The Advantages of Tourettes?!

I know that I mentioned previously that I felt that no one was to blame for Monster Man having Tourette Syndrome, and that I actually felt like he was chosen by God to have it. Instead of feeling that it is a burden, I feel that it is part of what makes Monster Man who he is, that makes him have such a detailed imagination that he can put himself into other characters (like Santa Claus) and not only think about that character as a whole, but go into detail about what being that character entails. The same imagination that let him become Santa is the same attention to detail that allows him to draw out his future race car. His imagination comes alive not only in play but also in his drawings and in his writing. Perhaps the amount of detail he puts into everything stems directly from his TS.

Why do I say that? If you read Jonah Lehrer's article on The Advantages of Tourette Syndrome, you will read that studies are showing that those with TS are more precise in detail, making fewer errors on challenges in eye-movement experiments and more accurately timing the length of time in which objects appear on a screen, than their peers without TS. Perhaps there is an advantage to TS, after all. It doesn't hinder those with TS, making it impossible to reach their goals. Instead, it makes them better at what they do. It adds to their talents. It, as I've said before, makes them who they are.

I've spent a lot of time on the National Tourette Syndrome Association Facebook Page recently, and I have found that many of the members there feel the same way. While the challenges that go along with TS really stink, they can still see the gift that they were given.

Not knowing really stinks!

It's hard to know what behaviors are related to Monster Man's Tourrette Syndrome and what behaviors he can control. We try not to use his TS as an excuse for everything, but there are times that we don't know if it's to blame or not. Like volume control, for example. This morning, Monster Man's voice keeps getting progressively louder as he speaks, and it's really starting to annoy my husband. One minute, Monster Man is practically whispering, and then a few minutes later it sounds like he is almost yelling. He says he can't control it, that's he's not meaning to be loud, but we can't really be sure since he's using the "I can't help it" excuse a lot lately.

Monster Man can't seem to control the impulse to ask questions, either. We'll be watching a movie and a sudden question comes out about the character or the plot, and he just blurts it before he has time to even think about it. We're wondering if this is what is happening at school, too, since he gets notes home from time to time about needing to control his talking.

I have a lot of questions I would really like to talk to a doctor about, but we're unable to take Monster Man for treatment related to TS due to his current insurance. Hopefully we'll all have better insurance soon so that we can get him the therapy, etc that he needs and so that we can get answers to questions like impulsive talking, volume control, and what may be things he is using TS as an excuse for.