{"id":492,"date":"2012-01-26T13:13:30","date_gmt":"2012-01-26T18:13:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/njcts.org\/tsparents\/?p=492"},"modified":"2012-01-26T13:13:30","modified_gmt":"2012-01-26T18:13:30","slug":"parents-what-do-you-think-about-the-mystery-ny-tourette-syndrome-cases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/njcts.org\/tsparents\/parents-what-do-you-think-about-the-mystery-ny-tourette-syndrome-cases\/","title":{"rendered":"Parents: What do you think about the mystery NY Tourette Syndrome cases?"},"content":{"rendered":"
By now, many of you likely have heard about the case of the 12 LeRoy, N.Y., female students who developed Tourette Syndrome-like symptoms and tics in December. Various news reports<\/a><\/strong>, medical claims and reports by experts since have been all over the Internet.<\/p>\n There are many different theories out there about what exactly contributed to the onset of these TS-like symptoms, but according to Wikipedia, the girls’\u00a0school was tested for toxins and all other factors for their symptoms were ruled out, the girls were diagnosed with a “mass psychogenic illness” resulting from stress.<\/p>\n What we at TSParentsOnline want to know is this: What do you think of this entire case? Does it help or hurt Tourette Syndrome advocacy? If you or someone you know has TS, how does this entire case make you feel? Do you agree with the ultimate diagnosis of these girls? What is your opinion about some of the things said by the doctors and experts in this case?<\/p>\n Many people from all over the country already have weighed in with their thoughts, which you can check out after the “continue reading” jump. We would love to hear your opinion, too, and you can let your voice be known about this very important, trending topic in one or more of several ways:<\/p>\n\n
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\nMy 12-year-old Son has TS, and I know it is largely affected by stress. I don’t really agree with the whole ‘Conversion Disorder’ theory. I think it is quite possible that the group of students could be stressed out by a certain teacher, perhaps, and that could definitely cause it. I know it has for my son. I am now reading that it could be the result of the Gardisil<\/a><\/strong> injection. I do not believe that could be the case, either, as why haven’t we heard about it happening anywhere else? I myself had that shot and do not have any symptoms of TS.\u00a0Perhaps it could be an environmental issue, but really what I think it comes down to is anxiety. From what I have seen in my son, that is a major stressor.\u00a0I do not agree with the fact that they supposedly have ‘answers’ and are not sharing them. How are we to help one another if we don’t have all of the important information?”<\/li>\n
\n“The misconception that many people already hold — that if you just believe yourself to be normal and don’t give in to mental illness, you will be well — could potentially be reinforced by this story. As a parent, I have been told that it’s the parent’s fault that the child is hyper or has tics or has this or that, because the parent is telling the child they have TS, ADHD, etc. — that we shouldn’t label these kids and definitely don’t tell the kids at school unless things get out of control because then they might be treated differently.
\n“Do people really believe parents talk their kids into not being normal? The idea is so offensive to me and it makes me angry on these girls’ behalf because the implication is that they are mentally weak, highly suggestible individuals. If they are, and I don’t believe they are, it is not without some predisposition to tics, in my opinion.\u00a0Stories like this, attributing tics to psychogenic illness, could help spread awareness of the difficulties of living with TS, but could also serve to reinforce these opinions and attitudes about TS being ‘all in your head.’ “<\/li>\n