美国国家公共电台 NPR A Father To His Son: 'I Know What It's Like' Living With Tourette's Syndrome

 

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

It's time now for StoryCorps. And today, we hear from Josh Hanagarne. Josh has an extreme form of Tourette's syndrome¹, where his tics - his involuntary movements and sounds - have been so severe, they have put him in the hospital at times. He first started showing symptoms when he was in elementary school, around the age that his son Max is now. Josh has fewer tics when he speaks, and he recently sat down with Max at StoryCorps.

JOSH HANAGARNE: How would you describe my tics?

MAX HANAGARNE: You hitting yourself and making a lot of noise.

HANAGARNE: You've seen me hit myself hard enough to almost knock myself out. I also do all of the blinking² and the face things and the little noises. To me, it feels like when you have that urge to sneeze so bad that you just feel like you'll go insane³ if you don't let the sneeze out. And the hardest thing I do every day is decide to go outside or not because I know when I walk into a group of strangers, I will yell⁴ or I will do something weird⁵ and they will all look at me.

Do you remember when we were in the grocery store? You were only like 4 or 5 years old. We were buying milk, and I had a tic. And this guy looked at me. And in his face, you could just see he was annoyed. He did it once and twice, and then he did it again. And I was finally at the point where I was going to tell him to stop looking at me. But you stepped in front of me. And you said, turn around right now or my dad will smash⁶ you harder than a rhinoceros⁷.

MAX: (Laughter).

HANAGARNE: I know. And then when he turned around, you said, that's right. And so he didn't turn around again.

MAX: I mean, I don't really care if people are being mean. Like, if they're going to be mean, they're going to be mean.

HANAGARNE: That's the right attitude. When I learned that I was going to have you, there was no guarantee that because I have Tourette's you would have it. But I did have a better chance of passing it on to you. And that really did worry me. When do you remember you and me first talking about your Tourette's?

MAX: I was about 7.

HANAGARNE: And what are some of the tics you have?

MAX: I'm starting to make noises. And sometimes, like, my eyes roll back into my head. And I actually get on the ground until it goes away. It hurts. It doesn't feel good. I feel like everybody knows it and, like, they're all watching me. I don't like that.

HANAGARNE: There's not much to like about it.

MAX: I mean, it's been happening a lot lately. And I have a fear that it might get worse.

HANAGARNE: And those are some of my fears for you, that it will get worse. And maybe it will, but we'll deal with it when it comes. The solace⁸ I hope is that even if I can't make you feel better, you will know that I know what it's like. You'll know I understand. And hopefully, we'll just be able to lean on each other.

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MARTIN: That's Josh Hanagarne talking with his 9-year-old son Max about living with Tourette's syndrome. They recorded their conversation in Salt Lake City, Utah, where Josh works as a librarian. And like all StoryCorps interviews, this will be archived at the Library of Congress.

1 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。

2 blinking   

a.(英俚)该死的，讨厌的；十足的

参考例句：

• Shut the blinking door! 关上那扇该死的门！
• Her ring is an odd little concern fitted with blinking diamonds. 她的戒指是装有许多闪光钻石的小玩意儿。

3 insane   

adj.蠢极的，荒唐的，精神错乱的，疯狂的

参考例句：

• Insane people are sometimes dangerous.精神病人有时非常危险。
• The letter made her insane with jealousy.那封信使她妒忌得发疯。

4 yell   

vi./n.号叫，叫喊

参考例句：

• This gave them a chance to yell.这给了他们大声喊叫的机会。
• When his schoolmate made the last goal,the boy gave out with an untrammeled yell.那个男孩在他的同学踢进最后一球时不禁纵声欢呼。

5 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

6 smash   

v.粉碎，打碎；n.轰动的演出，巨大的成功

参考例句：

• We heard the smash of plates breaking in the kitchen.我们听到厨房里盘子破碎的声音。
• The gifted author wrote one smash after another.这个天才作家创作了一篇又一篇轰动一时的作品。

7 rhinoceros   

n.犀牛

参考例句：

• The rhinoceros has one horn on its nose.犀牛鼻子上有一个角。
• The body of the rhinoceros likes a cattle and the head likes a triangle.犀牛的形体像牛，头呈三角形。

8 solace   

n.安慰；v.使快乐；vt.安慰(物)，缓和

参考例句：

• They sought solace in religion from the harshness of their everyday lives.他们日常生活很艰难，就在宗教中寻求安慰。
• His acting career took a nosedive and he turned to drink for solace.演艺事业突然一落千丈，他便借酒浇愁。