Tourette Canada

Tourette Canada Tourette Canada is a registered (11926 7862 RR0001) charitable organization dedicated to improving the lives of Canadians affected by Tourette Syndrome

In-service or IPP? If you've ever wondered how these approaches may benefit a student, this webinar is for you.Join Juli...
09/03/2026

In-service or IPP? If you've ever wondered how these approaches may benefit a student, this webinar is for you.

Join Julian Fletcher, Program Coordinator for the Tourette OCD Alberta Network, as he walks through what educational in-services and Individualized Program Plans are designed to do, and how to tell which tool is the best fit for supporting a student with Tourette syndrome and/or OCD.

🗓 Tuesday, September 30
🕡 6:30–7:30 pm MDT (8:30 pm EDT / 7:30 pm CDT / 5:30 pm PDT)
🔗 Register: https://events.ucalgary.ca/cumming/tourette-ocd-alberta-network/event/521091-educational-in-service-and-ipps-what-to-do-when

Hosted by the Tourette OCD Alberta Network.

Getting an IEP written is one thing. Getting it followed is another.We asked two moms, Rosie and Kelly, how they work wi...
08/31/2026

Getting an IEP written is one thing. Getting it followed is another.

We asked two moms, Rosie and Kelly, how they work with their sons' schools. A lot of it came down to just staying in touch.

Rosie gives each new teacher a short, practical rundown at the start of the year (here's what TS looks like for my kid, here's what helps), then keeps an email line open so small stuff gets sorted early. Kelly sends a heads-up when she feels a rough patch coming, so nobody's blindsided when the tics ramp up.

Their biggest ask? Rosie wants everyone trained, not just the homeroom teacher but recess supervisors and supply teachers too. Kelly wants teachers to talk with her son instead of pulling him out and calling her. He can speak for himself. The frustration just gets in the way sometimes.

Back-to-school series is on the blog: https://tourette.ca/2025/09/back-to-school-part-1/

Meet Scott Reid.A psychiatrist once described his wiring to him this way: "a brain with a Ferrari engine, but its brakes...
08/28/2026

Meet Scott Reid.

A psychiatrist once described his wiring to him this way: "a brain with a Ferrari engine, but its brakes are built for a bicycle."

Scott has lived with Tourette Syndrome since he was twelve. That same intensity carried him into a demanding career in finance, where he now works as a portfolio manager in Calgary. It also took him years to learn that horsepower without brakes eventually runs you off the road.

Today he's Treasurer of Tourette Canada and chair of our programs and services subcommittee.

Read his story: https://tourette.ca/2026/08/the-ferrari-with-bicycle-brakes/

Back to school with Tourette Syndrome starts before the bell rings.We spoke with two moms, Rosie and Kelly, about what m...
08/25/2026

Back to school with Tourette Syndrome starts before the bell rings.

We spoke with two moms, Rosie and Kelly, about what makes mornings work in their homes.

Their strategies:
→ Visual checklists and a family chalkboard for daily commitments
→ Clothes laid out and lunches packed the night before
→ Offering option A or option B instead of open-ended questions. Too many choices can feel overwhelming
→ A gradual wake-up, with reminders given one step at a time
→ Letting the small stuff go (yes, even the wrong gloves)

Both parents also plan for the hard hours. Rosie's son tics most at night when he's tired. Kelly's son needs unscheduled time after school to decompress after holding it together all day.

Read Part 1 of our three-part series: https://tourette.ca/2025/09/back-to-school-part-1/

Heading back to school with a child who has Tourette syndrome or OCD? An IPP (or IEP) may be a useful tool for helping t...
08/20/2026

Heading back to school with a child who has Tourette syndrome or OCD? An IPP (or IEP) may be a useful tool for helping them thrive in the classroom.

This webinar from the Tourette OCD Alberta Network breaks down what an IPP is and how parents and educators can work together to build one that meets the student’s needs.

Whether you're a parent advocating for your child or a teacher supporting one, this is a practical place to start.

Watch the full recording 👇
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4kABY_oiUY .

Summer's winding down. However these past couple of months went for your family (easy stretches, hard ones, or a bit of ...
08/17/2026

Summer's winding down. However these past couple of months went for your family (easy stretches, hard ones, or a bit of both), we'd love to hear from you.

If there was something that helped, even a small thing, would you share it? A change in routine. A place your child felt comfortable. A person who made things easier just by being kind about it.

And if this summer was mostly about getting through, that's okay too. Not every season is a good one, and there's no version of this you're supposed to be having.

Whatever you feel comfortable sharing may help another family feel less alone as we head toward September.

Tourette syndrome was first formally named 140 years ago, but tics are much older.In 1825, a French doctor named Jean Ma...
08/13/2026

Tourette syndrome was first formally named 140 years ago, but tics are much older.

In 1825, a French doctor named Jean Marc Gaspard Itard documented the case of the Marquise de Dampierre, a French noblewoman with involuntary movements and sounds. This description is widely considered the first formal medical description.

Sixty years later, physician Jean-Martin Charcot set his intern, Georges Gilles de la Tourette, to study patients with movement disorders at a Paris hospital. In 1885, Gilles de la Tourette published an account of nine patients and argued that they had a distinct condition.

Charcot named the condition after Gilles de la Tourette, highlighting his contribution. �
Although the condition already existed, it finally got a name in 1885.

"Can't you just stop?"Almost every person with Tourette syndrome has heard it. From a coach. A teacher. A parent who lov...
08/07/2026

"Can't you just stop?"

Almost every person with Tourette syndrome has heard it. From a coach. A teacher. A parent who loves them and doesn't know what else to say.

The instinct is understandable. Tics look like something a person is doing, so it seems like something they could undo. But suppressing a tic isn't stopping it; it's holding a sneeze. It builds. And a child who is asked to hold it all day, every day, learns something far more lasting than tic control: They may start to feel their tics are something they need to hide or change.

Those feelings can have a lasting impact. While some adults with Tourette syndrome have their most severe symptoms fade with age, many tell us that the shame can stick around.

So if there's a child in your life with Tourette syndrome, the most useful thing you can give them isn't a strategy for stopping. It's language for what's happening, and the steady support that tells them their tics are nothing to be ashamed of.

Tourette Canada is here to help families with both. Drawing on current research and the lived experience of our own community, we’re here to provide the support, understanding, and knowledge needed to thrive without shame.

"Most people don't know about Tourette's, and that's not good."That's Evie, 10, who plays drums in a marching band in No...
07/30/2026

"Most people don't know about Tourette's, and that's not good."

That's Evie, 10, who plays drums in a marching band in Northern Ireland and who decided this summer that she wanted to talk publicly about living with Tourette syndrome.

Big crowds and noise can be overwhelming for her. So her band made room for it. If she needs to step out, they work around it. Her mum Christina says other parents have been reaching out since Evie shared her story.

Evie's out there doing the thing she loves, with her mum, her sisters, her aunt, and her granda beside her, using it to help people understand a condition most still get wrong.

That's advocacy. She's ten.

Read her story on BBC News: "Meet the next generation taking part in the Twelfth"

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5 Nevets Road
Brampton, ON
L6T5T2

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Wednesday 9am - 4:30pm
Thursday 9am - 4:30pm

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