Youth Ambassador
Patrick Resh |  |
Youth Ambassador Patrick Resh is available to come speak to your class, group or workshop about Tourette Syndrome. If you are interested, please contact [email protected].
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Greetings!
Each day is a blessing whether it is a happy day or a challenging day. TSA-IL is here to help with some of the challenges.
The next Community Group meeting is coming up quickly on Tuesday, October 9th. Community groups are an excellent place to share, inspire and be inspired. Who better to understand the problems you face than others sharing similar experiences?
October is a perfect month to get involved -- we need you! Volunteer to write an article and share your experience and achievements or help plan an event, ask the doctor a question that you have been pondering, attend a community group, find out about an in-service for your child's school or help with a fundraiser. Whatever way you can get involved be it big or small, you will be glad you did!
We hope to see you soon!
Best regards, Tourette Syndrome Association of Illinois |
 | Tourette Connection Meeting
Tuesday, October 9th @ 7:00 pm
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B'nai Jehoshua Beth Elohim (BJBE)1201 Lake Cook Road (area map)Deerfield, IL 60015The Tourette Connection Group will meet on the 2nd Tuesday of each month from 7:00 pm - 8:45 pm. Children and adults are welcome! Some meetings have supervised children's activities, please check with a group leader. Please RSVP to Tourette Connection Leaders  For the latest Tic Connection news, be sure to join http://www.meetup.com/Tourette-Connection For additional information about Community Groups, please visit our Community Groups webpage.
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| TSA-IL Receives Grant from the Brad Cohen Tourette Foundation
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TSA-IL is pleased to be a recipient of a grant from the Brad Cohen Tourette Foundation.
Thanks to this generous grant, TSA-IL is in the process of planning a must attend workshop with Sue Conners.
Sue is an internationally recognized speaker on Tourettes and an authority on educating students with TS. She serves as a go-to source for networks and media outlets in their coverage of TS, and has presented workshops at more than 1,000 schools.
Be on the lookout for workshop details.........
Thank you to Brad Cohen Tourette Foundation for your support in the socialization, achievement, and education of individuals with Tourette Syndrome and the non-profit/tax-exempt organizations that focus on the needs of those with Tourette Syndrome. |
| How Can I Help My Child's Teachers Understand What TS Really Is?
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The Wilinski Family
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As a parent of a child with Tourettes Syndrome, you may often feel that you can't do much to help. But TSA Illinois can!
We live in a large, grade-based school district which means my sixth grade son Bradley, is in the third different school building since being diagnosed with Tourettes right before first grade. This means educating a new group of teachers and staff every time he moves to a new building. While his classroom teacher has always been informed (and great!), the rest of the staff has not always been so understanding. Administration has neglected to tell the rest of the teachers about his TS diagnosis resulting in Bradley being yelled at to "Be quiet!!" and told to "Stop being bad!!" by teachers seeing him tic in the hallways. A gym teacher punished the whole class because he yelled at the class to "be quiet!" and Bradley couldn't. When I demanded that they inform all the teachers about TS, an administrator emailed the staff to "ignore Bradley's inappropriate behavior". (Really? This was their solution?) Of course, Bradley's tics only got more severe as the stress of facing this every day increased.
This year, the administration at his new middle school was much more proactive. They agreed to my request to have a speaker from TSA IL give a presentation to the 250+ middle school teachers before the new school year began. What a difference! READ MORE...
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Ask the Doctor!
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Katie Kompoliti, M.D.
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What is the difference between Tics and Tourette Syndrome? If you have Tics do you automatically have Tourette Syndrome?
Tics are sudden, rapid, recurrent, involuntary (outside a person's control) motor movements or vocalizations. Tourette syndrome is a neurological disorder defined by the presence of both motor and vocal tics, present for at least one year, starting in childhood or adolescence, fluctuating in variety (different tics come and go) and severity over time. Individuals with Tourette syndrome are otherwise neurologically normal.
Motor tics begin between the ages of 3 and 8 with vocal tics following the onset of motor tics by several years. Earlier in life, tics are more frequent but transient. They have to be present for more than one year to be able to diagnose chronic tic disorder. When they are present for less than a year we are dealing with Transient tic disorder of childhood.
Somebody with tics present for more than a year, who has only vocal or motor tics does not qualify for the diagnosis of Tourette syndrome according to the current definitions. READ MORE...
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| Youth Corner - Lane Easley
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 I was diagnosed with Tourettes at age 8 and have lived with a mild case using no medications but relying on relaxation techniques and staying active. I began skateboarding for the pure fun of it but also as a way to release built-up energy throughout the school day. I am still a very active skateboarder and I have added yoga as a routine activity.
I began my love for traveling when I did a year exchange from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque to Portland State University in Oregon. While studying Latin American Studies I also lived in Buenos Aires, Argentina on an international exchange and studied for a summer in Trujillo, Spain. I lived in northern Spain for one year as a representative for the Department of Education attending different high school english classes to speak. I have taken multiple trips around Central and South America, traveled extensively through Spain and took a motorcycle trip through Mali, Africa to attend the Desert Music Festival in the middle of the Sahara.
I currently work in the film industry in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Other than skateboarding and exploring new places around the globe I enjoy watching movies, mountaineering, motorcycle riding, playing guitar, hot tub dips, horseback riding, and drinking fruit smoothies.
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| Fall Fundraiser - Get a Jump Start for the Holidays!
|  Tourette Connection Community Group is excited to kick off our Fall Fundraiser with Innisbrook to raise money for future events. Orders can be placed from September 26th - November 1st.
It's very easy and you don't even have to leave your house. Choose from a wide selection of quality wrapping paper, unique gifts, Helen Grace chocolates, magazine vouchers and more! You can either place your order to ship to the Chairperson's home (to be distributed at a Tourette Connection meeting in Deerfield) or have it shipped directly to you. If you have it shipped directly to the Chairperson's home, our organization gets 45%-50% of the profit, and if you choose to have it delivered to your home, we get 40% of the profit. ANYONE can order! Click here for order information. Get a jump start on your holiday shopping and wrapping supplies all while helping to support a good cause!  | | Wrapping Paper |
 | | Helen Grace Chocolates |
 | | Gourmet Foods |
 | | Jewelry |
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