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| Tourette Syndrome Awareness Malaysia |
- HELPING OTHERS TO COPE WITH THE
CONDITION
MISS Goh is now helping others affected by the Tourette Syndrome.
When she signed up with the Tourette Syndrome Association on the Internet (www.tsa.com),
she was asked to be the contact person for Singapore, and three mothers have since
reached out to her.
One, who wanted to be known only as Mrs Tan, wrote to Miss Gob and told her about her 10-
year-old son.
Mrs Tan, a 43-year-old civil servant, told The New Paper: "My son was diagnosed with
Tourette Syndrome in April this year.
"He was twisting his mouth and turning his head involuntarily. I didn't know who to turn to.
"He has no friends in school. I tried to sign him up for Sunday class at a religious organisation
so he could make more friends - people who can accept him.
"I explained that he is perfectly normal, but they told me that he would be a burden to them
and refused to take him."
Miss Goh also put Mrs Tan in touch with Mrs Lim, 44, an accounts executive whose 12-year-
old son was diagnosed with the syndrome two years ago.
Mrs Lim told The New Paper with a sad smile: "We had just come back from a holiday in
Korea. We thought he was possessed, because the tour package included trips to cemeteries.
"He kept shrugging his shoulders, sticking out his tongue and blinking uncontrollably.
"I told him to stop it. He said he couldn't."
After being diagnosed, he was given medication and his condition improved. But a side effect
of the medication, Haloperidol, is depression.
He has other difficulties, too.
When he was 11, his classmates called him names
.
But "the last straw was when they took away his pencil case, and put twisted staples into his
shorts".
Mrs Lim asked Miss Goh for advice, and she suggested getting a doctor to explain to the
teacher and his classmates about the condition.
When her son was diagnosed, she blamed herself. Said Mrs Lim: "I kept trying to recall what I
did, what I ate during my pregnancy. I wondered whether it was my genes or my husband's
that were defective."
Her son, who scored three As and a C for his PSLE, had an aggregate of 211. But that doesn't
matter much to her.
She just hopes society will come to understand and accept what the Tourette Syndrome
really is.
Mrs Tan and Mrs Lim worry every day of their lives.
Said Mrs Tan: "I don't know if he will get worse in future, nor what will happen to him when
we die."
Both Mrs Tan and Mrs Lim's sons are the only children in their respective families.
Now, they hope to form a support group that will raise awareness of the syndrome. – From
The New Paper, Singapore