Today in class, I learned about many different disorders that occur to humans. Tourette Syndrome was among them, and this somehow got me the most attention. Dictionary.com defines TS as:
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This Tourette’s syndrome
/t??r?ts/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[too-rets] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation –noun Pathology. a neurological disorder characterized by recurrent involuntary movements, including multiple neck jerks and sometimes vocal tics, as grunts, barks, or words, esp. obscenities.
Basically, t
his means that people with TS make frequent jerks or tics that they cannot control. We saw a short film about TS, along with the lesson. Little kids were discussing about their disorder and how it was hard to have a social life because of this disadvantage. Contrast to the severity of their disease, these kids seemed bright and hopeful about their lives. A boy in the film were teaching his kindergarten class about Tourette Syndrome. The way he talked and expressed his thoughts were clear and strong, even better than any average 7 year olds. But our society do judge the book by its cover, and kids with TS has to live with ridicules and weird looks for a large part of their lives.
When I got home, I decided to research more on Tourette Syndrome. I simply googled it and came across Rindy Walton’s blog about TS. She is a mother of three children who are all diagnosed with TS, ADHD, and/or OCD. But instead of feeling downright hopeless, Rindy chose to find more about TS and educate herself. She found out that she carried a gene that was connected with TS.
“One of my goals is to increase awareness by sharing the struggles and modifications we’ve faced. But more importantly, my primary goal is to share how this has shaped who we are today and how a seemingly devastating condition may possibly have some positives. “
Rindy took this ordeal as something to build upon and shape her life with. As she says,
“I think you will see that it’s not about a specific diagnosis and it’s not just about Tourette Syndrome, it’s about how all of us look at and what we do with what life sends our way.”
– Rindy, on Tourette Syndrome–a personal look
This especially rings true for me because I’ve had to deal with depression for quite a while. I can be open about it because, like Rindy, I accepted depression as something to overcome and shape my life with. It was an opportunity where I took different approaches in viewing life. While overcoming this disorder, I became interested in psychology and the human mind—a subject that can possibly be my major in college. I sympathized those who were suffering depression, because I was there and I knew how horrible it felt.
Perhaps I went through this ordeal in order to help others who suffer from these disorders. Perhaps I am one of the many who are destined to help those in need.
Photo credits: {amanda}, tearoom
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