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Baysider brings awareness to Tourette’s syndrome BY JENNA BAGCAL One Bayside resident is using social media to bring awareness to Tourette’s Syndrome and an upcoming fundraiser in the area. Using just his cellphone, Peter Zhao films videos of his daily life living with Tourette’s and posts them to Facebook and Instagram using the hashtag #7daysofTourettes. “It was created by a friend of mine, Marco, who goes by ‘mrmoveandspeak’ on Instagram,” said Zhao. “We’re hoping that more people can use the hashtag to share their daily lives living with the condition and challenge people to show their true selves.” Zhao’s videos document his own experience living with the Tourette’s, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which he said often comes hand in hand. He covers a range of topics in the minute-long videos including traveling on the train, updates on his children and how he manages his Tourette’s symptoms. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Tourette Syndrome attacks the nervous system, causing people to have tics or sudden and repeated twitches, movements and sounds. The tics can range from eye blinking, shoulder shrugging, throat clearing or yelling words or phrases. Zhao said he started showing signs of the disorders when he was a young boy living in China. When he was 8 years old, his parents started noticing that he would stick out his tongue as if he were “copying a snake,” but chalked it up to it being a bad habit. Zhao’s symptoms got worse when he and his family moved to the United States and by 14 he had developed other tics including repetitive eye blinking, jaw and neck twitches, and yelling curse words. He was formally diagnosed in the 1990s and managed his symptoms with A photo still from one of Peter Zhao’s #7daysofTourettes videos. Screenshot from video by Peter Zhao the medication Orap until he was 20. Zhao said that although the medication aided some of his symptoms, it made some of the other symptoms worse, including intrusive and suicidal thoughts. Though he does not always advocate for those with Tourette’s to go med free, Zhao has learned to manage his symptoms in a variety of ways. He goes to a reflexologist who specializes in Chinese medicine, exercises, freestyle raps and even learned ventriloquy vocalization techniques to modify his vocal tics. On May 19, Zhao will be participating in the National Awareness 5K Run/ Walk at Flushing Meadows Corona Park in an effort to spread even more awareness about Tourette Syndrome. He learned about the opportunity following a recent visit to the Tourette Association of America headquarters in Bayside, which is the organization in charge of the event. He shared that organizations like the Tourette Association are great resources for learning more disorder and getting proper doctor referrals. Zhao’s advice for those learning to manage their Tourette’s is “don’t beat yourself up.” “Just because your symptoms return doesn’t mean you failed. There’s no cure for Tourette’s, you just have to live with it, own it and make the best of it,” he said. Follow Zhao on his Instagram @ fabulously_tourette to keep up with his #7daysofTourettes videos. �� NOTICE OF CHANGE OF USE OF ACQUSITION PROPERTIES BY NEW YORK RISING The Governors Office of Storm Recovery acquires interests in real property through the NY Rising Buyout and Acquisition Programs. All property purchased by the Program is in the flood plain, and sustained substantial damage from Super Storm Sandy. The Buyout program purchases property for preservation purposes, while the Acquisition program intends for all sites to be redeveloped with new resilient housing stock. While the majority of these Acquisition properties are to be sold at auction with deed restrictions stipulating the resilient redevelopment of these sites, some properties have been selected for open space preservation and wetlands mitigation purposes. New York State has selected one parcel that was purchased through the Acquisition program that will now be used for open space preservation. This property will be deeded through a restrictive covenant and will remain open space for perpetuity and will make the community safer and more resilient to future storms. 115 East 6th Road, Broad Channel, NY 206 East 6th Road, Broad Channel, NY 540 Crossbay Boulevard, Queens, NY 11 East 9th Road, Queens, NY 9 Noel Road, Queens, NY New York Rising is requesting comments and feedback from the public to the Notice of Change of Use for these Acquisition Properties where the final use is being changed from redevelopment to preservation. All comments and feedback can be left at http://stormrecovery.ny.gov/housing TIMESLEDGER, M 6 ARCH 29-APR. 4, 2019 BT QNS.COM /housing /housing /QNS.COM