Teenage Tourette's Camp

[Brook]

Just noticed this in the TV mag.

 

Write up says:

 

Follows five British teenagers with Tourettes, as they spend a week at a US summer camp.

There they can just be themselves. Will it help them to deal with their condition.

 

Brook

Edited December 28, 2005 by Brook

[rainbow queen]

thanks brook -i will let my sister know[her son has tourettes]

[Guest flutter]

http://www.shinelimited.com/about.jsp?id=4&aid=4

http://www.tourettecamp.com/

one review i read says there is a kid with asd on it

C x

[Rachelp2]

Hi All,

 

Yes I'm glad to see 2006 starting with a documentery on ITV.

 

There is a girl with Tourette's, OCD and Asperger Syndrome on there so will watch with great interest.

 

Hope this programme will educate the general public who are unaware of these conditions and that they grap the knowledge and understand there are people struggling with all kinds of troubles and therefor be kinder to them before making rash nasty comments.

 

Hope the programmes good, I'm looking forward to it.

 

By the way...."I nearly forgot, (silly me).....Wishing you all a happy New Year"!

 

Best Wishes

Rach x

[something_different]

i will watch it

[Brook]

[Paula]

Ive just seen two of the british kids invoved in this programme on this morning with fern and phil.

 

What a fantastic paire of teenagers they were.Ill be watching this programme.It should be compulsorey that every body watches it to stop the ignorance surrounding tourettes.

 

 

The programme on the tv a while back called the man who swears hes normal was also very good that was about an adult with tourettes and he was liveing a full brilliant life and was one of the most intelligent and interesting people ive ever had the pleasure to watch on tv.

[phasmid]

I wasn't going to watch this but after seeing two of the teenagers concerned on 'This Morning' this morning I changed my mind. I didn't catch the bit about AS either!

[phasmid]

Thought the program handled that very well. Was a bit dismayed at the antics of one girl being allowed to get to the point where the other was allowed to leave for 'her own safety'. Think that perhaps the person they felt was making her feel that way, or in the camps opinion was doing so, should have been asked to leave. I also felt that there seemed to be a bit of a lack of supervision at times, that is a criticism of the camp rather than the program.

 

It would be nice to see a similar program on ASDs done by the same people.

[lindy-lou]

it was an interesting programme,i felt rather uncomfortable with jenny leaving the camp and not jessica,i dont think either should have left,instead the camp could have helped them to solve their differences better,must admire the kids who make such a determined effort to have a normal life,it must be so hard to live with tourettes for both the sufferer and there families and friends,its good to see the condition getting awareness though.

[rainbow queen]

i enjoyed it alot as my nephew has tourettes and aspergers plus ocd he is in his twentys

my son also is being investagated for all these and more .

agree with u about that girl

seemed unfair that she was made to leave as the other seemed to have instigated it more.

[madme]

Im sure Imight upset someone but i think that Jenny was correct about Jessica not having tourettes. I saw little sign. I really didnt se the asd in her either. I appreciate that in girls it can present so much more subtly but my gut feeling was she was just a kid who had got her way far too often. Perhaps im being too harsh?

[DiabolicalSpoon]

It would be nice to see a similar program on ASDs done by the same people.

I concur. It's also got me into looking into the possibility of working at one of those camps this summer.

 

I can't help wondering if that girl (Jessica?) ended up at my old AS-oriented school, which was also in Somerset.

[shell]

i missed it (steven up worried about going back to school tomorrow) does any one know if it is being repeated i was really looking forward to watching it

[ceecee]

So are we saying jessica had A.S. then?She didnt seem that typical of someone with A.S. but then I know everyone presents differently, some appear more so caled normal than others.

[smiley]

Madme, that is partly how i felt about her. I think she does have tourettes, but plays it. I can't really say if she has AS - she didn't come across that way to me, but then i'm comparing her to my 6 year old boy...

 

ceecee - they did say she has AS.

Edited January 3, 2006 by smileymab

[Tylers-mum]

Im sure Imight upset someone but i think that Jenny was correct about Jessica not having tourettes. I saw little sign. I really didnt se the asd in her either. I appreciate that in girls it can present so much more subtly but my gut feeling was she was just a kid who had got her way far too often. Perhaps im being too harsh?

 

I completely agree! I couldn't see any AS traits at all and tourettes?? Hmm! That's questionable too. She just seems like a unruly teenager used to getting her own way all the time! Felt bad for Jenny having to leave though!

[lindy-lou]

i could see her AS,her train of thought was soley on her own feelings and she found it hard to socialise with her group,she couldnt be reasoned with and had a violent meltdown when things werent as she liked,that does seem pretty typical AS to me,agree everyone presents differently and she did have particularly awkard to handle behaviour,but from what i saw it seemed so.

[phasmid]

Have to admit that we both had reservations about her too. The prog might well be repeated on sky, that said I can't find it on the a-z listings. Might say on the net at itv.com

[Brook]

I've just finished watching this, well, that's a lie in a way, because the video it was taped on is naff,

so I watched half of it and had to just listen to the rest.

 

But what I did see was really good, I cant really comment on the AS part, as I think alot of what

was happening could have been because the cameras were there.

 

Brook

[Paula]

I watched the programme and id just like to say on the subject of the two teenage girls fighting and stuff that we musnt forget that first and foremost thats what they are two teenage girls.In my opoinion doing what teenage girls all over the world do,bitching kicking of and chaseing boys in a he likes me more than you kinda thing.

 

Throw into that tourettes and other issues and its bound to be a mixed up blured kinda thing where its hard to see where the tourettes finishes and normal teenage carry ons start.

 

On the subject of As and a programme about that about 6 months ago there was a tv programme on following around 5 teens and younger kids with As and seveare autism at a school.It interviewed them follwed them around school and at home.It was facinating and a real insight for those with As in the family and people just looking to understand more.

Edited January 4, 2006 by Paula

[ceecee]

I saw that programme Paula.There was a thread about it on here and many people didn't like it or agree with it.i actually found it quite interesting to see the different ways A.s. presents itself but then i don't have a child on the spectrum.Maybe if i had i would have viewed the programme differently.

[Paula]

I didnt agree with the methods used at the school involved with the AS programme.But i was very interested to hear from the actual kids who had As as it provided at much needed insight for me into the reasons behind some of the behaviours they present.

 

I wouldnt have wanted my son to go to the school involved though.

[lynyona]

i didnt see it but will catch it, its repeated on friday itv2 at 9.00pm i think it said.

[Auriel]

Im sure Imight upset someone but i think that Jenny was correct about Jessica not having tourettes. I saw little sign. I really didnt se the asd in her either. I appreciate that in girls it can present so much more subtly but my gut feeling was she was just a kid who had got her way far too often. Perhaps im being too harsh?

 

I haven't seen the program, but funilly enough, to the best of my knowledge, that is what people said about me, hindering access to the support I needed.

 

 

Edited January 4, 2006 by Auriel

[mum22boys]

i agree with most comments on the tourettes programme. I would never have known jessica had As if they hadn't mentioned it. To me she actually seemed quite sociable nothing like my son although it was difficult to compare to as he is only five. The tourettes part seemed genuine BUT i do believe she played on it. I felt quite sorry for her when she went shopping but perhaps Jenny was right, does she use it as an excuse to say what she wants.

[Tally]

I watched this, and found it really interesting, as I've never really known anything about Tourettes before.

 

I understood the Jenny/Jessica thing very differently to how you are discussing it here. Jenny couldn't cope with teenagers being teenagers, and wanted to run to mummy when she didn't get her way. I don't think Jessica did anything wrong, and I think it was right for Jenny to go home. They didn't bond from the start, and then it turned nasty when Jenny told that boy she didn't want to go to the dance with him, as she wanted to go by herself. Fair enough, that's her right. But to then turn up with another boy was going to be hurtful to the first boy. It was when Jessica told people about this that the big fights started. Maybe Jessica was wrong in the way she dealt with this, maybe she should have dealt with it privately with Jenny, but then she has a condition which causes her to make social mistakes. Fact is, Jenny was not mature enough to cope with being with a group of her peers for that amount of time.

 

I don't think we saw enough of Jessica's social conduct to judge properly. Teenagers will be drawn to someone like her, who has such an air of confidence about her, and walks round swearing and not caring what other people think of her. It doesn't necessarily mean she had a deep and meaningful relationship with all these people.

[ceecee]

Tally

 

I have to say from things I have read about A.S. I agree with much of your post.Someone with a.s. particularly if it is on the milder end of the scale will often socialise with people and even enjoy chatting to them etc, but will probably not form deep and meaningful relationships with people.I am a lot like this and i have mild a.s.Many people with a.s. will not have the same need as other people to seek company either and will be just as happy on thei own.Again this is me.

 

People with a.S. especially on the milder end of the scale can and do socialise but what is very often impaired is their social etiquette, which is perhaps like you said what we saw with jessica.

 

I am quite lucky in that my social etiquette is quite good but this is probably often not the case in lots of other people with a.s.

 

 

My husband had a friend whom thinking about it now years later in all probabilty had A.S. People would comment about him saying his social skills were poor or Isn't he rude etc.Comments like this really make me angry

Edited January 4, 2006 by ceecee

[lindy-lou]

I watched this, and found it really interesting, as I've never really known anything about Tourettes before.

 

I understood the Jenny/Jessica thing very differently to how you are discussing it here. Jenny couldn't cope with teenagers being teenagers, and wanted to run to mummy when she didn't get her way. I don't think Jessica did anything wrong, and I think it was right for Jenny to go home. They didn't bond from the start, and then it turned nasty when Jenny told that boy she didn't want to go to the dance with him, as she wanted to go by herself. Fair enough, that's her right. But to then turn up with another boy was going to be hurtful to the first boy. It was when Jessica told people about this that the big fights started. Maybe Jessica was wrong in the way she dealt with this, maybe she should have dealt with it privately with Jenny, but then she has a condition which causes her to make social mistakes. Fact is, Jenny was not mature enough to cope with being with a group of her peers for that amount of time.

 

I don't think we saw enough of Jessica's social conduct to judge properly. Teenagers will be drawn to someone like her, who has such an air of confidence about her, and walks round swearing and not caring what other people think of her. It doesn't necessarily mean she had a deep and meaningful relationship with all these people.

 

i have to agree with you too,its quite harsh to make a judgement that this girl was "pretending " to have AS,i know alot of spoilt kids who get there own way but i wouldnt dream that any of them would be as contrived as too pretend they have a condition like AS to get their own ways,especially at that age,she was a beautiful girl with a lovely figure and like you say people are bound to be drawn to her.

 

i was a bit disappointed to read those views,that girls mother could easily come across this forum looking for support and to read comments like that would be upsetting,like it is to us when people stare at us in supermarkets and think what an awful mother,cant she control that spoilt nasty kid having a tantrum.

 

food for thought i think.

[kirstie]

I haven't seen the program, but funilly enough, to the best of my knowledge, that is what people said about me, hindering access to the support I needed.

 

 

I have got to say this but Auriel hasa valid point. The girl in the programme maybe did present mildly to having AS but i was quite surprised at this thread. Have we not all heard the same, that our kids are little more than spoilt brats who need to learn some manners??? And not only that how outraged and hurt we are when people do say these things to us?! I don't mean to speak out of turn and offend anyone but come on guys we've all had the little old lady on the bus saying, "It wouldn't have happened in my day, just needs a good clip around the ear!" type of comments.

I noticed when the other girl spoke to her and told her she was upset as she felt she was ignoring her, the girl with AS said she didn't mean to, and the look on her face told me she was genuinley confused as to what she had done wrong.

[Tally]

I wouldn't have thought Jessica had AS if it weren't mentioned. It possibly would have been missed if her other condition weren't investigated.

 

Jenny's behaviour was completely different to an autistic child having a meltdown in a stressful situation. When the others were able to argue, Jenny made some very spiteful comments, burst into tears, and wanted to ring her mum. She was sent home because she couldn't cope with the same things that the other kids could, not because she was picked on any more than the others were. Maybe there are things we aren't aware of - her mother hinted at some depressive symptoms, but she was the one with the problem, not everyone else.

[lindy-lou]

jenny wasnt autistic was she?i thought it was just jessica who had AS?

[bid]

I agree with Auriel, Lindy-lou and Kirstie.

 

Surely we have all been on the receiving end of such comments??

 

I don't think we should apply them to a child that we saw in a television programme.

 

Bid

[asereht]

I have got to say this but Auriel hasa valid point. The girl in the programme maybe did present mildly to having AS but i was quite surprised at this thread. Have we not all heard the same, that our kids are little more than spoilt brats who need to learn some manners??? And not only that how outraged and hurt we are when people do say these things to us?! I don't mean to speak out of turn and offend anyone but come on guys we've all had the little old lady on the bus saying, "It wouldn't have happened in my day, just needs a good clip around the ear!" type of comments.

I noticed when the other girl spoke to her and told her she was upset as she felt she was ignoring her, the girl with AS said she didn't mean to, and the look on her face told me she was genuinley confused as to what she had done wrong.

 

 

I couldn't agree more

 

Theresa

[annie]

I agree too.

 

Anybody meeting Alex for a few minutes here and there can't believe he has difficulties. People who know him well, know otherwise.

[Paula]

The most annoying thing people say to me is "But he looks so normal" Most people who meet my son for a short while dont realise the problems he has.It is only when you get to know him or spend a lot of time with him that you realise the complexity of it all.

 

 

Even his special school couldnt beleive he could be violent and tantrum for england untill one day when he got home and started kicking of i called the school spoke to the headmaster and said listen to this.I helpd the phone out and he heard first hand my son yelling screaming ect.he said whoes that i said XXXX now do you beleive me.They realised then it wasnt a bed of roses and i wasnt talking rubbish.