TICNIC Ride for Tourette's

The TICNIC Ride for Tourette’s will become an annual event held in May each year to coincide with Tourette Syndrome awareness week. The ride and this mycause fundraising page will be set to raise $30,000 each year, which is the cost of running the Tourette Syndrome Association of Australia (TSAA) annual camp.

This camp let's children and families effected by Tourette’s’ get to talk to, and meet with people in similar situations. In some cases meeting others with Tourette’s for the first time. When my family attended the camp it was the first time my husband, who was 40 at the time, had ever met anyone else with Tourette syndrome apart from our son. It was also a fabulous chance for our son to feel "normal" as everyone was ticcing without people staring, or being bullied by other children. The camp offers a chance to be amongst a large group of people with varying degrees of Tourette Syndrome, it offers children the chance to see what others go through and to ask questions about how others cope, and it offers families the chance to discuss treatment options, successes and failures.

Tourette Syndrome usually comes with a host of comorbid difficulties, almost 85% of those effected have ADD/ADHD as well as other conditions. My son has Tourette Syndrome, ADHD, OCD and dysgraphia. This can sometimes be a quite harrowing mix to contend with. So I want to make sure the camp can run every year so that we and other families have a place to turn to for help and guidance.

Tourette Syndrome (TS) is a neurological disorder characterised by involuntary, irresistible body movements and vocalisation called ‘tics’. It is complex and individual in its effect and usually comes with at least one or two other comorbid conditions such as, but not limited to, attention deficit disorder ADD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ADHD and obsessive compulsive disorder OCD.

Symptoms can be mild, moderate or severe. In milder cases a person may have just a few tics or twitches confined to the facial or arm/shoulder area, in more severe cases several areas of the body may be effected. Symptoms wax and wane usually over a period of 3-4 months at a time.

So like our Facebook page 'TICNIC Ride for Tourette's', and show your support. We would love to see you ride with us. If you can’t ride then
make a donation right here. We only need 1000 people to donate $30 to make it to our goal each year.