Tourette Syndrome Written by Peter Locke and modified by Troy Hill for their peers.

Hi, I’m Peter and I have TS Hi, I’m Troy and I have TS

What is it? Hmmmmm I wonder!

Well, let me tell you… This should be interesting!

Tourette Syndrome is a disorder of the brain.

Scientists think it is caused by a problem with a brain chemical. Hmm.. Chemical

These brain chemicals pass messages to the nervous system, to control body movements. They are called neuro-transmitters.

In people with Tourette Syndrome, these neuro-transmitters don’t work properly. This causes tics. What’s a tic?

Motor tics are things like: Eye blinking Face twitching Arm and leg movements Thumb stretching Throat clearing Squeaking Sniffing Repeating words or sentences Vocal tics are things like:

Tics are involuntary – that means people are not doing it on purpose and they can’t help it. As you can imagine, people with Tourette Syndrome sometimes feel frustrated, sad, or even angry.

There are lots of people in Canada who have Tourette Syndrome.

There are medications they can take that will stop some of their symptoms. There are strategies they can learn to help them cope better with frustration. Fortunately, there are ways of helping them:

People with Tourette Syndrome are as smart as anybody else. Many highly successful people have had Tourette Syndrome – including Dr. Samuel Johnson, one of the greatest English writers of the eighteenth century. He didn’t let Tourette Syndrome stop him! I wrote the “Dictionary of the English Language” in 1755.

You can help make the world a friendlier place, by working hard to make sure EVERYBODY feels good about themselves. Thanks, from Peter and Troy (The End)

Twinkle Twinkle twinkle little star How I wonder what you are Up above the world so high Like a diamond in the sky