The Courage of Children: Boston and Beyond XXXI

Olive Harron
Michael Andrews, Teacher
Barnstable Intermediate School, Barnstable, MA
Have you ever hurt yourself by accident and known you could not do anything
to prevent it? This kind of event I’ve dealt with every day since I was three
years old.
I have been different all my life. I was born with a neurological disorder called
Tourette Syndrome. This causes my brain to send the wrong signals down
my spine causing uncontrollable movements or noises called tics. It’s kind
of like someone is taking over your body. I show courage by living with
Tourette Syndrome. To me, courage means persevering through the hard
moments in life.
My tics were not noticeable until I was three years old. My mom noticed I was
scrunching up my face, but she thought I was squinting. She brought me to
the eye doctor and the pediatrician to see if I needed glasses; both doctors
told us it was normal. They said I would grow out of it as I get older.
A few years later, when I was about six, I started to get vocal tics. Vocal tics
are when you make noises. We ignored it and thought it would go away,
until second grade. I had an onset of tics and my mom thought I was
having seizures. My mom searched for a neurologist and we found one in
Boston. My neurologist said, “Right now it is an explosion of tics. This is a
tic disorder.” If I didn’t overcome it by a year and a half, they would likely
diagnose me with Tourette Syndrome. While it gets better as I get older, the
doctors shared that it never really goes away.
The summer before I went into third grade I finally was diagnosed with a tic
disorder; it got in the way of everything, like sports, cooking, hanging out with
friends, and a lot more. My tics became aggressive from third grade to fifth
grade, and all of the painful tic attacks that I have gone through almost broke
me down. I went through a phase where I was very sad all of the time, and
I did stupid things to myself to help the pain go away because of how many
people at my school bullied me.
“I hope as I get older,
I can help other
kids who’ve grown
up like me to show
and see their own
courage and worth.”
myself bruises because of the severity, but now most of my tics are in my arms,
hands and face; it’s mostly just flexing my arms every couple minutes or
making a fist.
Not many people have Tourette Syndrome, but we all have things in life to
overcome. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. If you don’t want to talk to anybody
about it because you are embarrassed, I promise you can talk to your parents
or a trusted adult. They can help by getting you the therapies and support you
need. Something that I tried was Comprehensive Behavioral Intervention for
Tics (CBIT). It’s supposed to help your brain redirect your tics and to send the
correct signals down your spine. It didn’t help me but it might help someone
else. Everybody who has tics or Tourette Syndrome is different, so you have to
do what you think is best for your body.
My definition of courage is to never give up, no matter what obstacles life puts
in your way. I know that courage will help me as I get older because I have
gotten through a lot in my life, so I can get through a lot more. No matter
how weak you feel, keep pushing. It gets worse before it gets better–trust me,
I know. I hope as I get older, I can help other kids who’ve grown up like me to
show and see their own courage and worth.
After my tics got very bad for about a year, I got diagnosed with Tourette
Syndrome in fourth grade. I started medication in fifth grade which helped a
lot, and I learned how to suppress the physical manifestations of my Tourette.
I conquered most symptoms of the disorder. I still tic a lot and I still have
tic attacks, but a lot less than I used to. More importantly, my tics now aren’t
nearly as painful as they used to be. I used to hit myself by accident and give
The Courage of Children: Boston and Beyond
Volume XXXI
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