Jimmy is now certain that he doesn’t have Tourette’s Syndrome. He was glad that his mother was there to give him love and concern and support, the way she had given love and concern and support for his father when he was still alive. Now that he is more knowledgeable on the subject, jimmy feels more compassionate towards the individuals with Tourette’s Syndrome because he almost had one himself.

He feels bad that he wasn’t able to feel this extent of compassion for his father.

It took Jimmy awhile to get over his feelings of guilt. His mother helped him fight depression—depression because he felt as if he had burdened his father by being ashamed of him; when in fact, his father had been pretty brave in trying to live with the illness. Jimmy wished he could turn back time, but he couldn’t. He could, however, offer help and support to those individuals who are diagnosed with the illness.

Jimmy did some preliminary research ion the internet and came across a website for patients with Tourette’s Syndroma and their fanmilies. It offers a support system for the patient and for the families of the patients, as well as for a, synposia, workshop, and basically everything there is to know about Tourette’s syndrome.

Click below to gain access to that website.

http://www.tsa-usa.org/

From that time on, Jimmy vowed to advocate for the individuals who have Tourette’s Syndrome.

Jimmy’s worst fears have come true; he does have the illness that he’s so skirmish about. He has Tourette’s Syndrome. He’s positive that he has inherited it from his father; after all, almost all the books and research papers he consulted claimed that Tourette’s Syndrome is inherited. Moreover, research also alleges that Tourette’s Syndrome is more commonly passed on to the genes of the boys, rather than the girls, who had parents that had the disease.
Jimmy is at his wit’s end. He couldn’t talk to anyone about his illness because he feels that no one is going to understand him; no one can relate to him because they don’t know what they he is going through. He’s all alone on this. The one person whom he could have confided to about his illness is gone—his father, Martin, passed away a f year ago due to a coronary heart disease.
The tics he’s having, according to his research, are what experts call “coprolalia”. It’s the repetitive impulse (and acting in response to that impulse) of cursing. It had been a simple impulse when he was still young, but now, it seems as if the impulses are more uncontrollable than ever. His impulses have gotten the best of him and he doesn’t know how to control it anymore.
Jimmy tried to fight the impulses. But still, the inevitable happened; his mother found out about it.

Jimmy was taken to a specialist in neurology, the same neurologist who also tried to manage Jimmy’s father’s illness for him. As it turned out, Jimmy’s impulses wre just that—impulses brought about by anxiety and stress. Simply put, the idea that Jimmy has Tourette’s Syndrome is false alarm. He’s a normal teen, after all.

Jimmy almost jumped up and down with joy.

Jimmy’s father, Martin, has been diagnosed with a certain illness at a young age. Jimmy isn’t very familiar with this illness, especially since he found out about it when he was barely in his fifth grade when he heard his mother and his grandmother talking about it. However, now that Jimmy is in high school and neurological disorders are thoroughly being discussed in school, Jimmy couldn’t help but feel distressed over his father’s condition. Worse, half of him feels ashamed of his father because of the involuntary impulses that he tend to manifest in public. In his early childhood years, Jimmy used to bring his friends to their house to eat his mother’s specialty, spicy chicken wings. Now though, he doesn’t do that anymore because he feels that his dad will do something weird, like give in to his involuntary impulses.

Jimmy was afraid of what his friends might say about his father’s illness. Aside from this, he is also afraid that he would suffer the same fate.

Jimmy is one among hundreds of teens who are at risk of having Tourette’s Syndrome, a neurological disorder characterized by repetitive, stereotyped, involuntary movements and vocalizations called tics. These tics are the involuntary impulses that Martin exhibits, which Jimmy is ashamed about. Although these tics are commonly simple, like, involuntary shaking or wriggling of the hands and the likes, it may also be severe in some cases, such as acts of swearing repetitively, repeating what other people say, or even slapping or punching one’s self.

To a certain extent, Jimmy’s initial reaction of shame towards his father’s condition is inevitable. Him being a teen, evidently still immature, gives him a “license” for being somewhat shallow. However, it is important for Jimmy, as well for other teens, to realize that individual’s with Tourette’s Syndrome have to live with this condition for the rest of their lives. Thus, understanding, compassion, and support is important to extend to those who are afflicted with it.