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aylor family lives with TS
BY MARY KAY SWEIKAR
DANVILLE — Jeromy Taylor, 31, and his family rarely go out in public to restaurants or shopping malls. He can’t hold down a job or drive a car, and he doesn’t trust himself around common objects, such as a steak knife or a hammer.
Taylor has Tourette Syndrome, a rare neurological disorder characterized by repetitive involuntary movements, or tics, and sometimes vocalizations.
Because his disorder is misunderstood by most, Taylor has been shunned by society since he was 8 years old. And due to a couple of accidents that have caused additional insult to his brain, Taylor’s symptoms have worsened.
In addition to involuntary movements, people with TS can have other problems, such as difficulty concentrating, poor impulse control, problems with learning, obsessive thoughts, anxiety and mood symptoms.
Taylor exhibits both motor and verbal symptoms of TS, as well as depression, impaired short-term memory and attention deficit disorder. He is constantly developing new tics, and it’s been determined he already has manifested more than 2,500 different tics during his lifetime.
“I also have trouble falling asleep,” Taylor said. “Imagine all these unrelated images bombarding your brain, one after another — first a sheep, then a beautiful sunset, then an open field, and so on. This is what’s going on in my head when I’m trying to get to sleep.”
Taylor appears to be a nice guy who loves his family. He just wants people to understand he can’t control his occasional and unexpected physical and verbal outbursts.
Hard on a child
As a child, Taylor moved among several schools in the area.
“Every time I changed schools I had to start all over again, enduring the jeers and laughter from the other kids,” he said. “I spent a lot of time in the principal’s office for picking a fight with other students or using bad language.
“Even though the teachers were sometimes good at explaining to my classmates that having Tourette Syndrome doesn’t mean you’re retarded, kids will still be kids. And sometimes they were very cruel to me.”
Taylor was good at wrestling and football when he attended Catlin High School, which greatly boosted his self-confidence.
“When I really got into the football game, I was a terror on the field,” he said.
“And when we’d line up between plays, I’d freak out the opposing team with my tics and weird facial movements,” he said, laughing.
Taylor quit high school during his sophomore year, but went on to complete his GED at age 19. He started classes at Danville Area Community College, but never finished.
Like most people with TS, Taylor does best when he is focusing on one particular thing. He spends many hours drawing faces of people with ink, charcoal or pencil, and he has completed some noteworthy portraits of NASCAR drivers. He’s sent many of these portraits to the drivers, who return them with their signatures. These treasured framed portraits of Martin Truex Jr., J. J. Yeley, John Force and others are proudly displayed in the Taylors’ living room.
Taylor also likes to write short poems and read books by Stephen King.
“But with my ADD, I usually have to back-track a lot, and that’s very frustrating,” he said. He also likes to listen to music and watch the Green Bay Packers on TV.
‘Fly in your ear’
He and his wife, Sarah, met in 1995 at the Jewel store in Danville, where they both worked at the time. “My Tourette symptoms were very mild back then, and for about 10 years after that — until just recently,” he said.
“Many times when I’m out in public, I try to hold in some of my unusual facial movements,” Taylor said. “But it gets so hard to hold back that I end up going into the men’s restroom to let it out. I’d compare it to having a fly buzzing in your ear constantly and not being able to swat it away.”
Taylor’s uncontrollable urges have been so severe he’s damaged his own body.
“One time I pressed my top row of teeth behind my lower teeth with such force that a lower tooth popped out,” he said. “Only after that tooth came out did I feel relief.”
Taylor is thankful to have a wife like Sarah. “She’s the most understanding wife that I could ever have,” he said. Sarah works part-time at AutoZone in Danville and also fills in for her husband on things he’s unable to do for his family.
“I don’t look at Jeromy as different from anyone else who has a health problem,” Sarah said. “If someone doesn’t like to watch his head jerks, then they don’t have to look at him.”
Both of Taylor’s sons, Austin, 11, and Brandon, 5, have exhibited signs of TS, which saddens both him and Sarah.
“I didn’t know until recently that there’s a 50 percent chance that a male child of a father who has TS will have the same disorder,” Taylor said. “I hate to think that our boys will be misunderstood all their lives, like I am.”
Caring family
Taylor also has a stepdaughter, Ashley Borden, 12, who attends North Ridge School.
“Most of the kids at my school don’t know anything about Tourette Syndrome, and some of them thought it was contagious,” Ashley said. “I try to explain it to everybody who will listen.”
Sarah said she’s never afraid that her husband will strike out and hit her or their children.
“A couple times, however, he’s been so agitated that he’s punched the wall and put a hole in it,” she said. “I’ve just had to explain to our kids that Daddy can’t help doing these things, and they’ve all accepted his TS with a lot of compassion and understanding.
“If Jeromy’s Tourette Syndrome is the worst thing that ever befalls this family, I think we are pretty lucky and should just work through it.
“We’ve always used humor to get us through Jeromy’s problem,” she added, as she affectionately touched her husband’s shoulder. “I just wish other people would be more understanding of people with TS.”
Taylor now carries a written letter from his medical doctor with him at all times, which explains Tourette Syndrome in layman’s terms. “I carry this letter with me in case anyone questions my behavior,” he said, “and that happens pretty often.”
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Photos
Jeromy Taylor sits at the table with his children, Austin, 11, Ashley Borden, 12, and Brandon, 5, and draws pictures. Art helps Jeromy cope with his Tourette Syndrome. Susan Joy McKinney/Commercial-News (Click for larger image)
BY MARY KAY SWEIKAR
DANVILLE — Jeromy Taylor, 31, and his family rarely go out in public to restaurants or shopping malls. He can’t hold down a job or drive a car, and he doesn’t trust himself around common objects, such as a steak knife or a hammer.
Taylor has Tourette Syndrome, a rare neurological disorder characterized by repetitive involuntary movements, or tics, and sometimes vocalizations.
Because his disorder is misunderstood by most, Taylor has been shunned by society since he was 8 years old. And due to a couple of accidents that have caused additional insult to his brain, Taylor’s symptoms have worsened.
In addition to involuntary movements, people with TS can have other problems, such as difficulty concentrating, poor impulse control, problems with learning, obsessive thoughts, anxiety and mood symptoms.
Taylor exhibits both motor and verbal symptoms of TS, as well as depression, impaired short-term memory and attention deficit disorder. He is constantly developing new tics, and it’s been determined he already has manifested more than 2,500 different tics during his lifetime.
“I also have trouble falling asleep,” Taylor said. “Imagine all these unrelated images bombarding your brain, one after another — first a sheep, then a beautiful sunset, then an open field, and so on. This is what’s going on in my head when I’m trying to get to sleep.”
Taylor appears to be a nice guy who loves his family. He just wants people to understand he can’t control his occasional and unexpected physical and verbal outbursts.
Hard on a child
As a child, Taylor moved among several schools in the area.
“Every time I changed schools I had to start all over again, enduring the jeers and laughter from the other kids,” he said. “I spent a lot of time in the principal’s office for picking a fight with other students or using bad language.
“Even though the teachers were sometimes good at explaining to my classmates that having Tourette Syndrome doesn’t mean you’re retarded, kids will still be kids. And sometimes they were very cruel to me.”
Taylor was good at wrestling and football when he attended Catlin High School, which greatly boosted his self-confidence.
“When I really got into the football game, I was a terror on the field,” he said.
“And when we’d line up between plays, I’d freak out the opposing team with my tics and weird facial movements,” he said, laughing.
Taylor quit high school during his sophomore year, but went on to complete his GED at age 19. He started classes at Danville Area Community College, but never finished.
Like most people with TS, Taylor does best when he is focusing on one particular thing. He spends many hours drawing faces of people with ink, charcoal or pencil, and he has completed some noteworthy portraits of NASCAR drivers. He’s sent many of these portraits to the drivers, who return them with their signatures. These treasured framed portraits of Martin Truex Jr., J. J. Yeley, John Force and others are proudly displayed in the Taylors’ living room.
Taylor also likes to write short poems and read books by Stephen King.
“But with my ADD, I usually have to back-track a lot, and that’s very frustrating,” he said. He also likes to listen to music and watch the Green Bay Packers on TV.
‘Fly in your ear’
He and his wife, Sarah, met in 1995 at the Jewel store in Danville, where they both worked at the time. “My Tourette symptoms were very mild back then, and for about 10 years after that — until just recently,” he said.
“Many times when I’m out in public, I try to hold in some of my unusual facial movements,” Taylor said. “But it gets so hard to hold back that I end up going into the men’s restroom to let it out. I’d compare it to having a fly buzzing in your ear constantly and not being able to swat it away.”
Taylor’s uncontrollable urges have been so severe he’s damaged his own body.
“One time I pressed my top row of teeth behind my lower teeth with such force that a lower tooth popped out,” he said. “Only after that tooth came out did I feel relief.”
Taylor is thankful to have a wife like Sarah. “She’s the most understanding wife that I could ever have,” he said. Sarah works part-time at AutoZone in Danville and also fills in for her husband on things he’s unable to do for his family.
“I don’t look at Jeromy as different from anyone else who has a health problem,” Sarah said. “If someone doesn’t like to watch his head jerks, then they don’t have to look at him.”
Both of Taylor’s sons, Austin, 11, and Brandon, 5, have exhibited signs of TS, which saddens both him and Sarah.
“I didn’t know until recently that there’s a 50 percent chance that a male child of a father who has TS will have the same disorder,” Taylor said. “I hate to think that our boys will be misunderstood all their lives, like I am.”
Caring family
Taylor also has a stepdaughter, Ashley Borden, 12, who attends North Ridge School.
“Most of the kids at my school don’t know anything about Tourette Syndrome, and some of them thought it was contagious,” Ashley said. “I try to explain it to everybody who will listen.”
Sarah said she’s never afraid that her husband will strike out and hit her or their children.
“A couple times, however, he’s been so agitated that he’s punched the wall and put a hole in it,” she said. “I’ve just had to explain to our kids that Daddy can’t help doing these things, and they’ve all accepted his TS with a lot of compassion and understanding.
“If Jeromy’s Tourette Syndrome is the worst thing that ever befalls this family, I think we are pretty lucky and should just work through it.
“We’ve always used humor to get us through Jeromy’s problem,” she added, as she affectionately touched her husband’s shoulder. “I just wish other people would be more understanding of people with TS.”
Taylor now carries a written letter from his medical doctor with him at all times, which explains Tourette Syndrome in layman’s terms. “I carry this letter with me in case anyone questions my behavior,” he said, “and that happens pretty often.”
print this story email this story
Photos
Jeromy Taylor sits at the table with his children, Austin, 11, Ashley Borden, 12, and Brandon, 5, and draws pictures. Art helps Jeromy cope with his Tourette Syndrome. Susan Joy McKinney/Commercial-News (Click for larger image)
, IL
, MI
50! The article is about a RZer. Even if it was not about one of our own, it should interest all.
Humanity involves understanding and tolerance.
Humanity involves understanding and tolerance.
I know him alot. We talk just about everyday. Everyone else is a dildo to him. they make fun of him.
No way. I talk a lot of NASCAR,Baseball,and and all sports. Must just be the wrestling zooers saying it.
What a night. lol. I need to sleep.Never typed so much in my life. I have to fade out of wrestling due to injuries. I am an undefeated heavyweight amateur wrestler too(high School) a huge NASCAR fan,love all sports. Well goodnight. I will be on sometime before the race. Race comes first believe it or not.............even wrestlemania. I know who is gonna win every match anyway.lol,but as a fan I shall not spoil the show. Goodnight 'yall
Yes, he did mention the article. I was so happy to find it, and so proud of him as a person, and a zooer, I wanted to post this.
I could have edited a bit more...lol. Sorry.
I was tickled to find it, and just posted my little ass off!!
It's a wonderful article. I'm proud that you are a fellow zooer.
I was tickled to find it, and just posted my little ass off!!
It's a wonderful article. I'm proud that you are a fellow zooer.
Nice Story... Really Enjoyed It... Just Recently, Sometime Last Week I Was Diagnosed With ADD, OCD, And Depression... Which Was A Real Mind Blower... Nice To See Your Doing Good... And Good Luck With Your Children...
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