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Apr
26
2017

Why Volunteer?

By Jaslen Noorpuri – Volunteer & Affiliate Support Coordinator Volunteers are the cornerstone in helping Tourette Canada flourish to its max...

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Apr
26
2017

Sybil Berenstein 

Sybil's involvement in Tourette Canada stretches some 25+ years, serving as President of the Greater Toronto Chapter for five years, as well as a m...

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Aug
31
2015

Meet Melissa

I have a dream to create a group meet-up for adults with Tourette in Montreal. I was once just a small town girl with Tourette and knew of no one ...

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Aug
28
2015

Supplies & Tools for School-Aged Children with Tourette, ADHD, OCD, Learning Disabilities

This week on the Tourette blog, we looked at strategies for the upcoming back-to-school transition and how to set up a distraction-free work or stu...

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Aug
26
2015

How-to Create a Distraction-free Work or Study Space

These days, thousands of Canadian do at least some, if not all, of their work from home. With September coming up fast, many young people will soon...

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Aug
24
2015

Ten Tips for Back-to-School Season

It’s that time of year again! Back-to-school season is here! It’s tough to leave the fun of summer behind and head back to school. If your y...

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Aug
14
2015

When one of your children has TS/TS+ and the other(s) don’t

Sibling rivalry, brothers and sisters fighting like cats and dogs, complaining, crying – does this sound like your house? Having one or more...

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Aug
07
2015

Rage has a name – Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder

Struggling with a child who has extreme, explosive rage? Until recently, there was no official diagnosis for this challenge. Until now. With the...

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Aug
03
2015

New Fact Sheets!

Check out our new factsheets!   Click to download each one: 1. ADHD Fact Sheet: https://tourette.ca/uploads/File/ResourceLibraryDocum...

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Jul
24
2015

CDC finds association between antidepressants and birth defects

Many people struggle with depression in both Canada and around the world. Some of these individuals take medication (anti-depressants) to help m...

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Jul
17
2015

Conquering Social Anxiety

James Meet James. James is in his mid-20s. He likes to cook and works as a computer programmer. James seems like he “has it all” but he is very ...

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Jul
15
2015

How to Cope When Your Child is Aggressive

Families affected by TS+ often struggle when their child or teen is aggressive. This can be a very difficult experience. It is not predictable and ...

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Jul
06
2015

The Best Things to Eat if You Have Tourette

We’ve had several entries on the Tourette Blog about what you shouldn’t eat. It’s time for a little positivity! Today, we take a look at what yo...

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Jul
01
2015

Know any special people who work in education?

We need your help! Tourette Canada is looking for a special educator, one who has gone above and beyond. Do you know anyone who fits that descri...

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Jun
29
2015

Does sugar cause hyperactivity?

Does sugar make kids more hyperactive? Many parents say yes. Is this true or is it just our perception? One study tackled this question head-...

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Jun
24
2015

Marijuana & Tourette

Can marijuana be used to treat Tourette Syndrome? This question is asked more often than you might think. It may come from a parent whose teen clai...

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Jun
22
2015

Hypnosis Helps with TS!?!?

Dear Dr. Ticcy, My friend said I should try hypnosis for my Tourette. Does hypnosis help with tics? From Should-I-Try-Hypnosis? Dear Shou...

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Jun
19
2015

The Worse Things to Eat If You Have Tourette

Many people are curious about the effect of diet on tics. While there is little published information on this subject, parents and clinicians have ...

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Jun
12
2015

What is your Tourette Anthem?

An anthem isn’t just any old song. It’s a particular composition that serves as a symbol for a distinct group. This composition has the power to un...

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Jun
10
2015

New Study Questions CBIT Effectiveness for Young People with TS & ADHD

If you have looked into tic treatments recently, chances are you have heard about Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Tics or CBIT (you can read more a...

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Jun
05
2015

Transitioning to College Life With Tourette (Part 3)

In this blog series, Zachary Benayon, Tourette Ambassador for Tourette Canada shares his experience with social opportunities in Post-Secondary Edu...

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Jun
03
2015

Transitioning to College Life With Tourette (Part 2)

In this blog entry, Zachary Benayon, Social Media Ambassador for Tourette Canada shares his experience with obtaining academic supports in Coll...

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Jun
02
2015

Transitioning to College Life With Tourette (Part 1)

n this blog series, Zachary Benayon, Social Media Ambassador for Tourette Canada shares his experience with overcoming the challenges associated wi...

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Apr
23
2015

Guest Blogger Danny Enright: CBC Show Features Man with Tourette

  Last week's episode of the CBC radio program "Wiretap" featured a man with Tourette Syndrome describing his experiences with online dating. So m...

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Oct
05
2014

Studies Confirm Exercise Effective As Tic Treatment

Is Exercise the Anti-tic Medicine We Don’t Take Enough Of? Studies Confirm Certain Exercises Help Tics Go Away. In 2005, Drs. Leckman & Swain p...

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Sep
03
2014

Deep Brain Stimulation, Part Three: Who’s a Good Fit for DBS?

The use of brain surgery to treat TS receives a lot of media attention; however, this coverage most often doesn’t go into detail about who is the r...

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Sep
02
2014

Deep Brain Stimulation, Part Two: New Data on Long-term Impact

The use of brain surgery to treat TS receives a lot of media attention. This three-part blog series will give you up-to-date information about this...

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Aug
28
2014

Deep Brain Stimulation, Part One: How Does It Work?

The use of brain surgery to treat TS receives a lot of media attention. This three-part blog series will give you up-to-date information about this...

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Jul
25
2014

Help Us Make Workplaces TS-Friendly

Many people tell the Tourette Syndrome Foundation of Canada (TSFC) that they are concerned about workplace discrimination. We are too! The TSFC is ...

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Jul
22
2014

Tourette Legacy Files, Part 1: Terry Ferguson

In this new blog series, we honour the men and women who helped the Tourette Syndrome Foundation of Canada rise from its humble roots and explore t...

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Jul
08
2014

Guest Blogger Brittany Fichter: My Medicine of Dance

This blog post originally appeared on BrittanyFichterWrites.com. I don’t watch Dancing with the Stars often, but when I heard that tonight was Disn...

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Jun
18
2014

The Story of Canada’s Only Great Dane Service Dog for Tourette

The following story comes to us from Jodi Laycock of Luseland, Saskatchewan. Life Before Sabbath As a child growing up in the 1970s I always had a...

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Jun
09
2014

Guest Blogger Ethan Macdonald: New Study Finds Parallel Between Humans and Mice

The recent study "Histidine Decarboxylase Deficiency Causes Tourette Syndrome: Parallel Findings in Humans and Mice" (Barlan et al., 2014) examined...

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May
20
2014

Guest Blogger Bella Thomson: Making My Film About TS

What Makes Us Tic is a feature-length documentary that aims to increase awareness and understanding of Tourette Syndrome. Through a variety of medi...

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May
05
2014

Supporting Students with TS+, Part 4: Guest Blogger Dr. Norm Forman

This is the final part of our blog series featuring the creator of the TSFC's e-learning program Advocacy to the Rescue, Dr. Norm Forman. Read Part...

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Apr
28
2014

Supporting Students with TS+, Part 3: Frequently Asked Questions by Parents

How is Tourette Syndrome “identified” or “categorized”? Tourette Syndrome is a neurological condition (sometimes referred to as a neuropsychiatric ...

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Apr
23
2014

Supporting Students with TS+, Part 2: School Strategies for TS, ADHD, Aggression & Sensory Processing Challenges

People with Tourette Syndrome usually have at least one other condition (co-morbid or co-occurring conditions). Some students have multiple co-occu...

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Apr
17
2014

Supporting Students with TS+, Part 1: Key Terms

For parents of children with exceptionalities like TS, OCD, ADHD and mood disorders, classroom strategies are a very popular topic. Parents are eag...

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Apr
16
2014

New Canadian Rock Band Features Members with TS

Say hello to Pariah. They're a young, ambitious Canadian rock band, and two of their members happen to have TS. A five-piece ensemble, Pariah hails...

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Mar
11
2014

Guest Blogger Roddie MacDougall: The Great Canadian Grid

Hello everyone. I'm a long time TSFC member from way back. My name is Roddie MacDougall. Some just call me Rod. I am 46 and have been living with T...

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Mar
05
2014

Guest Blogger: Steve Colle

Something that I don't often read about or hear people talking about regarding Tourette is the fun you can have with it with the right attitude. Be...

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Feb
27
2014

Guest Bloggers Julie Spratt & Ken Shyminsky: Coprolalia Myths Demystified

This post originally appeared on Neurologically Gifted, an amazing blog managed by TSFC board member Ken Shyminsky and TSFC volunteer Julie Spratt....

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Dec
12
2013

Local TSFC Volunteer Wins City Award

TSFC Ottawa Chapter volunteer and businessperson Frank Spartico (shown centre) received a Business Volunteer Award from Mayor Jim Watson and Counci...

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Nov
06
2013

Guest Blogger 10-year-old Sam Kaplun: Project Give Back

When I first heard of it, all that I knew about it was that I might have it! Tourette Syndrome. What the tic was that, I thought. My mom told me th...

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Oct
11
2013

Changing Lives With “The Space Between You And Me”

The Space Between You And Me is a powerful art installation that moves people who experience it.  It’s a captivating exhibit, managing to express w...

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Sep
16
2013

2nd Annual Gooberpalooza a Fundraising Success!

Super volunteer Angie Richardson recently organized a local BBQ fundraiser called Gooberpalooza, for the second year in a row. Reports Angie: The s...

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Aug
13
2013

Basic Finances for Youth, Part 5: How to Open a Chequing Account

Not just anyone can open a personal bank account, right? Wrong! It is your right to open a personal bank account. You can’t be denied this right ev...

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Aug
12
2013

Basic Finances for Youth, Part 4: How to Use a Credit Card

Many of our older youth have told us that they have tremendous challenges with handling money and understanding basic finances. This blog series ai...

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Jul
17
2013

Basic Finances for Youth, Part 3: How to Choose a Credit Card

Many of our older youth have told us that they have tremendous challenges with handling money and understanding basic finances. This new blog serie...

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Jul
16
2013

Basic Finances for Youth, Part 2: How to Improve Your Credit Score

Many of our older youth have told us that they have tremendous challenges with handling money and understanding basic finances. This new blog serie...

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Jul
15
2013

Basic Finances for Youth, Part 1: The 411 on Your Credit Score

Many of our older youth have told us that they have tremendous challenges with handling money and understanding basic finances. This new blog serie...

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Apr
15
2013

Guest Blogger Laura Locke: Removing the Road Blocks for Students with Coprolalia

Coprolalia: Utterance of obscene, aggressive or otherwise socially unacceptable words or phrases. (Glossary, Understanding Tourette Syndrome: a Han...

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Apr
15
2013

Guest Blogger Laura Locke: Removing the Road Blocks for Students with Coprolalia

Coprolalia: Utterance of obscene, aggressive or otherwise socially unacceptable words or phrases. (Glossary, Understanding Tourette Syndrome: a Han...

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Apr
09
2013

Setting Myths About TS “On Fire”: an Interview with Author Dianne Linden and Her Inspiration, Granddaughter Erika

TSFC member Dianne Linden is the author of a new YA-adult crossover novel, On Fire. The character Matti Iverly, one of the narrators in the book, i...

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Apr
09
2013

Setting Myths About TS “On Fire”: an Interview with Author Dianne Linden and Her Inspiration, Granddaughter Erika

TSFC member Dianne Linden is the author of a new YA-adult crossover novel, On Fire. The character Matti Iverly, one of the narrators in the book, i...

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Apr
08
2013

Getting the Jump on Kid’s Summer Camps

Often staff at a typical summer camp are unable to accommodate children or youth with TS Plus, whose challenges may include OCD, ADHD, mood dis...

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Apr
08
2013

Getting the Jump on Kid’s Summer Camps

Often staff at a typical summer camp are unable to accommodate children or youth with TS Plus, whose challenges may include OCD, ADHD, mood disorde...

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Apr
02
2013

Guest Blogger Douglas Coll: A Message To All Trekkers

Dear Trekkers, Thank you all so much for your passion, enthusiasm and leadership! What an amazing day... again! We all know that raising money is i...

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Apr
01
2013

It’s TSFC Volunteer Month!

Did you know that Canada has 13.3 million volunteers? To recognize the contributions of this giving group, volunteer organizations everywhere celeb...

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Mar
08
2013

The Real Mothers of Kids with TS: Candy of Barrie, ON

Three years ago, my nine-year-old son was continuously popping his shoulder out of place. No matter how many times I pleaded with him, disciplined ...

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Mar
04
2013

Guest Blogger Lisa Kaplaniak: A Successful Weekend of TS Awareness

Hamilton Halton Niagara Chapter spent the weekend at the Pen Centre promoting awareness and answering questions about our chapter, the Trek & t...

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Feb
27
2013

Guest Blogger Shari L.: Winnipeg Students Learn About TS and How to Give Back

Shari is the mother of two children including Evan, an eight-year-old boy who has TS and loves to play hockey. Shari lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba an...

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Feb
25
2013

Rage Episodes, Part 3: Treatment & Coping Strategies

Parts one and two of this blog series explored the definition of a rage episode and its causes. Rage episodes are anger outbursts that are out of p...

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Feb
22
2013

Rage Episodes, Part 2: What Causes Rage Episodes?

Some people with TS+ experience rage episodes or neurological storms. To learn more about what constitutes a neurological storm, please read part o...

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Feb
21
2013

Rage Episodes, Part 1: What is a Rage Episode?

Neurological storms, rage episodes, rage attacks, explosive rage—it has many names. Regardless of the term, they describe the same phenomenon: a pe...

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Nov
27
2012

Guest Blogger Douglas Coll: ‘Sea of No Cares’ Music Event in Toronto

At the Greater Toronto Area Chapter, our focus has recently been on "music as therapy." On November 17th we hosted a concert with the musical talen...

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Nov
23
2012

Youth Presenters Moving On to the Finals!

Congratulations Alana, Omar, Jason, Josipa, and Kimberly! This talented group of St. Martin Secondary School students won first place in their clas...

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Oct
18
2012

Zebras on the Great Wall of Tics

We got a cool new tic added to the Great Wall of Tics today: "The way I was diagnosed with Tourette syndrome at 17 was after a case of whooping cou...

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Oct
17
2012

Strategies for Coping with Tics & Compulsions in the Winter

This blog article, by RuthieP, was originally posted on New Jersey Center for Tourette Syndrome's Teens4TS Blog and is republished here with kind p...

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Aug
31
2012

Conquering Back-To-School Anxiety — Part 3

Strategies & Interventions There are a number of intervention strategies for combating school avoidance, many more than can be discussed here....

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Aug
30
2012

Conquering Back-To-School Anxiety — Part 2

Causes As always, in order to understand how to combat the problem, we first need to understand its causes. “Understanding the reasons that studen...

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Aug
29
2012

Conquering Back-To-School Anxiety — Part 1

Fall is fast approaching, and in a few short days, it will be that time again—time to pick up the books, pack the school bag and head back to schoo...

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Jul
10
2012

Terrible Twos or Terrible Parenting? Raising a Child in the New Millennium

Most of us have heard of the terrible twos, or at least acknowledge that toddlers can be quite difficult to manage at times. Temper tantrums, nonco...

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Jul
03
2012

“Sensory What-egration?”: The 411 on Sensory Integration and Sensory Processing Dysfunction

Recently, the National Office received several questions about sensory integration dysfunction (SID), a common co-occurring condition with TS. Just...

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Jun
30
2012

Guest Bloggers Austin and Tricia Dilworth: Science Fair Winner Covers TS

My name is Austin Dilworth and I am 9 years old. I was diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome in March 2012. This year, I had an opportunity to participa...

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Jun
29
2012

Thinking About a Summer Camp for Your Young One?

School's out, the weather is beautiful, and your child probably has a lot of time on their hands. The good news is that summer camps are great for ...

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Jun
25
2012

TSFC Volunteer Shawn Forth Wins Community Award

We already know that our volunteers are the bees knees (and we like to thank them every year at our National Volunteer Awards), but we become extra...

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Jun
21
2012

Con-‘GRAD’-ulations!

Hats off to all the members of the TS community who are now graduating from high school, college and university! We in the TS community know that h...

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Jun
20
2012

ADHD: to Medicate or Not to Medicate, Still a Question?

Does your son or daughter have ADHD? If so, you are not alone. ADHD affects between 3-8% of school-aged children and 75% of youth with Tourette Syn...

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Jun
11
2012

The New Frontier of Bullying: Electronic and Cyber-Bullying

It used to be that bullying happened on the playground, in the classroom, or on the school bus. Thanks to technological improvements, bullying now ...

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Jun
06
2012

Tourette Blog Long Distance Healthcare in Canada: Assistance for Travel and Accommodation Costs for Out-of-Area Medical Care

Do you live in a place where the closest TS specialist is a 2 hour plus car trip away? Do you have to leave your province to see a specialist or re...

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May
23
2012

Talent Show: Andrew’s Poem and Mask

Today we spotlight the awesome work of another one of our creative kids. Andrew A. has written a poem about his beloved hamster:  and he also desig...

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May
07
2012

In-Service Feedback

Last week we profiled a number of our in-service presenters. Today we wanted to cap it off by offering you a glimpse into the audience's reactions ...

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May
03
2012

In-Service Presenter Profile: Jill Bobula

One of the most important things the TSFC does for the TS community is the In-Service Program. We send trained in-service presenters to speak at sc...

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May
02
2012

In-Service Presenter Profile: Mandeep Sanghera

One of the most important things the TSFC does for the TS community is the In-Service Program. We send trained in-service presenters to speak at sc...

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Apr
30
2012

In-Service Presenter Profile: Laura Locke

One of the most important things the TSFC does for the TS community is the In-Service Program. We send trained in-service presenters to speak at sc...

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Apr
26
2012

Jena’s School Project on the TSFC

History never looks like history, even when you're living it. It's easy to forget that history is made every day, and that we, the Tourette Syndrom...

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Apr
24
2012

Daniel’s YouTube Video About Tourette

A big round of virtual applause for one of our young TSFC members, Daniel Q. Even though his video, "Let Me Tell You About Tourette's Syndrome"...

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Apr
20
2012

Volunteer Spotlight: Rachelle Brockman and Tracy Slywka

It's National Volunteer Week, and to recognize it we're highlighting some of our stellar volunteers throughout the week. These men and women make g...

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Apr
19
2012

Volunteer Spotlight: Shawn Forth

It's National Volunteer Week, and to recognize it we're highlighting some of our stellar volunteers throughout the week. These men and women ma...

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Apr
18
2012

Volunteer Spotlight: Dara Choy

It's National Volunteer Week, and to recognize it we're highlighting some of our stellar volunteers throughout the week. These men and women make g...

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Apr
17
2012

Volunteer Spotlight: Tisha Etherington-Phillips

It's National Volunteer Week, and to recognize it we're highlighting some of our stellar volunteers throughout the week. These men and women make g...

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Apr
05
2012

Connor draws about his Tourette

Connor F., a young boy with TS who lives in the Greater Toronto Area, had an In-service at his school recently. He was inspired to draw a picture e...

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Apr
04
2012

Guest Blogger Anita Sadori: 2012 Police Curling Championship in Montreal

On April 1st I saw the Police Curling Championship held in the Town of Mount-Royal in Montreal, Quebec. The charity of choice that they chose was t...

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