Tourette Syndrome and the potential impact on education in Malaysia

POTENTIAL IMPACT ON EDUCATION 

Tourette Syndrome (TS) is difficult for some teachers to understand because every student has different symptoms, which can change, wax, and wane. Some teachers may not be well informed about strategies and techniques for recognizing the needs of students with TS, or the most effective teaching approach. Besides the tics, many common co-occurring conditions can be impairing, such as Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), handwriting difficulties, sensory integration or sensory processing disorders, obsessive-compulsive behaviors, and social skills deficits.

RECOGNIZING THE SIGNS IN SCHOOL SETTINGS 
Educators and families should be aware of signs that may point to underlying symptoms of the common conditions that co-occur with TS. It is important to recognize the signs so that the additional support in school can be provided for students with Tourette Syndrome or other Tic Disorders. The following are common indications that additional support may be necessary:

Difficulty attending or staying at school 
• A collaborative and positive working relationship with the school can assist in an honest discussion to determine why this may be occurring and then developing a proactive/positive plan to help.

Behavior issues at home or school 
• Focusing on when, where, and why behaviors are occurring will decrease the chance of making assumptions and punishing the child. The Tourette Association provides several resources geared toward addressing challenging behaviors at school and strategies for these difficulties.

Significant reluctance to completing work in school and/or homework 
• This could be a sign that the child has difficulties in the following areas: handwriting difficulties, problems with memory, processing delays, or difficulties with organization. It may also be due to fatigue, which can increase tics and symptoms of other disorders and make focusing more difficult. A meeting with appropriate school staff (such as the teacher, counselor, or others working with your child) to discuss why this is occurring can be helpful. An initial evaluation, or re-evaluation may be necessary to determine if specific skills deficits are the reason for this.

Dropping grades
 • It is common for students with tics and co-occurring conditions to receive good grades in elementary school and then experience a decline in the grades in middle and high school. An updated education evaluation/assessment will assist in determining if hidden symptoms may be responsible and assist in identifying appropriate supports.

Increase in tics, anxiety, and obsessive compulsive behaviors 
• This may be an indication that a meeting with school staff is needed to discuss any changes that may be increasing anxiety. Discussions should include difficulties with peers and specific teachers or support personnel.

Difficulty socializing with peers 
• Screen for social language deficits, as they are common difficulties for students with TS that can severely impact peer interactions and friendships. The use of social stories may not be effective because students with TS often know what to do and say, but are inconsistently able to perform as they know they should and are sometimes capable of doing.

Loss of interest in preferred activities 
• Consider the environment to determine if there is something or someone increasing anxiety. It may also be due to some obsessive-compulsive behaviors related to attempts to achieve perfection.



Retrieved from:
Tourette.org


Further reading: Treatment for Tourette Syndrome in Malaysia
http://www.newmindcentre.com/2015/03/testimonial-tourette-syndrome-treatment.html

Tip of the day: Respond by NOT and calm down yourself

Respond to the thought only after you've taken some time to observe and reflect on it. When people have a lot of trouble with chronic worry, they tend to rush into action, reflexively, without any reasonable review of the evidence, as if that thought were a blowtorch that someone had just applied to their feet. Instead, follow this rule: don't just do something, stand there.

Train yourself to respond NOT, in this way:
1. Notice you have a thought
2. Observe and review the thought
3. Then take whatever action you deem beneficial



Resource:
http://www.anxietycoach.com/anxietysymptoms.html

4 Ways to Start Healing the Wounds of Childhood Trauma

The goal is to be more flexible and less afraid. Change can come in several steps:

1. Start by recognizing and taking a hard look at your stance and its limitations.

How do you view the world and how to cope with others? By doing this, you are not only being honest with yourself, but you begin to separate the past from present.

2. Get closure.

You want to begin to heal some of the trauma by trying to create closure, expressing what you could not express at the time. Try writing a letter—in Bill's case, to his mother; for Teresa, to the car driver or the doctors at the hospital or perhaps her family who wasn’t always there; for Oliver, to his parents—saying what you could not say then. Then write a second letter, from them to you, saying what it is you most want them to say—that they are sorry, that it wasn’t your fault, that they loved you. Make the letters as detailed as possible, and allow yourself to write down whatever comes to mind.

3. Step outside your comfort zones and patterns.
Time to be the grownup rather than the frightened child. Experiment with stepping outside your comfort zone: Speak up rather than being passive, open up and lean in in rather than being closed and isolated, focus on the present rather than constantly looking ahead to the frightening future, or experiment with letting go of anger and control.

4. Get support and help.

All of this is easier said than done, of course, and support and help is what you never really received. Here you may take the risk of seeking professional help to support and make those baby steps towards behavioral change; you may, on a therapist's advice, consider medication to help break the cycle. It's not about doing it right but doing it different.

Be bold, be patient. What’s important is moving forward so you don’t have to keep always protecting yourself from danger, so you can lean into your life. To quote Benjamin Button: It’s never too late to be whoever you want to be….


Source:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/fixing-families/201603/4-ways-start-healing-the-wounds-childhood-trauma?utm_source=FacebookPost&utm_medium=FBPost&utm_campaign=FBPost

简易快速提神之自我催眠法

看着我的钟表，不眨眼并注视它1分钟之后闭上眼睛。

闭上眼睛后继续看着或想象我的钟表。

然后深呼吸（吸气4秒，撑着气6秒，吐气7秒）10次后告诉自己3次：“我很精神！”，

接着算1到10后张开眼睛。

此时你就像睡了个午觉般精神。

p/s：这照片里的形象是电影电视里催眠大师给人的印象。事实上这只是众多催眠方法里的其中一种催眠引导法。这个自我催眠法的效果因人而异，欲达到最好又个人化的效果请电邮我查询。

ntv7《活力早晨》民生关注问题之如何预防电话催眠

新闻事件内容：

(吉隆坡2015年3月25日讯）

最新电话骗案手法，老千隔空施催眠术，让你不经意透露银行户头资料？！

　手机通讯应用程序最近流传一则来历不明的讯息，内容警告手机用户，指一旦接获背景有奇怪音乐的电话，便应该马上盖电话，否则将成为“电话催眠术”的受害者。

　讯息内容提及，对方一般会尝试拖延时间，而接听者在听到奇怪的背景声音后便陷入迷糊状态，疑似已被催眠。

　接著，便会不经意透露银行户头资料，让不法之徒有机可趁。

　讯息指案件是于上周五（20日）早上，在吉隆坡苏丹阿兹兰沙路（前是怡保路）发生，并指受害者是一名华裔女生，幸她被催眠时，身旁友人感觉有异大声呼喝把她惊醒，并马上中止所有银行户头交易及信用卡，以致没有损失。

　讯息指，至今为止警方已接获10宗类似投报。她说，不料对方却大声呼喝她，惊吓之下，她挂断电话。

　“我朋友清醒后即刻前往临近银行马上取消所有转账、个人银行户头及信用卡，银行服务员获悉受害者遭遇后，也告知她这是银行接获的第3宗类似案件。”

　冼都警区主任慕鲁沙米助理总监受询时指并未接获相关投报。

资料来源：http://cnews.cari.com.my/news.php?id=727639

最近许多人成为电话催眠的受害者。感谢媒体对社会时事的关注，让我可以以临床催眠师的身份在ntv7《活力早晨》节目上教导民众如何对抗罪犯。实际上，临床催眠是非常科学有效的身心治疗方法，属于心理与医学结合的辅助医学技术。在临床上对自律神经失调如失眠和肠胃问题，改变坏习惯如催眠瘦身或戒烟，疼痛管理如生产或手术过程，情绪问题如抑郁或焦虑等都有非常显著的治疗效果。

以下是我今早ntv7电视台教导的预防罪犯催眠的方法简述：

• 受害者被电话催眠后，将陷入恍惚状态Alpha-Theta脑电波状态，逻辑思考能力受限；很容易做出不理智的决定。当你发现对方说的话毫无疑点但同时却觉得困惑不已，或许你几经成为了受害者。（可以透过脑电波反馈疗法EEG biofeedback训练你的逻辑思考，专注力甚至让你变得不容易被影响和催眠）。
• 当你发现自己变得特别的乖和听话，那或许就是一个被控制的迹象了。
• 当你发现自己的情绪反应强烈时，你或许已经进入了失控状态。
• 勇敢的说“不”，跳出恍惚状态，让自己恢复理智。
• 有的人无法轻易跳出恍惚状态，可以考虑学习自我催眠或者脑电波反馈疗法来帮助自己加强抵御力或增强逻辑思考能力。
• 催眠是无法控制别人的行为的，因为如果你不愿意合作，没有人可以催眠你的。催眠的功效实际上就是合作与配合度来决定的。只要你不合作，没有人可以催眠你的。

事实上，当你收看这节目或阅读此文章时，你的大脑潜意识就如已经植入了我（临床催眠师的角色就如软件工程师般)给你的初级版防毒程式anti-virus。那么电话催眠罪犯(他们就如hacker般的角色)的病毒virus就比较难对你的潜意识产生影响了（记得勇于说NO! 跳出催眠状态）。如果你想要找寻临床催眠做疗法，建议找有向MSCH或AHPM注册的催眠师。再次特别感谢电视台的化妆师，主持人和工作人员的专业服务与制作。

If scammer is trying to hypnotize you without knowledge, what can you do exactly to not get hypnotized?

Hypnosis is natural, we are all in and out of trance every day. The hypnotic state is a very natural state of physical relaxation and heightened mental awareness whereby an action is felt to "just happen" automatically without conscious effort. For example, when you are driving, you often slip into a trance state where the conscious and unconscious minds appear to concentrate on different things (conscious mind focus and think about the task later on & your unconscious mind is focusing on driving the car). 

Your unconscious mind (hypnotic trance state) just like the part of you which looks out for you. Your action is felt to "just happen" automatically without conscious effort when unconscious mind(hypnotic trance state) is in charge. 
Most of the time it does a good job but sometimes it makes mistakes. For example: Bad habit, eating pattern, phobia, headache, migraine, irritable bowel syndrome, insomnia, light sleeper, anxiety and more. Your hypnotic trance can give rise to problems or solutions, depending on the value of the context.
Thus, clinical hypnotherapist is just like a "software engineer" to help you reprogramming, re-education or re-training your unconscious mind. Then gives your subconscious mind the "anti-virus"software that it needs, to stop it from makes mistakes again. Hypnotherapy are at their best when they are collaborative. So if you don't want to be hypnotized, then you can't be hypnotized. In Malaysia, make sure the hypnotherapist belongs to one of the major governing bodies such as - The Association of Hypnotherapy Practitioners, Malaysia (AHPM) which is regulated under the FCNMAM. Yes, AHPM members must adhere to AHPM's ethical, professional and evidence-based practice guidelines.


Scammers are like a hacker. They understand how our unconscious mind (hypnotic trance state) works. They identify possible exploits and hack into your unconscious mind (hypnotic trance state) and put"virus" into your system either through security 'holes' and then you might make mistakes. They can find exploits by using specific technique. Some victims are easier to go into hypnotic trance state than others. Thus, those people "system" are easily hacked. Stop collaborative when you receive their call so you can't be hypnotized. 



However, there are many ways to improve your system, so you won't be hacked easily:
EEG biofeedback/neurotherapy:
Hypnotherapy works with people who are highly suggestible. Highly suggestible people tend to have certain brainwave profiles. They usually have Alphas and Thetas which can be increased easily. These brainwaves are associated with relaxation and dreaminess. That’s why hypnotherapist always ask you to relax, focus and calm down. In some people, these brain waves can increase easily, making them more vulnerable to go into hypnotic trance state. An experienced hypnotherapist (just like software engineer) or scammers(Hacker) can detect it. The good news is that EEG biofeedback therapy can train you to control your brainwaves at will. With this training, you can protect yourself from people who try to exploit your unconscious mind (hypnotic trance state).

Hypnotherapy:
Clinical hypnotherapist is just like a "software engineer" to help you reprogramming, re-education or re-training your unconscious mind. Then gives your subconscious mind the "anti-virus" software that it needs, to stop it from makes mistakes again. Yes, if you set your mind against being hypnotized, you can't be hypnotized. However, if you don't realize you're being hypnotized, and so don't know to be resistant, you can sometimes be hypnotized lightly. Thus, experienced clinical hypnotherapist able to identify or guide you to prevent being hypnotized by giving your subconscious mind the "anti-virus"software (hypnotic suggestion). Scientists have found evidence that hypnotic suggestion can modify processing of a targeted stimulus before it reaches consciousness (Suomen Akatemia, 2013). This result indicates that all hypnotic responding can no longer be regarded merely as goal directed mental imagery. It shows that in hypnosis, hypnotic suggestion is possible to create a engrams. Engrams are means by which memory traces are stored as biophysical or biochemical changes in the brain (and other neural tissue) in response to external stimuli.






Source:
Suomen Akatemia (Academy of Finland). (2013, August 13). A hypnotic suggestion can generate true and automatic hallucinations. ScienceDaily. Retrieved April 10, 2015 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130813101014.htm.