So I have been introduced to a book called Disconnected Kids by a guy named Dr. Melilo. I have been enjoying this book and the insight he gives on neurological disorders. His claim is that many neurological disorders that we see rising today; such as Autism, ADHD, Tourette's and Dyslexia to name a few, are all caused by the same thing. He generalizes all of them into one category he calls Functional Disconnect Syndrome. He claims that as children our brains and bodies grow and develop, but that sometimes the two sides of the brain don't always grow at the same speed. When one side grows faster than the other, a disconnect happens. This disconnect causes the various symptoms of the neurological disorders. He claims that rather than treating the symptoms, there is a way to treat the cause.

In the 20 years he has worked with children in strengthening the weaker side of the brain, he has seen symptoms decrease and even disappear. Children can say, "I used to be autistic." Quite a breakthrough in looking at this kind of stuff! The thing is, the brain affects so much of how we function. The more I read about what this disconnect does, the more I am saying, "Hey, I do that. Hey, I have that. That is SO me!" Things I used to do as a kid are coming back. It is possible that it is the power of suggestion, but at the same time, it's not things that are just happening... I did them as a kid, too. I just thought I was weird, and made myself stop. My TS, or disconnect is after all a lot more mild than many cases.

One example that I found intriguing was food sensitivities. Most kids are picky eaters. Kids with FDS are picky in a different way. We don't necessarily judge by taste, but rather other senses. I don't like cold water. I prefer it to be room temperature. I always figured it was because of sensitive teeth or something. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. Sensitivities due to temperature, or texture, etc. can cause pickiness in kids. I totally do this. Another crazy example was that I am knock-kneed with bad posture. Remember, his claim is about the development of the brain in children. The brain controls the growth of the body as well. As a kid, I spent so much time reading that my muscles didn't develop the strength they needed. My motor-sensory skills are terrible, and I will be the first to admit it!

Now I understand there are MANY stories and theories about Tourette Syndrome and other neurological disorders as well, and that this is simply one among many. I have read many of them, too. I did my senior research on the different stories and theories about TS and how that affects the identity of those who have it. This is by far my favorite story and one I am inclined to believe. Not only do so many of the things he talks about in his book describe my life, but I love the way he describes it as well. That is is something we can still function in society with, that there is another option if we so choose. He doesn't even discredit the use of medication to control symptoms, but claims there is another way to decrease symptoms without them. I have not yet finished the book, but as I continue to read about how this can be changed, I do intend to see what I can change in my life and see if anything changes. In all honesty, I hope not my squeaks. I love them. But if I can fix other things in my life that are amiss due to this brain imbalance, it might not be such a bad idea. That is a whole different blog post that I will try to get up this week.

I never expected this blog to take such a serious turn. I intended it for the sole purpose of recording and sharing my funny stories, but hey, I can't complain. I am learning so much about myself in the process, and maybe it can help someone else, too. Life is funny like that, and the best part is, we can't help it. :)

Pip Would Be Proud...

Yep, that's how I felt, too, little buddy!

So I went to the temple today in town, and was riding home with my new sister, Brittany. She was driving and asked me a question. I don't remember what it was, because I had no idea what she was talking about. The answer to the question was, of course, "I don't know." However, being me, I can't just say that. It had to be exciting in some way or another, having TS, right? Sorry to disappoint any of you, but there were no noises or screams, or even a shoulder twitch. However, it was an exciting TS moment. Yet another evolution has occured... THE WORDS THEMSELVES, the "I don't know," were high-pitched and uncontrolled. I sounded like the little chipmunk, Pip, from Enchanted. You know, when he enters the real world and can no longer talk, but squeaks little words that are barely intelligible? Yep, just like that. It was also exciting considering my obsession with speaking in movie quotes. I don't know how often words will be coming out like that, but listen for new messages (and subsequent blog posts) headed my way!! I can't help it, my life rocks.

Graduate!!!

Oh stars, time flies so quickly!! I can't believe so much time has passed since my last blog post!! Hopefully I will get myself back in line soon! Life has had so much going on, for example, I am now a college graduate. It's official, my degree came in the mail the other day! Huzzah!!! What does this have to do with TS?? Well, graduation always has big fancy ceremonies, duh! Unfortunately, I let down a lot of classmates who were hoping for more, but there were noises during the ceremony. As names were called to cross the stage, it was requested that people held their applause til the end. Hahaha. This is Hawaii, and the Polynesians (or any family of graduates for that matter, mine included) did not abide by that rule. I didn't either, to tell the truth. I don't remember who was walking across the stage as a nice loud yell came out... masked by the yells of the family of this particular graduate. Such a shame, he shall never know the gift I was trying to give. :) There was another outburst during Sister Elaine Dalton's speech, but it was a smaller murmuring one, that only the ICS students around me were able to hear and appreciate. At least someone heard it though. It makes it much more fun. This was only the beginning, with my family visiting Hawaii, we played tourist, which provided the setting for many more fun stories. Yay for more posts to follow!!!

BIG NEWS and GOOD TIMES!!!

So I am hoping most people know by now, but I am engaged! I have met the most amazing man, Kekoa Michael Bay, and I was lucky enough to convince him to marry me! And yes, he knows about the Tourette Syndrome. It's hard not to, right? :) He is so good about it too. We have so much fun with it. At first he didn't really say much about it, he was afraid I would get offended or something. The more time we spent together, the more he realized I had a good attitude about it and he could open up. Anytime I start going off, he has started to "talk back." He will repeat the noises I make and we pretend we are having conversations. We look around at all the different faces that people make and laugh at them and use all we can to make a good joke about it (which is fairly easy to do, I have AWESOME timing!). Tonight we were at a social activity that involved food (the best kind!) and he had gone to throw the plates away. He then crossed to the other side of the room to talk to someone, when I suddenly let out a loud squeal (slight echo, good tone). A few of the usual giggles from friends, then all of a sudden I hear Kekoa calling back, "Coming!" I laughed so hard, I almost didn't hear the comments of, "You have him trained so well, " and "He knows who is in charge!" And I get to spend an eternity with this guy!!! My life couldn't get much better if I tried, and I can't help it!

Professional...

I love the networking that goes on at BYU Hawaii. We have the opportunity to meet a lot of different professionals in order to get us integrated into the work force. Just this week, I met three pretty big names in their chosen field. We had a guest speaker in one of my classes named Erica Chenowith (not to be confused with Kristen, sorry). She has written numerous articles and traveled the world speaking on terrorism and non-violence movements. Very interesting class, and I enjoyed learning from her. One of the best parts of the class, however, was the Tourette yell in the middle of her discourse. It was a fairly laid back atmosphere, and open for questions, so she looked my direction and asked what was said. I replied that I had Tourette's, nothing to say (at least not on her topic with any kind of intelligence) so she continued and that was that. It got a few giggles from my classmates though.

Then on Friday night, "the Piano Guys" came and performed. Composer and pianist Jon Schmidt and cellist Steven Sharp Nelson gave an amazing performance. No, I made no noise during the concert. However, afterwards during the meet and greet, there were a couple of loud (and when I say loud, there was an echo) screams. Now they may not be rock stars, so they were not thronged with screaming teenage girls or anything, but they did have a pretty large crowd, and the sea of heads that turned as they looked in shock at what had just happened was quite entertaining. When I got to meet them, they were very nice guys, neither said anything about the yells. It was a bit sad to get so little reaction, but I guess that is what you get when dealing with professionals. It was fun though, as my life always is. And I can't help it. :)

Christmas Songs

I love to sing. I studied music for three years while at Snow College. One day, I will have to go back and write those stories, once I catch up on current ones. :) While I don't often squeak while I sing, my evolving Tourette's has started to sing along when I wasn't planning on it. I have been known to "sing along" with "Carol of the Bells" and others. I don't try, but as I said, these things have a mind of their own!

Just as entertaining about the Christmas Songs were during church. One week it was announced that the opening song would be "Silent Night." Cue Squeaks. Someone turned around and in a loving, joking manner, responded with, "SILENT Night! Shhh!" However, announcing the closing song to be "Joy to the World" the squeaks seemed a bit more appropriate here, so I just got giggles instead of the reprimand. I can't help it! :)

Vacation

Sorry I have taken so long to post, school got kind of crazy, but it made for some awesome stories! Now I am on Christmas vacation, so I will hopefully get all of my stories in. Let's start with the start of my vacation and the plane ride home...

There were a couple of good stories from the plane ride. What better way to entertain yourself than to scream at random intervals when no one can run away? I was lucky enough to be sitting next to a friend on the plane ride to Vegas, and everytime I let one out (which there were many), we had ourselves a nice giggle, wondering if anyone even heard. Once they started getting louder, we didn't have to wonder if anyone heard or not. There were two that stuck out.

The first funny story was the first loud one as the flight attendants were doing beverages. They were still a couple rows in front of us when the first loud one came. The flight attendent was so surprised she looked like she was about to fall over. She saw me and Carlos giggle and asked if that was me. I said it was, but explained that I had Tourette's. She said, "Yeah, that's going to be my excuse when I am older, too." As they got closer, this particular flight attendant told the other that she wanted to serve us. She asked for my card (to prove I had tourette's). I do have a card from the school that says I am entitled to special services (I get my own room intstead of having to go to the testing center, I love it!), but she said she was joking. She explained that she often gets in trouble because she is the type to say what is on her mind, and she is saving the Tourette's excuse for when she gets older so she doesn't wear it out. I had to explain that those really are the noises I make from my tourette's, and she just thought that was adorable! I like being called adorable! :)

There were a few other loud ones, and I saw a few heads turn, but then I quieted down for most of the trip. About a half hour before we were supposed to land, I let out another one. This time the 6 year old across the aisle was awake. He didn't know what it was, but his dad kept laughing as his son kept imitating my noises. I only did one, but this kid kept going! He was pretty cute, and I made a new friend.

As we got off the plane, I gave a final squeak of farewell to my flight attendant friend, and made it home to my awesome family. They are adjusting well to the evolution, some better than others. My sister still prefers the pterydactyl, but my brother quite enjoys them and mom keeps telling everyone I make these cute noises. I make so many new friends with this introduction, and I can't help it.