Anger and hope, all in one day!

Posted on April 22, 2013 by AnitaT

Looking over Corey’s school records, even from before we moved to Missouri, and everything up until this year is great. Grades are awesome. Then all of the sudden, this year things just plunged downhill, right when his Tourette went full swing. I read one part in there where a teacher talks about getting Corey to cooperate with taking books to the library and he says, “Only if I can have a bathroom break,” and she responds that they’ll discuss it! WTF??? Who denies a child a bathroom break??? And they lied about things I said in phone conversations too! Seriously considering a lawyer! I’m one upset mommy!

But … I called Jefferson County Schools (in Colorado) and talked to them about Corey’s situation and they said the best thing to do would be to enroll him in a regular school to start with and have him work with their Special Education Departments because they have classrooms that are specifically set up for student interaction rather than isolation, and he may find that he can be comfortable in a traditional school if he’s not so singled out. If not, they’d test him to see if he’s a candidate for Sobesky Academy.

Awesome news! He might be able to just go straight back into mainstream school! Just need to get to Denver and find a place in Jefferson County. My research shows me they have the best schools for special needs kids. And I might be getting some help from a very amazing woman to help us raise some funds to move. I want to cry! I haven’t had this much hope in so long!

Read more about the journey Corey and I are on at our Tic Tic Boom page on Facebook.

Treatment and coping strategies for rage episodes

Posted on March 2, 2013 by TSFC

The following is the finale in a three-part series first published on the blog of the Tourette Syndrome Foundation of Canada. Read the first part here and the second part here.

Rage episodes are anger outbursts that are out of proportion to the triggering event, they appear to come on suddenly, they are not “tics” but rather are a symptom of having multiple co-occurring conditions in addition to TS like ADHD, OCD and depression.

Rage episodes may result in harm to others and/or destruction of property. Keep in mind that a rage episode can be extremely frightening to the individual having it because they experiences a loss of self-control. After an episode, the person usually feels guilty, humiliated, and in some cases, they may feel that they are evil.

Consider how a rage episode may affect an individual in different scenarios. Continue reading →

What causes rage episodes?

Posted on March 1, 2013 by TSFC

The following is the second in a three-part series first published on the blog of the Tourette Syndrome Foundation of Canada. Read the first part here.

Some people with Tourette Syndrome+ experience rage episodes or neurological storms. While it may be tempting to think of a neurological storm as a “rage tic” or an “anger tic,” this is inaccurate. Rage episodes are not actual tics. Research suggests that individuals who have TS only (this means that they do not have any co-occurring conditions like ADHD or OCD) rarely, if ever, have rage episodes. Even in TS-only individuals with severe tics, rage episodes are rare.

Rage episodes are most likely to occur when a person has TS+, that is TS and other conditions called co-occurring conditions or co-morbidities. A child or adult who has TS and co-morbidities such as depression, OCD and ADHD is “at the greatest risk” of having a neurological storm. The greater the severity of the symptoms of the co-occurring conditions, the greater the likelihood of the anger attack. In sum, rage episodes are related to co-occurring conditions, not to the tics themselves.

If you think about what a person with say, ADHD, OCD and TS experiences, it is not hard to understand why someone with TS+ is most likely to have a rage episode. Drs. Budman and Bruun explain: “imagine how the impatience associated with ADHD, when combined with the rigidity and need for perfection of OCD [and the symptoms of TS], can cause some to be much less able to regulate their anger.”

How often do rage episodes happen to a person? Continue reading →

Some links and some hard times at school

Posted on February 28, 2013 by AnitaT

Hi everyone, I wanted to post a couple of links that I found online and also put on my Tic Tic Boom page on Facebook. I think you’ll find them very useful. Enjoy!

Praising Children for Their Personal Qualities May Backfire

Sleep Reinforces Learning

An Overview of Tics and Tourette Syndrome

On another note, my son had a major meltdown at school yesterday. Corey is being placed on home-based schooling until I can get the stuff I need to homeschool him myself. School is not a safe place for him right now. I knew it would come to this eventually, but I wanted to have everything set up to just pull him out. Feeling really lost right now.

I want to cry, but not in front of him. He won’t talk about it and I don’t know how. I just can’t picture him screaming and cussing at his teachers and throwing stuff around. Not this little boy who is hiding under a blanket on the couch because he thinks he’s in trouble. I just don’t get it.

What is a rage episode?

Posted on February 28, 2013 by TSFC

The following is the first in a three-part series first published on the blog of the Tourette Syndrome Foundation of Canada.

Neurological storms, rage episodes, rage attacks, explosive rage — it has many names. Regardless of the term, they describe the same phenomenon: a person feels unable to control their anger, they explode, they have an outburst of anger. The consequences, like the names and labels, are also many:

Embarrassment
Remorse
Distress
Verbal attacks
Damage to property
Even injury

Many parents of kids with Tourette Syndrome or adults who have TS themselves say that neurological storms are one of the most distressing symptoms of TS+.

A key feature of these outbursts is that they are not usually consistent with the person’s personality.

It is common for parents or teachers to ask, “isn’t this just a temper tantrum?”

The answer is no. Continue reading →