Crystal

>>Beth said: We have found that giving Douglass the skills to master his
own physical needs helped so much>>

This is the key to it all, isn't it? Figuring out what skills our kids need
and then helping them master those skills. Just that we are talking
physically here, and not just academically. That is why we need them at
home, school doesn't have the time, the patience, or the resources to help
them with these basic needs. At home, we do.

Crystal

Tim and Maureen

I am interested in this conversation as we have been exploring on our own different ways to help our 13 yr old.She has complex partial seizures, has motor challenges, anxiety and lately has developed little screams that seem involuntary. They have not happened often and when they have it has been in high stress, noisy, overwhelming situations. DD loves hard squeezes, trampoline bouncing repetively and has learned to move when stress becomes to high. An interesting thing is that I read the Highly Sensitive Child and learned about the need for firm pressure, etc..At this point we have let go of needing a label and are happy to just learn other ways to help her in her journey of learning about herself and honouring that.


Maureen

----- Original Message -----
From: Crystal
To: [email protected]
Sent: Friday, September 05, 2003 9:15 AM
Subject: Re: [UnschoolingDiscussion] TS


>>Beth said: We have found that giving Douglass the skills to master his
own physical needs helped so much>>

This is the key to it all, isn't it? Figuring out what skills our kids need
and then helping them master those skills. Just that we are talking
physically here, and not just academically. That is why we need them at
home, school doesn't have the time, the patience, or the resources to help
them with these basic needs. At home, we do.

Crystal



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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Jon and Rue Kream

When Rowan's tics started we kept asking her if she wanted a drink of water.
It took a week or so for us to realize she wasn't just getting a cold.
After the first week she started developing more and more vocal and motor
tics. She has quite a collection now. My personal favorite is when she
shouts "hoozgenflutzky!".

My biggest concern is the related OCD. She recently began to jump over a
spot of blue dye on our living room floor. She told me one night she had to
or "the world would come to an end". She said it like it was no big deal,
but it tore my heart out.

So far her tics have not affected any part of her life. I'm sorry Abba's
having such a hard time, Holly. I think it's perfectly normal to mourn for
the easy life we wanted our kids to have.

I have fibromyalgia, and I've learned that when life gives you something bad
you often get something in return. In my case it is patience and peace with
whatever comes my way, as well as a joy in the little things in life. I'm
interested to see what TS brings Rowan. Already I think it's brought her a
wonderful sense of humor, and a tendency to look for the ridiculous in life.

I have not looked into food allergies. She's such a particular eater, I'm
not sure she'd go for any kind of changes. How did those of you who changed
your children's diets go about it? ~Rue


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Holly Furgason

--- In [email protected], "Jon and Rue Kream"
<skreams@c...> wrote:
> When Rowan's tics started we kept asking her if she wanted a drink
of water.
> It took a week or so for us to realize she wasn't just getting a
cold.
> After the first week she started developing more and more vocal and
motor
> tics. She has quite a collection now. My personal favorite is
when she
> shouts "hoozgenflutzky!".

See, this is the type of attitude I wasn't finding on the other
list. They were all so scared of their kids showing any type of
abnormal behaviour. :-)

> My biggest concern is the related OCD.

OCD was the one thing I never wanted my children to have. I've known
several OCD adults and, maybe bacuse I'm so easy going, it looked
like pure torture to me.

She recently began to jump over a
> spot of blue dye on our living room floor. She told me one night
she had to
> or "the world would come to an end". She said it like it was no
big deal,
> but it tore my heart out.

Like I said before, we're pretty lucky because lip gloss is her main
obsession. I tried to tell dh that one time and he didn't believe me
until he was out with her one day and she realized she didn't have
any. Her panic was so bad that he was scared and he turned into the
first drug store to buy some.

> So far her tics have not affected any part of her life. I'm sorry
Abba's
> having such a hard time, Holly. I think it's perfectly normal to
mourn for
> the easy life we wanted our kids to have.

I'm having a harder time than Abba. :-) One thing I haven't
mentioned is how bad she was after the strep. If she'd have
continued like that we probably would have had to hospitalize her.
She was totally out of control; banging her head, biting herself,
hitting and biting other people. You couldn't hold her because her
arms and legs would fail around wildly and it was like she was having
a 24 hour tantrum, screaming and yelling at everyone. I was so
afraid she'd be like that forever.

After that her tics were so bad that we had to give her codiene for
the pain. Now she just needs a good massage from time to time and
we're doing yoga to stretch out the muscles.

> I have fibromyalgia, and I've learned that when life gives you
something bad
> you often get something in return.

This is so true but sometimes in the middle of a crisis we tend to
forget.

Holly

Jon and Rue Kream

>>They were all so scared of their kids showing any type of
abnormal behaviour. :-)

**Abnormal doesn't scare me. It's all part of what makes Rowan Rowan,
ykwim?

>>Her panic was so bad that he was scared and he turned into the
first drug store to buy some.

**Good Daddy :0).

>>This is so true but sometimes in the middle of a crisis we tend to
forget.

**Absolutely. ~Rue


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Tia Leschke

> > Do you think any of the TS stuff could be related to food
> allergies?
>
> Abba's TS definitely has an autoimmune componenet and isn't that what
> allergies are?

Well, allergies are an immune system problem, but a little different than
autoimmune. In allergies, the body sees certain harmless things coming into
the body as dangerous and reacts to that. In autoimmune diseases, the body
actually sees part of itself as foreign and attacks it. An example would be
the Hashimoto's thyroid disease that I have. My body sees my thyroid as
foreign and attacks it. I probably have almost no thyroid at all by now.
Tia

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety." Ben Franklin
leschke@...

[email protected]

In a message dated 9/7/03 8:21:17 AM, unschooler@... writes:

<< See, this is the type of attitude I wasn't finding on the other

list. They were all so scared of their kids showing any type of

abnormal behaviour. :-) >>

I don't know which other list, but my personal irritation is when people say
"Then she has to go to specialists," or "Special school!" In some extreme
cases, if that seems right for the family, the parents can figure that out
locally. But as a first-line response from unschoolers it makes no sense to me.
School rarely makes ANYthing better in an individual's life if the family is
loving and capable of research and focus and compassion.

Sandra

Jon and Rue Kream

>>but my personal irritation is when people say
"Then she has to go to specialists," or "Special school!"

**I agree. At this point we've decided not to even take Rowan to the dr.
We know it's TS and we know that we don't want to medicate her, so there's
no point in taking her and making her feel that there's something 'wrong'
with her.

As of now she accepts herself just the way she is. We just do whatever we
can to support that (starting with loving her just the way she is and
joining her in a rousing shout of hoozgenflutzky when the mood strikes
:0) ). ~Rue




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Holte email

Hi Holly, I'm new to this group, but wanted to jump in here. My twin sons (age 11) have mild TS. It's not anything I'm terribly concerned about (I went to one pediatric neurologist who did all kinds of tests, including sleep deprived eeg, video taped sleep deprived eeg's, etc...) and suggested medication. We refused, then went to another pediatric neurologist about a year later when the nature of the tics changed (from shoulder shrugging and sniffing, to hitting themselves (not violently) in the stomach. He (bless his heart) told me to go home and never come back (with a grin). He said he wouldn't DREAM of putting them on meds with the mild degrees of tics they were displaying and told me not to worry about it. I appreciated his relaxed nature and his not pushing the meds issue, but the tics do sometimes get a little embarassing for the boys. So the idea of eliminating dairy for a month or so, and then seeing what happens, is very appealing (and simple and drug free!) So thanks! I look forward to hearing from others who are dealing with this, especially those who have kids whose TS is not that severe. So a TS unschooling list would be great.

And my heart goes out to those who are dealing with this in a much more consuming way. My youngest son is a severe stutterer, and that gets much more of my attention, and can be very heartwrenching for all of us. An yet, compared to other challenges so many kids and parents deal with, well, I'm still grateful that this is his only struggle!

Look forward to hearing from others....
Dori
----- Original Message -----
From: Holly Furgason
To: [email protected]
Sent: Sunday, September 07, 2003 8:43 AM
Subject: [UnschoolingDiscussion] Re: TS


--- In [email protected], "Shannon"
<davenshan@m...> wrote:
> Do you think any of the TS stuff could be related to food
allergies?

Abba's TS definitely has an autoimmune componenet and isn't that what
allergies are?

The
> reason I ask is because my son, Connor has severe food allergies.
Before we
> found this out, he had tics all the time, he was angry, nobody
could touch
> him without him coming unglued. Now that he doesn't eat the
allergic foods,
> all this has gone away.

I'd love to hear more about his. One of the thngs we'll be trying
soon is homeopathy. I don't know if it will help but too many people
have offered their services and I can't see how it could hurt. I
really do think it would be great to have a TS unschooling list to
talk about things like this at length. If anybody is interested let
me know privately and I'll set one up.

Holly


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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

crystal.pina

>>>At this point we've decided not to even take Rowan to the dr. We know
it's TS and we know that we don't want to medicate her, so there's no point
in taking her and making her feel that there's something 'wrong' with
her.>Rue>>>

I agree. You also don't need someone from the outside telling you what you
"have" to do with your daughter, either.

Crystal

Holly Furgason

It was just another email for TS parents. I had a few questions and
posed them there but didn't find much info or any support. These
parents were just so mortified that their children might exhibit any
symptoms of TS even in the home. Of course, that's the way it is
with so many parents today, TS or not. They tend to put the norm
first and the child second.

Abnormal should have been in quotes. It's perfectly normal for Abba
to shout out at times and we just go with it. Last Friday we went to
the Friends Meeting House to see an art installation. The room was
all hard surfaces and very echo-y. Everyone- all adults but my kids-
was sitting absolutely silent staring at the ceiling and Abba shouted
out "HOO". Everyone was kind of jarred at first but I looked down at
her and just started laughing. The look of dread left her face, she
laughed and everyone then found it ammusing. Had I been embarassed,
it just would have made her feel bad and left everyone else feeling
disturbed.

Holly

--- In [email protected], SandraDodd@a... wrote:
>
> In a message dated 9/7/03 8:21:17 AM, unschooler@s... writes:
>
> << See, this is the type of attitude I wasn't finding on the other
>
> list. They were all so scared of their kids showing any type of
>
> abnormal behaviour. :-) >>
>
> I don't know which other list, but my personal irritation is when
people say
> "Then she has to go to specialists," or "Special school!" In some
extreme
> cases, if that seems right for the family, the parents can figure
that out
> locally. But as a first-line response from unschoolers it makes no
sense to me.
> School rarely makes ANYthing better in an individual's life if the
family is
> loving and capable of research and focus and compassion.
>
> Sandra

Holly Furgason

--- In [email protected], "Jon and Rue Kream"
<skreams@c...> wrote:
> >>but my personal irritation is when people say
> "Then she has to go to specialists," or "Special school!"
>
> **I agree. At this point we've decided not to even take Rowan to
the dr.
> We know it's TS and we know that we don't want to medicate her, so
there's
> no point in taking her and making her feel that there's
something 'wrong'
> with her.

That's our attitude too. The only reason we took her in was because
it was so bad in the beginning and quite sudden- literaly over
night. We had self-diagnosed though and actually had to tell the Dr.
about PANDAS. We've just met another child with PANDAS and they have
her on constant antibiotics so she doesn't get strep. I just can't
imagine doing something that unhealthy to a child.

Holly

Jon and Rue Kream

>>The look of dread left her face, she
laughed and everyone then found it ammusing.

**I do think humor is a very handy tool in dealing with TS (and lots of
other things). ~Rue


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Holly Furgason

For those interested, I've gone ahead and created a list for
unschoolers who children have TS. I've been so relieved by the
conversations of past couple of days with those of you with
Tourette's kids who respect your children and their differences. I'm
sure there are others who will need that kind of support too.

To subscribe go to
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tourettesunschoolers/ .

Holly

Tia Leschke

>
> To subscribe go to
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tourettesunschoolers/ .

Looking at that address, what I saw was sunschoolers. I like that.
Tia

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety." Ben Franklin
leschke@...

Amie

I have not read most of the posts except the most recent on this subject, but I wanted to jump in anyway. I am sorry if I am way off, or this has already been mentioned. Homeopathy came to mind. I know that constitutional care can be of tremendous help.

Amie

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Carolyn Ashley-Wheeler

Sorry to butt in but having read the previous messages (and I know I should
just watch and read for the first two weeks - sorry, again) but I felt such
empathy.
Here's a Hoozgenflutzky!! and a hug : ))
Carolyn


----- Original Message -----
From: "Jon and Rue Kream" <skreams@...>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, September 07, 2003 5:22 PM
Subject: RE: [UnschoolingDiscussion] Re: TS


> >>but my personal irritation is when people say
> "Then she has to go to specialists," or "Special school!"
>
> **I agree. At this point we've decided not to even take Rowan to the dr.
> We know it's TS and we know that we don't want to medicate her, so there's
> no point in taking her and making her feel that there's something 'wrong'
> with her.
>
> As of now she accepts herself just the way she is. We just do whatever we
> can to support that (starting with loving her just the way she is and
> joining her in a rousing shout of hoozgenflutzky when the mood strikes
> :0) ). ~Rue
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
> "List Posting Policies" are provided in the files area of this group.
>
> To unsubscribe from this send an email to:
> [email protected]
>
> Visit the Unschooling website and message boards:
http://www.unschooling.com
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
>

Fetteroll

on 9/7/03 9:43 PM, Holly Furgason at unschooler@... wrote:

> For those interested, I've gone ahead and created a list for
> unschoolers who children have TS. I've been so relieved by the
> conversations of past couple of days with those of you with
> Tourette's kids who respect your children and their differences. I'm
> sure there are others who will need that kind of support too.
>
> To subscribe go to
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tourettesunschoolers/ .

You may also want to put the address and a one line description under your
name as a signature when you post on unschooling lists (and wherever
appropriate) so it's always out there for people to notice.

Joyce

Holly Furgason

--- In [email protected], "Amie" <amiersa2@c...>
wrote:
> I have not read most of the posts except the most recent on this
subject, but I wanted to jump in anyway. I am sorry if I am way off,
or this has already been mentioned. Homeopathy came to mind. I know
that constitutional care can be of tremendous help.

I'm going to e trying homeopathy but what's constitutional care?

Holly

Jon and Rue Kream

>>Here's a Hoozgenflutzky!! and a hug : ))
Carolyn

**Hi Carolyn - Isn't it a great word? I told her it sounds like some sort
of dr. Seuss machine or musical instrument or something :0). Welcome to the
list, and thanks. ~Rue


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Shannon

-----Original Message-----
From: Holly Furgason

> I have fibromyalgia, and I've learned that when life gives you
something bad


Holly, my homeopath also has fibromyalgia. She said she could hardly get
out of bed in the mornings. Now she has no more symptoms AT ALL. She has
found Orenda International’s immune products. She swears by them now. You
can check them out at www.orendainternational.com
<http://www.orendainternational.com/>

Shannon Buckley
Mom to Connor 3-15-97, Carsten born at home 4-27-99/5-19-00 and Quinn born
at home 8-08-02





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Holly Furgason

It isn't me that has fibromyalgia but I'll check out the link. it
sounds interesting.

Holly

--- In [email protected], "Shannon"
<davenshan@m...> wrote:
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Holly Furgason
>
> > I have fibromyalgia, and I've learned that when life gives you
> something bad
>
>
> Holly, my homeopath also has fibromyalgia. She said she could
hardly get
> out of bed in the mornings. Now she has no more symptoms AT ALL.
She has
> found Orenda International's immune products. She swears by them
now. You
> can check them out at www.orendainternational.com
> <http://www.orendainternational.com/>
>
> Shannon Buckley
> Mom to Connor 3-15-97, Carsten born at home 4-27-99/5-19-00 and
Quinn born
> at home 8-08-02
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Amie

Hi Holly,
Here is a brief definition of a constitutional remedy. A Constitutional remedy is very specific to the patient is theoretically will get the body back in balance on all levels. If you have a cold or something like that, the remedy would work specifically on the cold symptoms, whereas the constitutional would be working on the whole person. Not sure if that makes sense or not. I am currently reading the book called The Impossible Cure. It is the story of a mother who cured her son's autism with homeopathy. Very interesting. http://www.labriyut.com/constitutional.htm

Also, if you do not have access to a Classical Homeopathic doctor, I can recommend one that is on line that I am currently using, and I know several people that are using them.

Take care,
Amie

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Holly Furgason

The information on the web site is very interesting. I definitely
saw members of my family in the different profiles.

We have a friend who has recommended a homeopathic dr. I haven't met
with yet but I'm looking forward to it.

Holly

--- In [email protected], "Amie" <amiersa2@c...>
wrote:
> Hi Holly,
> Here is a brief definition of a constitutional remedy. A
Constitutional remedy is very specific to the patient is
theoretically will get the body back in balance on all levels. If you
have a cold or something like that, the remedy would work
specifically on the cold symptoms, whereas the constitutional would
be working on the whole person. Not sure if that makes sense or not.
I am currently reading the book called The Impossible Cure. It is the
story of a mother who cured her son's autism with homeopathy. Very
interesting. http://www.labriyut.com/constitutional.htm
>
> Also, if you do not have access to a Classical Homeopathic doctor,
I can recommend one that is on line that I am currently using, and I
know several people that are using them.
>
> Take care,
> Amie
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Stepheny Cappel

I am interested in this homeopathic dr. on line please. Thanks Stepheny


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Tia Leschke

Just recently someone talked about starting a group for unschoolers with
Tourette's kids. I didn't save it, and my daughter might be interested.
Can someone send the subbing info?
Tia
leschke@...

"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where
there is no path and leave a trail."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson