The Longest Shortest Time

EPISODE #13: Making Noise to Prevent More Noise

Finn Morgan was the kind of baby who rarely cried. Really easy going. His mom, Amanda, considered herself lucky. Then, when Finn was two, Amanda started noticing that he’d throw his arm up involuntarily when sitting in his car seat.

Finn got really hyperactive, climbing everything in sight—once scaling a 6-foot shelving unit at Ikea within seconds. People assured Amanda she didn’t need to worry, that Finn was just being a boy. But Amanda was worried, so she made an appointment at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Turned out Finn had Tourette’s. And OCD and severe ADHD. Which makes the usual noisiness of toddlerhood much noisier. Find out how Amanda copes with the noise and why she kind of loves it, too.

Resources Amanda likes

• National Tourette Syndrome Association
• Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD)
• International OCD Foundation

She is also fond of the book Tic Talk: Living with Tourettes Syndrome by Dylan Peters, a 9-year-old with Tourette’s, and Don’t Think About Monkeys: Extraordinary Stories Written by People with Tourette Syndrome. And she recommends the HBO documentary I Have Tourette’s, But Tourette’s Doesn’t Have Me as a great way of educating children with Tourette’s (and the children who know them) about the disorder.

Does YOUR child have Tourette’s or OCD?
Tell us in the comments.

Photos top + bottom: Danielle Marsh