Parkinson's
In the 1920's, Leonard Lowe is a normal ten year old boy who is attacked by a mysteriously crippling disease. The onset of the disease manifests itself in periods of what I can only term "suspended animation." At one moment, the victim is engaging in a normal activity, and at another he appears to be a living statue. Early in the disease, these periods of suspension last anywhere from a few moments to a few hours, and eventually, the victim is trapped seemingly forever in the statue phase. Only certain specific outside stimuli obtains a physical reaction, such as catching a ball or walking. When the movie begins, they show Leonard to us as a normal and seemingly healthy ten year old boy who is afflicted with the "sleeping sickness" disease that reached epidemic proportions during that specific era. Like many others who contracted this illness, Leonard and those like him were often misdiagnosed and eventually placed in mental hospital facilities because of their apparent vegeta!tive state. Doctors who worked on the earlier cases believed the patients mental faculties to have been destroyed by the illness. Dr. Sayer (Dr. Oliver Sacks in real life) discovers that certain vegetative patients reacted to outside stimuli, such as a pat
Perhaps you're riding a bus and you notice that the man next to you is blinking constantly and with exaggeration for no apparent reason. If you meet a person with Tourette's syndrome, it is recommended that you think of him/her as if he/she has a bad stutter. Although the symptoms of TS vary from person to person and range from very mild to severe, the majority of cases fall into the mild category. For example, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (formerly Chris Jackson) is the leading free throw shooter in the NBA. Just ignore the expletives or activity and converse as you normally would. A guard on the Denver Nuggets, he came to the NBA from Louisiana State University where he was an instant sensation, scoring 48 points in his third game. Tourette's Syndrome is an inherited, neurological disorder characterized by repeated and involuntary body movements (tics) and uncontrollable vocal sounds. He theorizes that a newly developed drug, L-Dopa, developed for the treatment of Parkinson's patients may benefit these patients. Most people with TS lead productive lives and participate in all professions. ------------------------------------------------------------------------**Bibliography**. Even adults with undiagnosed TS can run into trouble. Or you've sat down in a movie theater and a man two rows back spontaneously - and frighteningly - spouts profanities at no one in particular. Only a few years ago, major league baseball player Jim Eisenreich's career nearly ended because of unrecognized TS. We must give them the opportunity to see health-care professionals skilled in neurobehavioral disorders rather than classifying what they have as 'mental illness,' which limits benefits and access to providers.
Common topics in this essay:
Tourette's Syndrome,
Leonard Lowe,
Jim Eisenreich's,
Dr Sayer,
Orange Juice,
TS Mahmoud's,
Oliver Sacks,
Louisiana University,
Chris Jackson,
Tourette Syndrome,
tourette's syndrome,
outside stimuli,
people ts,
dr sayer,
tics associated,
ten boy,
living statue,
|