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Visalia Boy Featured in Tourette's Documentary - Every time Kelly Coulter watches her son in the documentary "I Have Tourette's but Tourette's Doesn't Have Me," she cries -- and it's getting on William's nerves. "Boo, hoo, hoo," said the 11-year-old , rolling his eyes. "Geez, mom." But when you talk with Kelly Coulter about her son and his battle with Tourette's Syndrome, you can understand her mixture of pride and happiness watching her well-spoken, precocious son in the HBO documentary. Additional Resource: I Have Tourette’s but Tourette’s Doesn’t Have Me Teacher’s Guide (PDF).

Rare Surgery Zaps Man's Tourette's - When the electrodes first pulsed into his brain, the twitching stopped, the spasms ended, and, for the first time in years, 31-year-old Jeff Matovic was just another guy from Northeast Ohio who can once again shoot hoops with his brother. Awesome. That's Jeff Matovic's favorite word. And it's taken on a whole new meaning for him now that he can walk down the hall, drink from a glass and use a telephone without knocking himself in the head.

MI Cut From Band, Boy Lashed Out, School Official Testifies - A Tale of Two Bands and One Mother's Response. The following article appeared in the Detroit Free Press. The response was posted to a parent listserv.

Teen With Tourette Syndrome Learns to Cope - Every night, Olivia Rosquita dances. The 15-year-old Roeper High School freshman can't help it. She dances in her room until she's too tired to move. Then she knows she can finally sleep and stop compulsively thinking about her day, her clothes, her food, her friends. Random thoughts constantly flood her mind, keeping her from being "normal," from being herself. For too long, Olivia and her mother, Lisa Clemons of Ferndale, have been living with the effects of Tourette Syndrome.

Migraine Headaches and Tourette Syndrome - Tourette syndrome is the most common childhood genetic movement disorder. Previous research shows children with Tourette syndrome also suffer from migraines. A new study confirms those findings. The new research reports the frequency of migraine headaches in Tourette syndrome children is nearly four-times more than the frequency of migraines in the general population.

Read the article: Disorder Often Misunderstood, Youths Say - Many don't realize Tourette Syndrome leads to loss of control, according to children.

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Medical Information

Scientists Identify Tourette's Gene
Shan Ross, Scotsman.com News, October 15, 2005

Scientists have made a major breakthrough in understanding Tourette's Syndrome (TS) by identifying a gene linked to the condition which is usually associated with inappropriate swearing in public. Until now the causes of the debilitating neurological disorder, which is estimated to affect one per cent of the population, have eluded researchers.

John Davidson, a TS sufferer from Galashiels in the Borders, whose story was told in two ground-breaking television documentaries, last night welcomed the breakthrough into a disease which he said could "destroy lives and futures".

The challenge researchers faced was that the disease appears to be caused by subtle mutations in many genes, rather than centering on one particular group.

Now scientists in a collaborative project involving seven US universities believe they have found the first TS-related gene mutation.

Project leader Dr Matthew State, of Yale, said: "This was the strongest piece of genetic evidence in the research paper. We found two examples of exactly the same rare sequence change in a regulatory, non-coding region of the gene. And it was in two unrelated individuals with TS."

Dr State said early theories suggesting a single-gene mutation cause for TS have been proved inaccurate. "There has been an evolving hypothesis about Tourette's Syndrome being a much more complex disorder. I think there is general consensus at this point that there are likely to be multiple genes, likely interacting, and probably different sets of genes in different people that contribute to TS."

The theory is borne out by the complicated physical constitution of organisms in people with TS, who can also show symptoms of psychological disorders such as obsessive-compulsive behavior, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or learning disabilities.

Mr Davidson, 34, who works as a caretaker in the Langlee Community Centre in Galashiels, appeared in the 1989 BBC QED program John's Not Mad and later in The Boy Can't Help It. He said of the new research: "This could be a wonderful breakthrough, but I've learned the hard way that there are no magic medicine answers for TS. However, with this being to do with genes, there may be a way of preventing it occurring in babies born in the future. I would like to have children but I worry they might inherit my TS."

TS can be inherited or appear suddenly. Symptoms include sudden movements or vocalizations, called tics, including eye blinking and sometimes swearing. There is no known cure, but drug treatment or relaxation therapy may be given.