Finished the Tourette paper! Here it is:

Crack.

Artemis Leigh finally caved in and allowed her toes to curl and crack. She pulled a bit of her lip into her mouth and bit down it. Distracted, she tensed her chest and continually cleared her throat. Her legs tingled at bit at her, begging to move around. Mentally groaning, she allowed her legs to hop up and down beneath her desk. She began grinding her teeth as well. Suddenly, her head jerked to the right, making contact with her shoulder. She wasn't expecting that one. It was amazing how allowing one simple tic to be performed set off all the others she suffered. Just when she thought things couldn't get any worse, the grunt she felt deep within her throat changed into a blood-curdling scream. By now everyone in class had turned around to look at her, and no one was moving. All eyes were on her. Embarrased and red-faced, Artemis slumped further down into her chair, wishing this hadn't happened. And all because she had forgotten to take her medication a few hours before. Artemis gave up and let the tics that had been eating her away take control. Her legs were itching now more then ever, her throat felt as thought she had to clear it, her chest tensed, her lower lip started to bleed from biting it, and her teeth were beginning to feel as if on fire from grinding them together so much. There was nothing worse she could ever experiance. Tourette was attacking her again.

Quit It, by Marcia Byalick, is a book about a character just like Artemis. Both suffer the same problems and both were born with Tourette. The main character in the book, Carrie, battles her Tourette everyday, because there is no medication for her to take, unlike Artemis. Carrie, unlike Artemis, did not have any other mental disorders, which was a very lucky stroke. Sufferers of Tourette usually have other mental disorders such as OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), Synaesthesia, ADHD (Attention Deficit Hypertension Disorder), Schizophrenia and many others. Artemis suffers from OCD, ADD, SAD, and Synaesthesia. Carrie only has Tourette, and that is an extreme blessing because Tourettes Syndrome is always liable to cause other mental and learning disorders. The constant ticcs, or sudden movements and noises, distract the sufferer at a young age and keeps them from learning or paying attention to their surroudnings. This later brings on ADD, OCD, and other learning deficiencies.

Quit It was written in the third person view, or the way the main character sees it. It was written in Carrie's words, not the author's. Carrie describes what she sees going on around her and what happens in her own words. Some of the stronger points in the book are the gramatical and spelling perfections. Marcia Byalick, in my opinion, did a very good job with her writing and structural paragraphs. I didn't, however, aprrove of her imagrey skills. Characters were not described enough and left a lot of room for me to guess at, as well as scenes and feelings. Somehow, however, she managed to keep me hooked on the story and make me want to read more. Although she did not describe some things as well as I thought she could have, I was still able to visualize everything that was happening in the book, and I always enjoy that in a book.

Tourette disorder is a mental disease passed down from the parents to the child. It is more commonly found in males in females in fact three times as many males get it then females, but it is fairly common nonetheless. There is little known for sure about Tourette Syndrome, but the factors of the brain that is involved is believed to be these: Basal Gangila, Globus Pallidus, Thalamus, Substantia Negra, and the Cerebellum. It is genetically passed down from parent to child, but sometimes a child with the gene does not show any symptoms whatsoever - they never experiance problems with it. Why this happens is unknown, as is a majority of problems and questions with Tourette. Tourette is characterized by invoulentary tics - or movements - throughout the body. There are many different types of tics a victim could suffer, such as the following: (http://www.healthline.com/galecontent/t ... e-6#anchor)
Motor:
(For Girls) Tensing of the breast
Chewing the lips
Grinding of the teeth
Popping the shoulder, or other limbs, out of place.
Blinking
Chewing the inside of one's mouth
Head jerks
Sudden muscle contractions on the face (i.e., Suddenly winking or pulling the lower face muscles closer to the upper ones)
Squinting
Shrugging
Grimacing
Nose-Twitching
Kissing
Pinching
Sticking out the tongue or lip-smacking
Touching behaviors
Making obscene gestures
Vocal:
Grunting or moaning sounds
Barks
Tongue clicking
Sniffs
Hooting
Obscenities
Throat clearing, snorts, or coughs
Squeaking noises
Hissing
Spitting
Whistling
Gurgling
Echoing sounds or phrases repeatedly
(Information about different types of tics found here: (http://healthcare.utah.edu/healthinfo/a ... urette.htm)

In the book, the main character, Carrie, fights the same disorder. Her symptoms were: sniffling, clearing her throat, popping her shoulder, jerking her head from side to side, and drumming her fingers on a table. Sufferers of Tourette can loose or gain new tics at any point in their life. Most cases of Tourette fade away as the victim ages, but sometimes sufferers retain the disorder for much longer. Exactly why Tourette is so random is unknown. There are a few medications for it, such as Keppra (A medicine that is used for epileptic suffers but controls tics as a side affect), Cirtiline, Haloperidol, and Pimozide. (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency ... #Treatment)

I believe the book Quit It did a very good job presenting the issue with Tourette syndrome because the way Carrie delt with her Tourette was much like people in real life who have it. Younger children with it hide it away from society because they wouldn't be able to make friends if they just let themselves go. People are sometimes afraid of their tics, and other people make fun of them for it. As Artemis put it, "It's a constant battle with yourself. You do things you can't control and just wish you could stop. Tourettes tends to take up your time, both by ticcing, and resisting ticcing. It can be self-damaging, and tends to get you picked on. In short, I would say, it's just a pain." Some kids are called "monsters" by others in their class because they can't control themselves. Sometimes when one decides it's alright to tic in front of their friend(s), they find their friend asking, "Can you stop that? Can you please just stop it?" (http://www.tsa-usa.org/news/HBO_Release ... update.htm). Artemis also says, "Any individual can tell you to "stop it" and won't admit that they were rude to say things like that, even after you've explained that it's a medical disorder and you can't help it." People think the victims of Tourette are doing those movements and noises intentionally in a rude manner, and sometimes even after explination, they still believe you're doing it on purpose, as Artemis has put it.

I also believe that the problem with Tourette is about the same size as the book puts it. Marcia Byalick plainly describes what a family with a Tourette victim thinks, and also the daily torments one must go through to put up with it. Carrie had no medication she could take, so she had to deal with her tics full-blown, although she tried to hide them. Quit It described the feelings a sufferer has when biting back tics, and also their thoughts when they let themselves go. I think it describes Tourette wonderfully and couldn't describe it any better.

Marcia Byalick got the wellness issue of Tourette down pact, I think. If I hadn't read her pages at the back of the book answering the questions, I would've thought she was Carrie and she lived through all that. She described all the thoughts and feelings of the sufferer and the people around the sufferer very well. She describes what happens when Carrie left her old friend Clyde - a nervous boy who was always finding new things to be afraid of - and became friends with a girl name Rebecca - a girl who had to endure dozens of moves and an alcholic past. Carrie and Clyde fadded away from one another when Rebecca stepped in, but when Carrie realized just how self-centered Rebecca was, she stopped talking to her and tried to make up with Clyde. When things got better between the two of them again, they were friends as they always used to be.

The main character Carrie contracted the illness. The book did not say when she was daignosed with it, but it did tell me that she had an older sister Clementine who was okay with the Tourette, but two parents who found it very annoying, as though Carrie could choose when she ticced. There was a section in the book where Carrie described what it was like with her parents before she was diagnosed. She claimed that her parents always used to keep their bedroom door open so they'd be able to listen into Carrie's door if anything was wrong. Carrie used to climb into their bed with them - between her mother and her father - when she had nightmares, and she was closer to them before. But then Tourette ran through her, and her parents closed their door from then on every night. She realized why they closed their door - because of all the noise she made at night. From then on she never felt close to her parents again.

Tourette Syndrome affects the movement area of the brain, which goes as follows: Basal Gangila, Globus Pallidus, Thalamus, Substantia Negra, and the Cerebellum. These five areas of the brain are affected by Tourette. Exactly why they are affected is unknown, but doctors do know it has something to do with reactions to proteins in the brain. Exactly which proteins are unknown, and it is still under further study.

There are many different symptoms of Tourette Syndrome, and they have already been listed above.

There are many different physical problems Tourette could create. For example, because one of Artemis' tics is chewing her bottom lip, it becomes swollen because of it. Also, constantly grinding her teeth could potentially wear them down to the point where they would not be hard enough to crush her food. Furthermore, grunting constantly (or screaming very loudly when she doesn't take her medications) could ruin her throat to the point where it would no longer be able to produce a proper voice for her, if one at all. Even if Tourette dissapears with her age, she could have problems because of it in the distant future.

Aside from physical issues Tourette can cause, it can also cause many mental and emotional issues. Tourette can cause the sufferer to be distracted from the world around them, and they could therefore develop learning issues such as ADHD or ADD. Tourette causes other mental issues as well, examples of such have been listed above. Tourette can cause emotional problems as well, especially if the sufferer has to endure torture by people around them everyday. This could lead them to depression or other serious mental issues that could further ruin their life. After a while the mental stress caused by both Tourette and people picking on them would lead them to craziness or something much worse. Tourette could ruin their future before they even experiance it.

Treatment for Tourette is limited, simply because little is known about exactly what it is, how it is caused, and exactly how it could be treated. There are a few different types of medications such as Keppra (A medicine that is used for epileptic suffers but controls tics as a side affect), Cirtiline, Haloperidol, and Pimozide. (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency ... #Treatment). Treatment doesn't get rid of the symptoms, but dulls them enough for the victim to get through their daily routiene without their lives being totally interrupted.

There is no way to tell if the problem is growing or decreasing because there is no way to stop the pregression and passing down from generation to generation. Doctors are trying to find a medicine to cure Tourette entirely, but so far they haven't come across anything that would cure it. All they have found is that certain medicines used for different things can also dull Tourette.

In conclusion, Tourette Syndrome is a motor and vocular problem that causes the victim to move or shout things invoulentary. There is some medication for it, but it only dulls the symptoms, it does not get rid of them entirely. As Artemis says, "Many parents tell their kids that "Tourette is your friend." but it's not. It's an enemy, this is war."

Done. And WOW that was long...Oh well...Whatdaya think, Art? And yes, Artemis Leigh is your new full name! :D

Skimmed though, no glaring mistakes. A thorough description wasn't proabably necessary, though.

Oh, wow. I'm flattered, thank-you!

Two mistakes only:

1. I don't have ADD, and my SAD is Reverse SAD. Oh, and you don't suffer from synaesthesia, you enjoy it.

2. I don't tend to be embaressed about the tics, but whatever. It works better in the paper, as most sufferers are.

You definately have a career as a writer, my pal. Your grasp of the english language is very, very good.

And yes, my big tic is the blood-curdling scream. People have told me that they can hear it three blocks away.

Glad you like it! I was thinking the first intro paragraph was a bit overexaderated, but it was a clincher, to make people want to read more, you know?

And that's right, you've got OCD, right? Not ADD? Whips.

And thanks for the writing compliment, I've been practiseing (I know) for like ever.

SO glad you liked it! I was thinking you wouldn't like it...That it was irrevelant...You know, it'd offend you or something...But yeah I feel better now. :D

Oh yeah, I forgot, the comment at the end you made inspired me to call it "The Perfect War." So yeah, you're very inspirational, Art. :D

I thought the first paragraph was good. It does grab people's attention.

Glad to be an inspiration.

Fight the power! Raise awareness!

You know, the only reason I did Tourettes was when you told me to look it up when you said you had it. If you hadn't, I would've never done the report on it, which is sad because it's cool to report.

So I was a catalyst?

Cool.

I have a website on mental disorders. Even if it is run by Freewebs. I need to tweak it a bit more.

Artemis wrote:


And yes, my big tic is the blood-curdling scream. People have told me that they can hear it three blocks away.

Very very true. I don't reccomend standing next to her during it either. Killer headaches will ensue.

In grade five stupid the stupid teacher made her take walks so that she wouldn't 'disturb the class'. Oh right, just the whole school then. It echoed off the walls quite a bit.

I'd love that tic. I just like being loud... :D

Oh, Art, have your parents ever complained of your ticcing while you sleep?

Let me just say for Arti - you don't want that tic. You just don't. Arti, care to explain why?

(It might not be as bad if you didn't live with her dad)

I refused to take those damn walks. I wouldn't leave.

Naturally, this pissed the teachers off to no end.

Occasionally, but not the screams. I don't think that the ones in my sleep were actually tics, I think that I was just breathing funny.

You wouldn't want it. You get pitied and calld "freak" by teachers and ignorant jerks. Also, it hurts I've made my throat bleed doing that, several times.

*sigh*

He hasn't got any better about it? Well I can't say I'm suprised.

How could you not know? You're at my house practically every weekend.

Very true. Aren't you sick of me yet? And actually, you are hardly ever ticking when I'm around. Is it getting any better?

You can't cure Tourette--only force the tics to fade for a while. But then there's always a chance of growing another tic, which would be a pain if it wasn't covered by her current medicine.

Art--Your throat bled? Bad. I wish I had that earlier... <_< Oh well.

Yeah, quite a few times, actually.

And the meds cover all tics.

Okay, I was wondering about that.

Even after I told you twenty times?

You, madamoiselle most definately deserve a !

Don't you use the roll eyes against me!

Where's Nat been, by the way?