Olsen's Mission

Our story began when our middle child turned 18 months old. Everyone said he was just entering the "terrible twos" early. I knew there was something more going on. He would get so angry, at what, we did not know. He would scream and yell, hit, bite and be inconsolable. We saw doctor after doctor. He had migraines at age 3, was seeing a psychologist by age 5 and I spent every day crying. He is so smart, yet I could not reason with him and he did not seem to able to learn about social appropriateness. The experts were ready to say he was on the Autism Spectrum. It wasn't until he came off of the bus on the afternoon of November 17, 2007 that our world really changed. I actually refer to this day as a blessing in disguise, although while it was happening I know I did not think so. Our son stepped off the bus and his face and head were moving in a very strange, yet set pattern. It was happening about every 20-30 seconds. My husband was of course out of town, because everything happens when he is out of town. I was worried he was having seizures. I took him to the Children's Emergency Room that night. The entire time we waited the movements continues. Then, as soon as the doctor came in, it stopped. The doctor would leave the room and the movements would start up again. He said he wasn't worried, was going to run a few blood tests and to take him home. The next day the movements were worse. I called his neurologist who had seen him for his migraines. She said she could see him the next day. My husband met us at the doctors office and I could see by the look on his face that he too was scared. When he left his little boy was "normal" and now there were these strange uncontrollable movements controlling his little body. The neurologist came out to the waiting room and observed him playing before taking us back to talk. She looked him over and then ever so calmly, just like it was a normal conversation she said the words that would forever change our lives. Your son is having tics. They are not hurting him. You should go home and look up Tourette Syndrome. She even gave us the title of a book written by a mom from Minnesota whose own child has Tourette Syndrome. My husband and I just sat there. It is like your brain goes numb for awhile. What do I say? Do I cry? Do I say thank you? Do I hug my son? Do I tell him it will be ok when I do not even know? We left in separate cars as we had arrived. My mind just kept telling me to go to the book store and gain as much knowledge as possible. This is the only way to help your son. To help your family. When I went to the tsa-usa.org website and read about Tourettes Syndrome, I felt like I was reading about my son. I felt like I was actually getting to know him. I cried. Here he was six years old and this web site knew him better than me. I vowed at that moment to take the knowledge I had gained and to put it together with what I knew about my son to help him. Now for the first time instead of banging our heads up against the wall when dealing with behavior issues I knew how to guide us around the wall. When we told his doctors and psychologist about his new diagnosis they literally said "yeah" and nodded their heads. It took the physical tics to put it all together. His actual diagnosis is Tourettes Syndrome, RAGE (Repeat Anger Generated Episodes) ADHD and Anxiety. As I worked to become a self-proclaimed Mommy expert in Tourette's, I figured out he had actually been having vocal tics for many years. I also discovered that our eldest daughter has ADD-Innattentive, OCD, Anxiety and Tourette Syndrome which displays itself in the form of repetitious question asking (she would ask the same exact question 15-30 times in a row even though she had received the answer after the first time she asked the question). Since she was not aggressive we just assumed she was not paying attention when asking the question. She began this around age two. Our youngest daughter is exhibiting repetitious question asking, echolalia ( Involuntary repetition of words or phrases said by others ) as well as some vocal tics which she turns into animal sounds. Both of our daughters required speech therapy which is an early indicator for Tourette Syndrome. Some people ask me how I do it. I tell them with an awful lot of support from my extended family and friends. I have a psychologist for myself and I am learning how to laugh when it gets really hard. Our children must also get a great deal of the credit. They have had to learn humility, patience and tolerance for each other which I hope will serve them well in their lives. We are very open about sharing our story in the hopes that it will help ease the way in this world for at least one other person. Tourette Syndrome is not something to be ashamed about. It is a neurobiological disorder that just happens. You learn the skills to deal with the day to day effects of it and then get on with the rest of your life.