Freelancer Anne Miller, writing in the Washington Post, says ‘American Idol’ contestant Dave Pittman is part of of a rising movement of people with Tourette’s syndrome who are putting a public face on the disorder.

Pittman, a singer from Arkansas, performed a four-minute audition on national television earlier this year but failed to make it to the final rounds after he forgot some song lyrics. He has now embarked on a motivational speaking tour.

Among other people who have Tourette’s: Brad Cohen, a teacher who was featured in the TV movie “Front of the Class;” political cartoonist and author Jeff Koterba; New York City Council member Jumaane Williams; and Miller’s husband, Michael Davoli. An excerpt:

Now that we’re married, people with Tourette’s or parents of kids with Tourette’s sometimes put Michael on a bit of a pedestal: He got through school, he has a good job and he married. That’s probably the biggest concern of Tourette’s sufferers and their relatives: Will their life be normal?

At a recent public appearance, Koterba met a mother and her young daughter with Tourette’s. The woman asked Koterba if her daughter would have a normal life. It broke his heart, Koterba recalled. “No,” Koterba told the girl. “You’re going to have a great life. An amazing life. A creative, beautiful, wonderful life.”

See also:

• Dave Pittman’s ‘American Idol’ fame helps children with Tourette syndrome — Baxter Bulletin [Mountain Home, Arkansas]
• ‘American Idol’ singer isn’t hampered by Tourette’s syndrome — Washington Post

(Fox photo from the Washington Post)

From ABC News:

Because summer camps traditionally don’t serve kids with disabilities, specialty camps designed specifically for them are cropping up around the country.

“Summer camp is just part of Americana, and if you’ve got children with particular special needs it’s just very difficult for them to readily fit into a mainstream setting,” said Sean Nienow, the director of the National Camp Association. “Camps are set up with a lot of physical activity and are not set up to cater special needs.”

ABC profiles some specialty camps:

• Camp Twitch and Shout (outside Atlanta) for children with Tourette’s syndrome;
• Adventure Amputee Camp (Bryson, N.C.) for children with amputations;
• Cap I-Thonka-Chi (Meridian, TX) for children with traumatic burns;
• Camp Sunshine (outside Atlanta) for children with cancer;
• Camp Heartland (Minneapolis) for children who are infected with HIV/AIDs or have family members who are; and
• Camp Celiac (North Scituate, R.I.) for children with celiac disease.

… One boy at the Adventure Amputee Camp spoke for all the special needs campers when he was asked what he liked best about camp: “No one is staring, asking what’s wrong with you or criticizing your faults.”

See also:

‘At Camp Twitch and Shout, Tourette kids can be themselves’ – CNN

(ABC News photo)

Chris Knight of Canada’s National Post [Toronto] writes from the Sundance festival that a number of  films featured this year explore disability-related topics. Their common theme? “Love heals,” he says.

Among them are “Son of Sunshine” (Tourette’s syndrome); “Mary and Max” (Asperger’s syndrome); “Adam” (Asperger’s syndrome); and “Helen” (depression).

“Over the Hills and Far Away,” a documentary (above), follows a British journalist and his American psychology-professor wife as they search for a cure for their son’s autism. The quest leads them to a shaman in Mongolia. In a more comic vein, there’s “Shrink” (Kevin Spacy as a psychiatrist to the stars).

See also:

• Sundance film festival site
• Sundance: Yes, documentaries still rule — Entertainment Weekly

(Movie still from Sundance site)

From the Baltimore Sun:

At the request of parents, AMC Columbia theater in Columbia, Maryland, has started a series of monthly movie events for kids with special needs. The “sensory friendly” showings on Saturday mornings feature brighter lights, lower sound and no previews. Children are allowed to dance, talk and exhibit other behaviors not normally permitted during movies.

The screenings began after an 8-year-old with autism was ejected from an early showing of “Hairspray” at another theater. “She got kicked out because she can’t really sit still,” said her mother, Marianne Ross, who then contacted AMC Columbia. The program has been popular with families, and AMC is considering adding it to other markets. Last month’s selection was The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (above).

“The world is so cruel to people who are different,” said Michele Schwarzman. Her son, who has Tourette’s syndrome, has been shushed and ridiculed at conventional theaters. But at the AMC films, she said, “we can sit in the theater and nobody will comment.”

By the Associated Press in the New York Times:

Summer camps just for kids with chronic diseases are booming — places to learn about epilepsy or finally meet someone else with Tourette’s tics or slice open a cow’s heart to see what’s wrong with their own.

Now fledgling research suggests such special camps may offer more than a rite of passage these children otherwise would miss: They just might have a lasting therapeutic value.

… ”How do you live well with a chronic condition? I believe in part, the power of being amongst your peers normalizes the experience,” explains Sandra Cushner-Weinstein, a social worker at Children’s National Medical Center who founded the hospital’s weeklong camps for five illnesses, and is studying the impact on campers.

From the Vancouver Sun:

After her daughter was barred from playing on a youth soccer team because she has Down syndrome, Abbe Gates of Vancouver started a team for children with special needs.

Sadie Gates and her teammates will take the field today at McKechnie elementary in Vancouver and play soccer. There are people in this world who still believe this is out of the ordinary. This is a shame.

Sports teams get kids with disabilities onto the ice

By Michael Winerip in the New York Times:

An unsentimental look at a day in the life of Brian Collins and his son Danny at an American Special Hockey Association game in Hicksville, NY. Danny,13, has Down syndrome and plays for the Long Island Blues. The association now has 50 teams, and many of the players have Down syndrome, autism, ADD, Tourette’s syndrome, Asperger’s and cerebral palsy.

“We look like no other hockey you’ve ever seen,” said Jon Schwartz, who is the national association vice president and coach of the New Jersey Daredevils.

Danny loves playing offensive hockey. He also loves routine, French fries, Coke, pepperoni, “High School Musical” (the CD) and “The Night Before Christmas” (the book).

(more…)