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Click HERE  for TSA National Web Site

JOIN TSA
 Members Make Things Happen
Join the TSA family and help to ensure that someone else has a place to turn to in their time of crisis. Basic membership costs just $45, with professional and higher level memberships, including Lifetime Memberships, available. All membership categories include membership in your local chapter. 

All members receive our quarterly newsletter, medical and
scientific updates, discounts on publications and conferences, invitations to local and national events, and more. Scholarship memberships are available. 

Please click here to join or renew now. Thank you

GREAT new programs available on the TSA National Website (tsa-usa.org)
 
Newly Diagnosed Seminar
The Tourette Syndrome Association's website now offers a 3 hour webstream version of the Newly Diagnosed Seminar filmed at the TSA National Conference in April 2006.  Dr. John T. Walkup, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, and Chairman of the Tourette Syndrome Association's Medical Advisory Board, presented an all-day program attended by family members, professionals, and persons newly diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome.  The program is recommended for viewing by families and professionals alike. 

The webstream is divided into 3 segments of roughly 1 hour each, with video and slide show running in tandem.  Viewers are able to download and print a slide handout.  There are two online Surveys, for either Family or Medical/Professional viewers to complete.  Family viewers are urged to share this video with members of their Medical and Allied Professional treatment team.  The program was made possible through the continuing partnership of the TSA and the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
 
 
 
New Material Available on the National TSA Website
The following materials are now available at www.tsa-usa.org for you to download:
Teens and Tourette Syndrome,       Matthew and the Tics,     Tourette Syndrome in the Courtroom     Divorce, Tourette Syndrome, and the Family.  Please check out these and many more brochures, DVDs, and videos.

 


"I Have Tourette's but Tourette's Doesn't Have Me"
WINS EMMY
FOR OUTSTANDING CHILDREN'S PROGRAM

 

The TSA-HBO documentary, "I Have Tourette's but Tourette's Doesn't Have Me" has received the prestigious Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Program.  It had also been nominated for a second Emmy in the category of Outstanding Cinematography for Nonfiction Programming - Single-Camera Productions.

"We could not be happier," Judit Ungar, President of TSA, commented when the award was announced on August 19. "We are so very proud of the documentary and especially of the young people who bravely told their own stories for the world to hear."

"I Have Tourette's but Tourette's Doesn't Have Me" is a candid look at the lives of real children and teens with TS. The 27-minute documentary has aired dozens of times on HBO and HBO Family channels since its debut in November 2005, and has also been available for viewing on "HBO on Demand." It is estimated that well over two million viewers have seen this touching and insightful program.

The documentary, with an additional half hour of extra footage, is available on DVD from TSA. Over 13,000 copies have been distributed thus far and TSA hopes to make copies available to every school system in the U.S.

 In every school in America, it’s likely that at least one child has Tourette Syndrome (TS), a neurological condition characterized by repetitive, involuntary vocal and motor tics that persist over time. Many parents and educators don’t recognize the symptoms and often the disorder goes undiagnosed or misdiagnosed.

Produced in association with the Tourette Syndrome Association (TSA), I HAVE TOURETTE’S, BUT TOURETTE’S DOESN’T HAVE ME presents a candid, wide-ranging look at the lives of children growing up with this baffling condition. Directed and produced by Ellen Goosenberg Kent (the Emmy®-winning HBO specials “How Do You Spell God?” and “Happy to Be Nappy and Other Stories of Me”), the special demystifies and humanizes what it’s like to have TS by giving voice to children ages eight to 13 who have the disorder. 

The documentary features the youngsters going about their daily lives, doing all the things regular kids do. It shows that some can also have problems with impulse control, e.g., tantrums, verbal outbursts, or obsessive, unusual behaviors. Though medication can help control TS, there is no cure.

The children speak frankly about living with Tourette’s. While freely describing the wide range of physical tics and obsessive-compulsive behaviors that characterize the disorder, they also poignantly reveal the most debilitating effect: its emotional impact. Too often these children are subjected to the painful ridicule and scorn of their peers, or even adults.

They also tell of the devastating impact of being ostracized by their fellow students. And they respond joyfully when a friend understands their condition and accepts them. They want nothing more than to be like everyone else.

In response to bullying and teasing, school systems across the country are adopting curricula to teach acceptance of diversity, as well as the tools to bring about positive conflict resolution. Each year, a large number of prestigious organizations, including TSA, sponsor “No Name Calling Week” in schools nationwide.

I HAVE TOURETTE’S, BUT TOURETTE’S DOESN’T HAVE ME will be an invaluable tool in this “campaign of compassion.” At a time when children with disabilities are mainstreamed and no longer kept on the sidelines, it is vital for others to hear their voices. Through an open and honest discussion of their differences, these children show just how similar everyone is.

PURCHASE THE DVD FROM TSA
 click here to go to TSA's online Catalog
 look for items DVD-13M, DVD-13NM, DVD-13V
 See full info on our TSA National page (click here)

Click these links for press coverage on the I HAVE TOURETTE'S, BUT
TOURETTE'S DOESN'T HAVE ME" media special:

CBS Early Show:  http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/11/10/earlyshow/living/main1033185.shtml
 

The Insider:  http://insider.tv.yahoo.com/celeb/3316/