August 2009

Dear TSA Friend:

TOURETTE SYNDROME KNOWS NO BOUNDARIES
Neither Do TSA Programs

A mother calls in desperation. Her eight-year-old child is troubled by tics and sounds she
cannot control. The frantic parent does not know what to do or where to turn for help.

Our Information and Referral Office, staffed by professionals, quickly sizes up the
situation and leads the distraught mother to qualified sources in her area, along with her local
TSA Chapter, that can provide helpful guidance.

Tourette Syndrome is far more common than past estimates. We at TSA know it and
now millions from the general public know it. A story just released by the Associated Press
reports on a study led by the Centers for Disease Control. It concludes that TS affects all races
and ethnic groups. It can affect children and adults from your next door neighbor to populations
in every part of the world.

TS has many aspects – from mild throat-clearing to disturbing outbursts. The varied
programs sponsored by your Association have many aspects as well. Listed here are a few
striking elements that have proven their effectiveness and merit your special attention:

* Thousands of schools in every state have received packets of material to enlighten them about young students who exhibit symptoms of TS

* What started out as a germ of an idea has blossomed into a far-reaching Youth Ambassador program which has youngsters talking to other youngsters in schools and other venues across the country

* TSA-sponsored television spots appear on a broad span of stations in major cities

* Our Communications Director is in constant touch with media ranging from local programs to Oprah, supplying authentic information and correcting misleading and exaggerated “comedy” skits

* Our Washington office has been highly effective in backing legislation such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act and the Mental Health Parity Act

* Distributing the TSA/HBO produced Emmy Award winning documentary, “I Have Tourette’s But Tourette’s Doesn’t Have Me” all across the nation

* Perhaps most significant in the long run is supporting and co-ordinating a world class research program in the U.S. and overseas, now developing new and promising treatments for this baffling disorder

Encouraging as those developments are, they are now threatened by an economic downturn that endangers the most promising activities of your Association.

But just as our national government has developed a stimulus program, TSA must develop its own stimulus to rescue the essential plans outlined above.

That stimulus is largely dependent on donors like you. The children and adults for whom TSA programs are so vital must now look to you for the financial aid so vital to those very programs.

As they confront the problems of Tourette Syndrome every day, they join us in asking that you make your donation as generous as possible – as promptly as possible.

Please click here to donate to TSA.

With sincere appreciation,

Judit Ungar
President