Youth Programs
Youth Ambassador Program
The National Tourette Syndrome Association Youth Ambassador Program trains kids and teens to talk about their TS. The program gives young people with TS, their siblings, friends and classmates, the preparation they need to speak about TS before their peers at school, sports leagues, scout troops, camps and after–school programs.
Jennifer Zwilling, now 19 and the program's founder, says, "The goal of this exciting program is to educate children all over the couintry about TS, a widely misunderstood disorder. We are following the motto, 'Think Globally, Act Locally'." Understanding and tolerance are the program's goals.
Buddy Program
Congress has declared May 15th –June 15 Tourette Syndrome Awareness Month and local High School students are doing more than just becoming aware of Tourette Syndrome (TS), which is a lifelong, neurobiological disorder characterized by tics, sudden rapid movements or vocalizations that occur repeatedly, and is often misunderstood and misdiagnosed.
A group of Jericho High School students have been trained to be the first group of Long Island TSA Buddies. These students began their volunteerism for Long Island TSA as Middle School students when they were trained by National Youth Ambassador Jennifer Zwilling and participated in the training video for the Youth Ambassador Program. Now as High School students they participated in a “refresher course” presented by Jennifer and Eric Zwilling and have become very involved volunteering with the Long Island Chapter. As Buddies these teens attend the Chapter’s Support group meetings on the first Friday of each month; additionally, the Buddies have the opportunity to reach out to their young Buddies during the month, be involved in all chapter Events and assist in Fund raising.
A recent event aimed at raising awareness on Long Island occurred on June 1st as Starbucks Bethpage joined with Long Island TSA to hold a Carnival-like event which featured an array of activities designed for children, including games, balloons, arts and crafts, book reading, chalk art and much more. Starbucks provided the beverages and snacks, as well as the baskets to be raffled off. Jericho students Jennifer Zwilling, Eric Zwilling, Corey Krantz and Dana Palmieri were there helping not only with the TSA Buddies but with all the children while also raising awareness and funds.