I always feel bad because they may live a life of harassment from others who are insensitive.
ReplyDelete