{"id":1529,"date":"2012-11-09T08:00:15","date_gmt":"2012-11-09T13:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/njcts.org\/tsparents\/?p=1529"},"modified":"2012-11-09T08:00:15","modified_gmt":"2012-11-09T13:00:15","slug":"embracing-difference-is-key-for-my-son","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/njcts.org\/tsparents\/embracing-difference-is-key-for-my-son\/","title":{"rendered":"Embracing difference is key for my son"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi, my name is Linda and I am the administrator for the Facebook site Embracing Difference<\/a><\/strong>. The site was started for my son, Jacob, who was officially diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome\u00a0at age 10 in late 2011. He\u2019s been having tics for as long as we can remember and was first diagnosed with a tic disorder at age\u00a07. A few months before his 10th birthday, the vocal tics began and his neurologist officially gave him the Tourette diagnosis.<\/p>\n

He has fully body tics in which he twitches his head, arms and legs all at the same time. His vocal tics have increased in the last few months, and along with a breathy hiss, he has started to hum a lot more often. He has also begun to do a lot of facial grimacing.<\/p>\n

My biggest concern is that Jacob will be going to middle school next year, and a new environment (age group, more peers) — in conjunction with his increasing tics — worries me. I want Jacob to be confident and positive despite his diagnosis. The goal of my site is to create a community of support for him and to document his journey so that others can contribute and join us in helping him to cope and stay positive.<\/p>\n

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