The Animals Inside Me

I have a spider inside me.
It makes my lips smack.
I have a spider inside me
and it makes me feel black.
His name is Tourette's.
I have a kangaroo inside me.
It makes me jump up and down.
I have a kangaroo inside me
and it makes me feel brown.
His name is Tourette's.
I have a frog inside me.
It makes me warty and mean.
I have a frog inside me
and it turns me green.
His name is Tourette's.
I have an eel inside me
and it makes me slither.
I have an eel inside me
and it makes me shiver.
His name is Tourette's.
I have a wild horse inside me.
It makes me feel like prancing.
I have a wild horse inside me
and it's always dancing.
His name is Tourette's.
I have a tiger inside me
and it makes me growl.
I have a tiger inside me
and when I get mad, I go "r-o-w-l!"
His name is Tourette's.
I'm going to shoot those animals.
I'm going to bring a banana.
I'm going to shoot those animals.
I'm going to wear a bandana.
And then the puppy inside me
will make me happy and play.
And then the puppy inside me
won't ever run away.
His name is Justin.

This was written by a 9 yr old girl suffering from Tourette's Syndrome.

We know a lot about Tourette's. In the fall of 2006, my son Ryan (now 6) was diagnosed with the disorder. He starting blinking... a lot. Then he started contorting his face. Next, he starting sticking out his tongue often, usually when other people were talking to him or when he was trying to maintain eye contact or focus his attention. I knew. I walked into the doctor's office and told him Ryan had Tourette's. He said, in the way a parent would scold a child, "no, no, I am sure you are over reacting, let me watch him play while we talk and ... I am sure it's nothing." Thirty minuted later he looks at me and says, "Your son has Tourette's." Thank you for wasting 30 minutes of my life, now what are we going to do about it?

How many of you know Ryan? Did you have any idea he has TS? We medicate him twice a day with a blood pressure medicine that has been proven to reduce the urge to tic, though how they figured this our I will never know. He is so much better, but this disorder has changed the person he is. He was a funny, outgoing child. Once he starting with the tics, he knew what he was doing was different, but he couldn't control the compulsion to do the things he was doing, the way his face moved or the sounds coming from deep in his throat.

I have to say, we have come a long long way in the last 2 years. I think it is only now, we are learning who Ryan really is because he is able to get through periods of time without worrying about what he may or may not do or say ('say' may be the wrong word... he just makes noises, no "boobies" or anything like that).

You are probably wondering why I chose to bring this up now. Well, Sunday, December 7 at 7:00pm on CBS there is a movie airing called "Front of the Class." It is about a man who dreamed of becoming a teacher... but he had TS and it took nearly 30 interviews before someone would hire him. Ryan is 6. We haven't had to face obstacles of this magnitude, but we may and I do whatever I can to educate myself on TS and am very interested in this movie. I am also encouraging anyone in the field of education to watch. Thirty years ago there were 'good kids' and 'bad kids,' but now there is ADD, ADHD, OCD, ED, OHI, TS, and that is just what I can list in 10 seconds.... I have seen all of this come through my classroom over the years. It is my JOB to know how to service these kids and how to make them successful.

Yes, this would be a less than acceptable college paper and I am fully aware this is the blog version of a 'rant,' but it's late, I am tired and just really wanted to get this out before the show aired. If you got this far, thanks for sticking with the post :)