By Teresa Conrick

This recent article appeared in my inbox - Boy, 9, with Tourette's syndrome sees his involuntary tics halted after undergoing a POO TRANSPLANT

A schoolboy with Tourette's syndrome no longer endured involuntary tics after he underwent a poo transplant.

The nine-year-old, from China, suffered bouts of headshaking, shrugging and the urge to shout out words for nearly three years.

But the unnamed patient's tics were 'completely ameliorated' after undergoing the transplant, designed to rebalance his gut bacteria.

The bizarre report, published in an obscure medical journal, adds to the mounting evidence that poo transplants can treat other conditions....eight weeks after the transplant, which originated in China nearly 1,700 years ago, the boys tic severity score dropped from 31 to five.

His parents revealed the severity of his tic symptoms had 'clearly ameliorated', the doctors, led by Dr Huijun Zhao, wrote in the journal.

'They reported that involuntary phonation (making sounds) had disappeared, and involuntary shrugging now occurred only occasionally.'

Some studies have shown benefits from taking probiotics in treating Tourette's syndrome, among other neurological conditions.

Note: Thanks to our friends at National Autism Association for sharing this post on their Facebook page. My two older daughters definitely love TV shows and characters that are not age appropriate. Mia is 23, and still loves Sesame Street. Her recent discovery (perseveration) of Charlie Brown brought me a huge sigh of relief. And I'm not proud of that. "Oh! Everyone can love Charlie Brown. I still do!" I did exactly what this young woman with autism says we NTs do to people with autism. I tried to force my girls to "move on" from their dear childhood friends to more age appropriate enjoyment.  Why? To make me feel like they were making progress? To spare them embarrassment that they did not feel when out and about? I recall several years ago one of my care team was at camp with the girls, when an 18 year old camper had a huge meltdown and tried to bolt the building. Why? Because she wanted to listen to the theme song to a Nick Jr TV show and the counselor kept telling her "No! That's a baby show."  If someone said to me, "No! You can't have a cup of coffee because it's after 3:00pm," I'd get angry and frustrated. Why can't our kids just love what they love? Thanks to Kristine Motokane for this insightful piece.

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How Pressure to Be 'Age Appropriate' Can Harm Autistic People

By Kristine Motokane

Whenever I go shopping in stores or browse online, I’ve noticed that certain things are categorized based on factors such as age, gender etc. For instance, the children’s section in clothing stores tends to have more character clothing, bright colors and be cutesier, while the adult section has less selection of character clothing and tends to be more sophisticated. Even the gift guides, specific lifestyle blogs and advertisements tend to categorize specific activities, themed characters etc. based on age groups. The examples I just mentioned are a reflection of the expectations society has in terms of what interests are appropriate for each age group and stage.

For some people with autism like myself, the concept of “age appropriateness” does not apply. We tend to not care about these kinds of arbitrary standards. However, many professionals and parents discourage interests that are perceived as inappropriate for one’s age. This well-meaning gesture is often an attempt to get the person to “fit in” better with their peers. As a 25-year old on the spectrum who has interests targeted to a younger audience, I disagree with this practice of getting autistic people (particularly teens and adults) to develop more “appropriate interests.” It pathologizes what is actually individual expression of interests and preferences all humans have. With this framework in mind, I will use my experience with this topic to explain why I dislike the term “age appropriateness.”