Advantages of Tourette's Syndrome

[lynsey]

I'm sure all of you know special skills or abilities or character traits that your

children have, that you are proud of.

 

I've always believed that if God gives us or our children challenges, or crosses to bear, he also

gives us very great blessings in other ways if we only look for them.

 

This is a very interesting and uplifting article that talks about the special abilities

that are unique to children with Tourette Syndrome....I found it very uplifting

 

http://www.sciencentral.com/articles/view....le_id=218392999

 

 

 

Lynsey

[Chemar]

good article...thanks Linsey

 

we had a thread on the old MGH forums on similar things...highlighting the many positives we had noticed in our TS kids Very smart and talented too!!

 

I remember a struggle we had with one teacher who couldnt seem to "get" that my son could have his high IQ and be in advanced classes yet still have need for 504plan accommodations incorporate things like his CAPD and ADD etc...........he was just so advanced in reading and comprehension that it seemed incongruous to her

[ilovedogs]

That makes sense to me! My son has unbelievable comprehension skills and spelling skills. What I don't get is how he can look at a word and spell it back to me immediately and do it correctly, but he still has trouble telling me how much 8 x 8 is???? I would think it's all memorization skills but I guess language and math use different parts of the brain! I have my son working in a 4th grade spelling book but the words are too easy so I have to move him up to the next level, yet in math he's still working in 3rd grade stuff(we homeschool).

 

B

[lynsey]

Along the same lines, here was another interesting thing I read:

 

http://tourettesyndromenowwhat.yuku.com/fo...ewtopic/id/1632

[faith]

I'm gonna second what Bonnie says,

my guy (4th grade) is very similar in that he is a strong reader (although doesn't care much to!) and spells and sounds out harder words quite well with great handwriting, and although he managed an A in math this first quarter, he does not know his facts off the top of his head, I still see him counting on fingers and asking me what blank x blank is. And I would also call him more creative and artsy rather than sports gifted, but the poor kid tries.

 

Faith

[lynsey]

You mentioned about their abilities: academic, creative, etc.

You must also notice something very special about their character, and personality? A uniqueness,

a sensitivity that you do not see in other children. I swear, living with Tourette's

makes you a better person. Some might disagree with me, I'm not saying you have

to have Tourette's to be a better person, but I see it in my husband, and I see it in

my children.

 

When my son was in Grade 4, he was filled with anxiety and would walk around the playground at recess with

the "not-cool" group, but he didn't care, he was just happy to be with a group of kids.

I'll never forget what he told me one day when he came home.

He saw three other kids, who had just discovered a mouse, which had ran out from

under a dumpster in the schoolyard. These boys immediately laughed

and cornered this little mouse, and one by one, they each took turns stomping on the mouse until it was

completely flat. Then they kicked the flattened mouse-corpse away and laughed.

My son was utterly mortified. He came home and told me all about it. He said to me the other

kids didn't seem bothered by it and in fact found it quite funny. He said to me, so sweetly,

"I said to them, what did that little mouse ever do to you??" What courage he showed, to say this

and risk being ridiculed himself. What strength of character he showed, at such a young age.

These are the kinds of character traits I think are stronger in children with TS....

 

Lynsey

[Chemar]

Linsey

you post brought me to tears as I remembered my son's many encounters with bullies...not just those who picked on critters (at his school it was little lizards, which abound here in florida) but also those who picked on him and especially those who picked on others too. He has always been outspoken against injustice, nomatter how intimidating the perpetrator. He doesnt return aggression, but defends with gentle reason and with a way of responding that gets to the heart of the matter and has frequently turned a hard heart soft. It won him a local hero award from the county when he was in 7th grade.(proud mommy *glow*)

 

 

 

I so agree with you on that compassion, sensitivity and strength of character that we see in our TS kids

[lynsey]

Cheri

 

Sounds very reminiscent of my sons encounters - they in particular can't stand to see someone

else treated cruelly or unjustly, not just themselves, including when they felt teachers were too

harsh on particular students. I would hear about it every day. Even as young adults, they won't

argue with friends and are very fair-minded individuals.

 

In my husband, I noticed a gentleness, an inability to get "worked up" by anything.

I once said to him in exasperation, "don't you worry???!!!!" His response: "I'll worry

when there's something to worry about". That's the way he was the whole time we

were raising our boys and I would stress over every little (and not so little) tic.

"I'll worry when there's something to worry about." It would bring me down from a "10"

in anxiety, back down to a "3". He also wouldn't hurt a thing - (found it almost impossible

to be a disciplinarian to our boys, so I took on that role) so I guess we complement each

others' shortcomings.

 

Lynsey