JackieLynn

Thanks Carole & Debbie for your input. It's alot to think about. My son has not had a problem with tics since he was about 8 or 9. He was diagnosed at 6 with very mild tics, he's never been medicated for them. I took him to the neurologist for an annual visit 2 or 3 times after that and he has not been back since. As far as he's concerned it has never been an issue. My concern is that when he gets to basic training will his tics resurface under the extreme pressure that he will be undergoing and seen as a discipline issue? The 'discipline' issue is what first came to mind, because in all fairness my husband nor I even thought of the tics until recently. They just aren't there or at least not obvious. I don't want to bring up the topic with his recruiter - since it's not an 'everyday' issue - and cause a problem with him enlisting. On the other hand I don't want him to be courtmarshalled either. Still thinking on this one. As far as school is concerned, I agree with you. It simply doesn't interest him. He sees absolutely no future use for what he is learning in school. He does stick with the things that interest him - usually physical activities. And he tells me he puts the effort into his job. Which is great! Thanks again, Jackie

I have a lot of concerns at the moment. My son was diagnosed at age 6 with TS. His symptoms were mild facial and vocal tics. The school tested him for learning disabilities and found none. The school psycologist said Travis could be a do anything he wanted to do, he had no limitations. Since his tics were mild and there were no other problems found he was not put on any medication. Great as far as I'm concerned. All seemed to be going well for several years. At the beginning of every year of grade school I would go to meet his teachers and explain that he had TS and give them some printouts on the information that I had so that if his tics appeared again they would be aware of what was going on. I stopped doing this at his request when he was in Junior High. He's always had trouble with writing and math, which goes along with the TS. I would like to have more clarification on exactly what this entails. I have not been able to get details on this, it seems too vague for me. To the point now. Travis is 17 and has had many problems over the last 3+ yrs with completing school work. I didn't associate this with TS until about a year ago. We took him to a reputable learning center to have him tested and schooled to see if this would give him the help that he needed. He improved as long as he was still going. He's barely passing 1/2 way through his senior year. He's disorganised, passively defiant, and totally unconcerned, disinterested, and apathetic toward school. There is no amount of reward or punishment that will cause him to change his attitude. Can there be other things such as ADD/ADHD, OCD, Executive Dysfunction (a new one I just read about) going on that we had never picked up on? I read the symptons of these and they sound so much like Travis. Should he be re-evaluated? He also wants to go into the service in the fall. Should his TS be brought up or not? How will this effect any opportunity to go into the service? I'm considering a vitamin/supplement regimen if he would cooperate (he quite often doesn't). I know this is long and doesn't even begin to touch the surface of my questions but is a start for now. Anxiously waiting your response. Jackie