Famous People with Tourettes Syndrome

Tourette syndrome (also called Tourette's syndrome, Tourette's disorder, Gilles de la Tourette syndrome, GTS or, more commonly, simply Tourette's or TS) is an inherited neurological disorder with onset in childhood, characterized by the presence of multiple physical (motor) tics and at least one vocal (phonic) tic; these tics characteristically wax and wane.

The exact cause of Tourette's is unknown, but it is well established that both genetic and environmental factors are involved. Genetic studies have shown that the overwhelming majority of cases of Tourette's are inherited, although the exact mode of inheritance is not yet known, and no gene has been identified.

Tourette's was once considered a rare and bizarre syndrome, most often associated with the exclamation of obscene words or socially inappropriate and derogatory remarks (coprolalia). However, this symptom is present in only a small minority of people with Tourette's.

A person with Tourette's has about a 50% chance of passing the gene(s) to one of his or her children.

List of Famous People with Tourettes Syndrome:

Tim Howard - Once known as Tim Dawg, Howard managed to become the goal keeper for Manchester United of England despite his tourettes Syndrome. It was an everyday battle but he kept it under control, especially when he was to be catching and blocking 65 miles an hour curve soccer balls from the best players in the world. Tim says it's just a battle of the will, he just constantly fights what his mind tells his body to do, he has been capable of shutting out tourettes.

Howard Hughes - Being one of the richest man in history Howard Hughes had always been lost in dreams, most of them being born from movies or figments of imagination. He seemed to dislike or even fear all that was too real, although his career in aviation would prove otherwise.  He was but a mystery, when all the fame was directed towards him he would hide in the darkest of places, for he would not like other people. As he got older everything seemed like an enemy to him, he would not touch anything without gloves or tissue to protect his hands from what he saw as bacteria and disease. Then he would contradict his excess of sanity by barely eating and taking too much medecine. He was one of the richest man yet he was ill, and suffered from tourettes.

Marc Summers - Marc Summers was a popular tv host and entertainer, he had an obsessive-compulsive disorder and would do everything a certain way, anything else wouldn't work. When he would take a shower at a hotel he would wear flip-flops to avoid touching the floor, he would not remove them until inside the shower. Marc would have a great fear of losing, he wanted to win whatever happened regardless of who he was playing with. When it was time to play basket-ball or monopoly he would not accept losing, even to his children.

Dan Ackroyd - Aykroyd was born on Dominion Day at the Ottawa General Hospital in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Dan was diagnosed with tourette's and asperger syndromes at an early age, but the symptoms seem to have disappeared when he was around 14. The diagnosis of Asperger syndrome did not exist in the 1960s, when Aykroyd was a preteen. It involved mostly grunting and physical tics through nervousness.

David Beckham - David suffers from OCD and it manifests itself through constant cleanliness and perfection of all that is around him. Anything out of order is enough to cause a conflict and must be attended to immediately. Examples of this complete order is that everything must be in pairs, if there are three books on a table one must be added, or one must be removed. Only 2% of the population suffer from this strong OCD.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - (1756-1791) In late 1992, the British Medical Journal published an article by endocrinologist Benjamin Simkin, M.D. speculating that Mozart had Tourette Syndrome. Apparently he wrote several letters to his cousin Maria that contained many obscene words, especially words having to do with bodily functions. It has also been documented that he was hyperactive, suffered from mood swings, had tics, and loved made-up words. Despite these behaviors, we will probably never know for certain whether Mozart had TS.

Dr. Samuel Johnson - Samuel Johnson LL.D. MA (September 18 1709 - 13 December 1784), often referred to simply as Dr Johnson, is one of England's best known literary figures, an essayist, biographer, lexicographer and a critic of English Literature. He was also a great wit and prose stylist, well known for his aphorisms. Johnson had poor eyesight, was hard of hearing and had a scarred face as a result of childhood scrofula. He also had a number of tics and other involuntary movements, the symptoms described by Boswell suggest that Johnson had Tourette syndrome and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Jim Eisenreich - James Michael Eisenreich (born April 18, 1959 St. Cloud, Minnesota) is a former major league baseball player utility player with a 15-year career. He played for the Minnesota Twins and Kansas City Royals of the American League, and the Philadelphia Phillies, Florida Marlins and Los Angeles Dodgers of the National League. Eisenreich has Tourette syndrome (TS) his condition caused him to go on to the voluntary retirement list between 1984 and 1987 while he was undergoing treatment. Eisenreich resides in the Kansas City area with his wife Leann and four children. They run the Jim Eisenreich Foundation for Children with Tourette Syndrome which they founded in 1996. It helps children with TS to achieve personal success.

Michael Wolff - Michael Wolff (born September 19, 1954 in New Orleans, Louisiana) is an American jazz pianist, composer, and actor. Wolff is the leader of a jazz band, Michael Wolff and Impure Thoughts, which features Indian tabla player Badal Roy, drummer Mike Clark and electric bassist John B. Williams. Wolff has Tourette syndrome he serves on the Board of Directors of the Tourette Syndrome Association (TSA), and is involved with mentoring children with Tourette's through the chapters of the TSA
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David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

The author: Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was uniquely successful as a writer during his lifetime, enjoying huge followings from readers and audiences in England and America. When, early in life, sudden misfortune sent his family into extreme poverty, the young Charles was sent to work in a factory. Never forgetting this childhood misery, Dickens wrote often in later life about the plights of the working poor. As a young man he became a law clerk and stenographer, moving into journalism in the 1830s. Dickens's early journalistic sketches formed the basis for his first literary works. With the 1836 serialized publication of The Pickwick Papers, his unparalleled success as an author began. Dickens went on to write such famous novels as David Copperfield, Great Expectations, Barnaby Rudge, Hard Times, and Bleak House, with all of his works remaining in print to this day.


The plot: David Copperfield's father dies 3 months before his birth. His mother, very young, pretty, and inexperienced, raises the boy with the help of her loyal maid, Clara Peggoty. Things go well, young Davy is growing up in a happy, loving home – until his mother marries again. Mr. Murdstone, Davy's stepfather, believes that “firmness” is the only way of dealing with boys. He ends up sending Davy away to a boarding school run by a cruel schoolmaster Mr. Creakle. 

When Davy's mother dies, Mr. Murdstone decides that even this kind of education is too good for his stepson and promptly gets rid of him by sending him to London, to work at a blacking factory. Davy is only 10 when that happens. After many trials, he decides to run away and search for his aunt, Betsy Trotwood, who eventually adopts him. 

The second part of this novel shows the grown-up David Copperfield, he has completed his education and is apprenticed as a clerk to work in a law firm. He meets his boss's daughter Dora and falls in love. His feelings are returned, but Dora's father is furious when he finds out about the engagement. Meanwhile, David's aunt goes bankrupt, the family loses most of their possessions, and David has to work even harder in order to provide for himself and his loved ones

John Goodricke

The Discovery of the Occultating Variable Stars

John Goodricke (1764-1786), Astronomer

John Goodricke was born September 17, 1764 in Groningen as a son of a British diplomat and a dutch merchant daughter. With the age of five he got scarlet fever and lost his hearing abilities completely because of it. But after a proper education he was able to read lips and to speak. For this, the rich parents had sent him to a specialized school in Edinburgh. 1778 with the age of thirteen he was able to go to the academy in Warrington near York which had no special treatment or equipment for handicapped persons.

The discovery of the variable stars started with David Fabricius (1564-1617) in the year 1596, when he discovered Mira (aka omicron Ceti) as a star with non equal brightness. At this time this was a sensation, because the invariability of the sphere of fixstars was a strongly believed theorem. Nearly three quarters of a century later the Italian astronomer Geminiano Montanari (1633-1687) wrote down in 1670 that the second brightest star in the constellation of Perseus is changing its brightness.
The star has the Arabic name "Algol", which stands for "Head of the Ghul". In fact at the place of Algol in the picture of the constellation there is the head of the Medusa, which the Greek hero Perseus had killed with his mirror shield by her own look. With this head Perseus was able to petrify the seamonster Cetus, whom the princess Andromeda, daughter of Cassiopeia and Cepheus should be offered. Another name for Algol is "Devils Star". This name may indicate that maybe before Montanari Arabian astronomer knew the special nature of Algol.
More than a hundred years after the discoveries by Montanari John Goodricke looked to the stars with a somewhat modest equipment. The Warrington tutor William Enfield brought John Goodricke to astronomy, and the young man observed the sky together with his cousin Edward Pigott. According to his observations he was the first one to calculate the period of Algol to 68 hours and 50 minutes, where the star was changing its brightness by more than a magnitude as seen from Earth.
Goodricke was reporting this observations in 1783 at the British Royal Society, and for explaning these observations he proposed two theories: that the distant sun is periodically occulted by a dark body, or that the star itself has a darker region which is directing to Earth periodically because of the star rotation. With his first theory Goodricke is noted as the discoverer of the occultating variable stars in the history of astronomy. For his report he got the Godfrey Copley medal from the Royal Society for important scientific discoveries.

Algol or beta Perseï is a multi star system 96 lightyears away with two main components, where the central star is a massive, bright, white blue main class star (B8) with 3.7 solar masses at 2.9 times solar diameter and a 100 times higher absolute brightness than our Sun. The orbiting secondary star is a yellow red undersize giant star (K2) with 0.8 solar masses at 3.5 times the solar diameter and a three times higher absolute brightness than our Sun. Both stars have a distance of around eight solar diameter. This double star system is orbited by a third main class star (F1) in around two astronomical units. The nature of the Algol system were discovered through the spectroscopic analization of Algol's light applying the Doppler effect, postulated by Christian Andreas Doppler (1803-1853).
The central star is draining off mass from the secondary star, which collects in an accretition disk around the main sun and which is spiraling downward to the center. At the point where the plasma of the secondary star hits the accretition disk a hot spot exists, where the temperature might be more than 100,000 Kelvin. The rotation axis of Algol is only angled by 8 degrees to the view plane of the Earth, therefor the "dark body" postulated by Goodricke is the lesser bright star, partly occultating the brighter central star.
The brightness of Algol drops from 2^m1 to ca. 3^m4 at such an occultation for more than 9 hours. If the secondary star gets behind the main star the total brightness has another minimum, but this is only a fraction of a magnitude. - The third star of Algol has no influence to the brightness of the Devils Star, but in a period of 1.862 years the spectrum of the star system changes, which is indicating the presence of another massive orbiting body.


Goodricke looked for other variable stars and he found in 1783/4 with Sheliak aka beta Lyrae another one. The period of Sheliak the young astronomer calculated to 12 days and 20 hours. In the picture of the Lyra the star is directly below the main star of the constellation Vega. - The Lyra was originally the instrument of the winged messenger Hermes, but the singer Orpheus could become the owner of this magic lyre and with it he could free his loved Euridike out of the underworld.
The light curve of Sheliak is to find between 3^m3 and 4^m1, the true period is 12 days and ca. 21.8 hours. The secondary minimum at 3^m7 is more significant than for Algol, but the curve is also much more smoother than the one of Algol.

Sheliak is a double star system with two giant suns close together, so that they are deforming each other and exchanging mass, which is ejected within a huge accretition disk around the stars. This disk is darkening both of the stars, but mostly the smaller, hotter, normally brighter star. The star system also might have at least three more companion stars and is 860 to 1000 lightyears away.
The brightness change of Sheliak is realized by the deformation of the starry atmosphere. If a deformed star is presenting its broad side to the viewer it looks brighter than if the top side is shown. Also because of the difference in visible brightness of the two stars, the light curve of Sheliak is a combination of occultation and deformation brightness change. The main minimum takes place when the darker red giant shows its top side and the secondary minimum takes place when the smaller brighter star is standing before the bigger star.

Goodricke discovered also the variable star Altais or better known as delta Cepheï. He calculated the period of this star to 128 hours and 45 minutes with an outstanding correctness. The visible brightness of the star is varying between 3^m6 and 4^m4 within this time span. But Goodricke's theories about the reason of the variability came to an end on this star.
The star delta Cepheï became name giving for an own class of massive suns - the delta-Cepheï stars or Cepheïds. Because of inner thermonuclear processes and an interaction between gravity and radiation pressure they blow up periodically and shrink in defined time spans. They not only change their size, but also their color, surface temperature and brightness in the same period. The brightness variation has a typical shark fin form.
John Goodricke was admitted to the Royal Society at April the 16th 1786 already when 21 years old. He didn't recognized this honor anymore, because he died in 1786 at April the 20th in York by pneumonia. One of the halls of the York university is named after him in remembrance.

Nostalgia - Yanni (Live at Acropolis)

Visually Impaired Athletes in Judo Competition

Today there are many competitive opportunities for visually impaired athletes in local, national, and international events. The United States Association for Blind Athletes (USABA) coordinates sporting events for Judo, track and field, tandem cycling, swimming, power lifting and many other sports. Visually impaired athletes require some minor accommodations to participate in most of these sports, including judo. No sport though is better suited than Judo to permit visually impaired athletes to compete on an equal basis against sighted athletes.

Blind competitors have competed at the local level for years and at the national level, in both kata and shiai. Blind competitors also compete in international tournaments and world championships for the blind. However, there has always been a need for uniformity in application of the rules at various events where the visually impaired compete against sighted athletes. Training for the visually impaired competitor should include specific instruction on rules applicable to their participation. As more visually impaired athletes take part in tournaments, referees and sighted athletes will also need to be familiar with the adaptations required for matches involving a blind athlete.

Competition specifically for visually impaired competitors is governed by the International Blind Sports Association (IBSA) and by USABA in the United States. Both organizations have similar rules based on adaptations to the current International Judo Federation rules.

Each visually impaired athlete is unique and competitors may need varying degrees of assistance depending on visual acuity, experience, age, etc. The basic procedures are that the coach or assistant will guide the competitor to his/her side of the mats when called and ensure that the competitor knows whether they are aka (red) or shiro (white). The corner judge then guides the athlete to his/her starting mark. After the judges are seated the referee will announce "re".

The most important rule modification involves the beginning of the match. Although different methods have been tried in the past, the current rules call for the referee to clap once with arms outstretched in front. The competitors then advance towards each other until contact is made. They engage in Kumikata (grip each other's gi). The competitors should have their feet even or parallel with each other and then the referee announces "hajime".

This starting position is used to permit the contestants to grip each other freely. Until "hajime" is called the referee should ensure that the athletes do not step away or change their foot positions. Each time the athletes separate during a match the same procedures are used to resume competition.

Rules for blind competitions call for the danger zone to be distinguishable by touch (this can be done by temperature). Since this is not practical for many local tournaments, officials must recognize that visually impaired athletes may not be able to tell when they are approaching the boundaries. The referee should call "matte" when necessary to ensure safety and to prevent an unintentional rule violation.

All of the referee's hand signals (such as the motion which indicates stalling or inactivity) should be verbalized for the visually impaired athlete, and announced scores should include "aka" or "shiro" to be sure both competitors are informed of the score. Referees may take the opportunity during a break in the action to verbally inform the contestants of the score and time remaining, if appropriate. At the end of the match the corner judge again provides whatever assistance is needed as a guide for the visually impaired competitor.

Being visually impaired is not a handicap when it comes to participation in judo. With a little assistance and encouragement, blind athletes and youth can enjoy all the benefits of judo competition. By recognizing the abilities of visually impaired athletes they can easily be included in all judo classes and events including tournaments.

More information: http://judoinfo.com/usaba.htm (Judo for Blind Athletes)

Shared Vision

Kids Who Can See and Those Who Can't Learn to Look Beyond  Their Differences in a Special Preschool

At the Lighthouse Child Development Center, a preschool set among midtown Manhattan's skyscrapers, it is recess. In the gym 11 eager 4- and 5-year-olds line up for tricycle races. Lulu Kenworthy picks a yellow trike, but rather than speeding away, she waits patiently as her classmate Iliana Mejia takes a few extra seconds to find the pedals with her feet. Then they're off, their friends chanting, "Go Lulu! Go Iliana!" Their teacher Regina D'Ambrosio smiles broadly and observes, "To them this is like any other school." 

Except for one significant difference. Here cheering is more than encouragement: Iliana needs the sound of the other kids' voices to help her estimate the distance to the finish line. Iliana is visually impaired, as are half of the 70 students in Lighthouse's integrated program, which began in 1995 and is believed to be the first preschool in the country to teach blind and sighted children together. 

"It's a buddy system, and both groups benefit," says Dr. Tara Cortes, CEO of Lighthouse International, a not-for-profit agency for the visually impaired. "Children with limited or no vision learn they can navigate in a sighted world. And children who are sighted learn, 'Everybody is not just like me, but we do the same things.'" 

D'Ambrosio, 24, who leads one of six classes, takes care to make activities accessible to all. For story time she'll add fake fur to the animals in picture books. She also fashioned a chart that uses objects rather than pictures so students can pick their jobs for the day: Rice Krispies identify the snack helper, and cotton-ball "clouds" the weather helper. And sometimes routine actions take on special significance here. "In most preschools you're probably supposed to push in your chair," she says. "Here 'push in your chair' is emphasized so your friends who don't see well don't trip. Students learn that helping others feels good." 

In turn the students who have poor vision discover they can keep up with anyone else. At recess Iliana chases—and tags—sighted pal Elliot Horn by following the sound of his voice and footsteps. "Iliana is so independent now," says her mom, Ana Rodriguez. Even at the city park, "she jumps right in and plays with other kids." 

The most severely impaired students will graduate to schools for special needs or the blind. Many others will go on to local public schools, where they're likely to be one of only a few disabled children. But for all, the time at Lighthouse represents a unique start to their education. Here, says Mark Richert, director of public policy for the American Foundation for the Blind, "kids stand out for reasons other than their disability. It tries to be a happy medium between letting kids be with others who are like them and living in a sighted world." 

The school now has a waiting list for admission, but some parents were initially wary of enrolling children who were not blind. "I was concerned that Lulu might be dragged down, that she might not excel the way she would at another school," Rocky Kenworthy says of his daughter. "But it's been just the opposite." 

Despite its success, the Lighthouse program hasn't been widely duplicated, though there is a similar program in Lancaster, Pa. "There are two schools of thought," says Cortes, "those that believe that the blind and visually impaired need to go to separate schools to get the services they need and those that believe in integration [in mainstream schools]." But as word spreads about Lighthouse's unusual balance, she believes more will be established. 

Ivory Elleyby wishes there had been a program like it when she was her daughter Tammy's age. Both have survived childhood retinoblastoma, a cancer that left Ivory legally blind and Tammy with reduced sight. "As my vision got worse, kids who used to play with me started running away from me," Elleyby recalls. "As a child, I didn't understand." But Tammy hasn't faced that kind of cruelty. "Right now all she has to worry about is being a little girl."