ACTRESS POLLY DRAPER AND OTHERS TO CALL ON CONGRESS
FOR ACTION ON TOURETTE SYNDROME
The Tourette Syndrome Association (TSA) will hold its annual Congressional Luncheon on Thursday, March 4, 2004 from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. to educate Congressional Members and their staff about Tourette Syndrome and the crucial issues of special education, the importance of an early and accurate diagnosis, and the necessity of continued governmental support and funding for the TS education and research program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“TS is the most common unknown disorder,” said Fred Cook, chairman of the TSA board, “but the TSA is a place that all Americans can turn to when the disorder has been diagnosed.” A neurological condition, TS is characterized by involuntary motor and vocal tics. Those affected by the syndrome often find themselves subject to society misperceptions due to lack of understanding about the disorder.
“In the short time of the briefing, members of the audience will hopefully learn more about TS than most medical staff,” said Dr. John Walkup of Johns Hopkins University. “TS has moved from a disease of the mind to a disease of the brain and now we are seeking a whole shift in the research efforts related to the syndrome.”
“Tourette Syndrome makes people make weird sounds and weird movements, but people with TS are not weird,” said actress Polly Draper, of how her eight-year old son matter-of-factly stopped two girls the same age from teasing him. TS has become a personal mission for Draper, as both her son and her husband, noted jazz musician, Michael Wolff, have TS.
Joining Dr. Walkup and Polly Draper at the briefing will be her father, William H. Draper III, one of America's first venture capitalists and a civic leader involved in numerous community service programs and his grandson Nat, and two families—George Loder and his grandson Johnny, and James Baker IV with his daughter Jackie—who will tell personal and compelling stories of how TS affects their everyday lives. Margaret Bush, sister-in-law to President George W. Bush, will serve as MC of the Luncheon.
You can read about the 2003 TSA Congressional Luncheon here, during which Richard Dreyfuss and Polly Draper addressed Congress about Tourette Syndrome.
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