2016 EVENTS
SOUTH OAKS HOSPITAL PRESENTATION
Dr. Budman, Dr. Zwilling, and Sana Shad, along with Youth Ambassadors Ben Rabinowitz and Steven Argenzio, and Adult Ambassador David K. presented to 43 psychiatry staff members at South Oaks Hospital on January 13th, 2016.
Pictured above: Dr. Cathy Budman-Director of National TS Center of Excellent at Northwell Health, Steven Argenzio-Youth Ambassador, David K. Adult Ambassador, Ben Rabinowitz-Youth Ambassador, Dr. Jane Zwilling-Co-Chair LI-TAA and Co-Director-National TS Center of Excellent at Northwell Health, Sana Shad-Patient Navigator, National TS Center of Excellence at Northwell Health at South Oaks
AN EVENING OF HUMOR, DRAMA AND REAL LIFE STORIES: THE ELEPHANT IN EVERY ROOM I ENTER
On Thursday, April 7th, the Long Island Tourette Association collaborated with the Osler Society at Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine, The Tourette Center of Excellence at Northwell Health and the Departments of Biology, Psychology and Physics and Astronomy of Hofstra University, to host a performance by Gardiner Comfort, an energetic and dynamic actor with Tourette, entitled, “The Elephant in Every Room I Enter”.
Dr. Cathy Budman, Director of the Tourette Center of Excellence at Northwell Health and Lisa Martin the Director of the Osler Program-Humanities in Medicine, at Hofstra Northwell co-chaired the event which was extremely well attended.
The performance was preceded by a reception, where attendees had an opportunity to meet and greet over light snacks which included speaking to our Long Island Youth Ambassadors-Jacqueline Beckhardt, Mary Gregorian and Ben Rabinowitz.
Mr. Comfort's performance portrayed his first experience interacting with other individuals with Tourette at a National Tourette Conference in DC. Employing physicality, persona shifts, and dialects from multiple characters Mr. Comfort took us through a day by day recap of the experience. It was a truly inspiring performance that moved the audience with equal measures of heart wrenching emotion and laughter.
The performance was followed by a panel discussion moderated by Dr. Cathy Budman. Panelists included: Gardiner Comfort, Dr. Barbara Coffey -Director of Tourette Center of Excellence at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Dr. Laura Braider- of Zucker Hillside Hospital/ Northwell Tourette Center of Excellence, Dr. John Christman-Zucker Hillside Hospital/Northwell Tourette Center of Excellence, as well as Adult Ambassadors and Long Island Youth Ambassadors Jacqueline Beckhardt & Ben Rabinowitz. The Adult and Youth Ambassadors did a fabulous job of articulately sharing their stories and daily experiences so that the audience really came away with a much better understanding of what it means to live with Tourette.
The event was, in so many ways, a very great success!
Pictured above: 1. Long Island YAs (Left to Right) Jacquline Beckhardt, Mary Gregorian and Ben Rabinowitz; 2. Gardiner Comfort; 3. Panelists (Left to Right) Gardiner Comfort, Adult Ambassador Chaya, Long Island YA Ben Rabinowitz; 4. Dr. Cathy Budman-Director of the Tourette Center of Excellence at North Shore/Northwell Health; 5. Panelists (Left to Right) YA Ben Rabinowitz, YA Jaqueline Beckhardt, Adult Ambassador David, Dr. Laura Braider and Dr. John Christman from Zucker Hillside Hospital/Northwell Tourette Center of Excellence and Dr. Barbara Coffey-Director Tourette Center of Excellence at Icahan School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
CDC/CBIT WORKSHOP PRESENTED AT HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY WAS A HUGE SUCCESS!
With the collaboration of the Tourette Association of America, the TS Center of Excellence at North Shore Hospital/Northwell Health, Hofstra University Clinical Psychology Program and Long Island TAA a CDC/CBIT workshop was presented by Dr. Sabine Wilhelm from Harvard University/Massachusetts General Hospital on April 29th to 98 attendees.
The audience consisted of Clinical Psychology students as well as physicians, psychologists and allied health professionals from Northwell Health. The workshop was enthusiastically received and we are hearing an increased interest from local professionals in now becoming trained and certified as CBIT providers.
Pictured above: 1. Dr. Sabine Wilhelm, Chief of Psychology, Harvard Medical School/ Director, OCD and Related Disorders Program, Massachusetts General Hospital; 2. Dr. Jane Zwilling, Co-Director TS Center of Excellence at Northshore Hospital/Northwell Health, Co-chair LI-TAA, Dr. Cathy Budman, Director of TS Center of Excellence at Northshore Hospital/Northwell Health, Dr. Sabine Wilhelm, Chief of Psychology, Harvard Medical School/ Director, OCD and Related Disorders Program, Massachusetts General Hospital, Marc Scullin, Manager of Research & Medical Programs Tourette Association of America, Dr. William Sanderson, Professor of Psychology/ Director, PhD Program in Clinical Psychology at Hofstra University
YOUTH AMBASSADORS KICKING OFF TS AWARENESS MONTH WITH A PRESENTATION IN SAYVILLE SCHOOL DISTRICT!
Pictured from left to right:
Youth Ambassador (YA) Mary G, YA Liam G, YA Jake G, Kalee C and YA Tyler B
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO CAME OUT TO SUPPORT OUR
2016 FAMILY FUN DAY!
And a special, heartfelt thanks to those of you who volunteered long hours of your time before, during and after to help make our annual awareness/fundraiser event such a great success!
We couldn’t have done it without you! We hope you had as much fun as we did!!
Please enjoy watching this video created by the very talented Victoria Argenzio...
THE GIBBONS-RABINOWITZ FAMILY HONORED AT THE ANNUAL BENEFIT OF THE SUMMIT SCHOOL
November 21, 2016
We are so very proud of one of our most active chapter families. Rachel Gibbons, Dan, Shoshana and Ben Rabinowitz, and Erica and Brian Wedeking were honored at the Annual Benefit of the Summit School, One Dream One Team, held at the Pierre Hotel on November 21st. Dan and Rachel have been tireless advocates for their children, and have contributed enormously to our chapter in many ways, particularly advocacy and legal matters. Shoshana and Ben have been brilliant Youth Ambassadors, advocating for so many over the years, and Erica and Brian have supported many of our activities in a variety of ways. Congratulations to you all; this honor is very much deserved!
HORSEABILITY EVENTS
October 23 and 30, 2016
Our first social of the 2016 school year was a great success! Due to popular demand we spent two (10/23 and 10/30) beautiful fall afternoons at HorseAbility, a therapeutic riding facility on the grounds of SUNY Old Westbury. The children learned about caring and feeding the horses and enjoyed petting and brushing them. The highlight of the day was when the children climbed up on the horses, learned the basics of riding and were able to take the horses for a long walk and trot around the pastures. It was a wonderful experience for parents, children and horses alike!
JEN ZWILLING TRAVELS TO NORTHERN IRELAND TO PRESENT THE YOUTH AMBASSADOR PROGRAM
Long Island's very own Jen Zwilling-Founder of the Youth Ambassador Program, along with Jane Zwilling, Psy.D presented the Youth Ambassador Program in Northern Ireland to teens at the first conference of the the newly formed Northern Ireland Tourette Alliance.
US Youth Ambassadors from Texas, Florida and Greater NY State were there as well assisting with the presentation.
The Northern Ireland teens were wonderful and so very grateful for the presentation.
Other representatives from the TAA including Sue Conners Chapter Chair from Greater New York, Tanya Harrington from TAA Florida and Lisa Henry from TAA Texas were also presenters at the conference.
It was an incredible experience for all, and what are sure to be lasting friendships and bonds were established!
Thank you to all the Northern Ireland families, to all of the wonderful kids from both countries, and to all of the fantastic speakers who volunteered their time for a wonderful experience!
YOUTH AMBASSADORS RUSHMORE SCHOOL PRESENTATION IN THE NEWS!
October 25, 2016
Our amazing Youth Ambassadors, Steven Argenzio, Mary Gregorian, Ruth and Gabe Quintero, Ben Rabinowitz, Katie Reilly, and Sammy Scileppi, delivered a very successful presentation to an engaged audience at Rushmore Avenue School in Carle Place, in honor of Bullying Prevention Month. Fios News, Newsday, and Westbury Times praised our extraordinary teens for their accomplishment. Congratulations to the kids and their parents!
DISCUSSION ABOUT TOURETTE ON
SECOND OPINION
October 26, 2016
Peter Morrison, who has Tourette, shares his story of overcoming personal and social challenges caused by the disorder on Second Opinion with Dr. Peter Salgo. Morrison is joined by his mother Susan, who provides her perspective as a parent and a panel of three doctors, including Dr. Cathy Budman.
ACHIEVEMENTS IN HEALTHCARE AWARDS FOR DR. BUDMAN AND DR. ZWILLING
November 1, 2016
Dr. Jane Zwilling and Dr. Cathy Budman,
Recipients of Achievements in Health Care Awards
Congratulations to the Long Island Chapter's Co-Chair Jane Zwilling, Psy.D., and Cathy Budman, M.D. (Investigator, Center for Psychiatric Neuroscience, The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, Director of Movement Disorders at Northwell Health and Professor of Psychiatry, Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine), recipients of the Achievements in Health Care Awards, sponsored by Long Island Business News!
The awards recognize excellence, promote innovation, and recognize the people and organizations whose tireless work, contributions and dedication ensure the well-being of everyone on Long Island. Dr. Zwilling and Dr. Budman are also Co-Directors of the newly established Tourette Center of Excellence at Northwell Health (CofE), a member of the NYS Tourette Centers of Excellence Consortium. The goal of the CofE is to consolidate and coordinate the various services that patients in the Tourette community require.
Dr. Budman has committed her practice to improving the lives of individuals affected by Tourette, and is arguably the leading practitioner in her field on Long Island. She is also very involved with cutting edge research involving drug therapies and genetics. Dr. Zwilling has long been an advocate for children living with Tourette, regularly doing presentations at schools to educate faculty and staff about the true facts of Tourette. She, along with daughter Jen Zwilling, is also responsible for the fabulous training program for all of the new Youth Ambassadors that takes place in D.C. every March.
Dr. Zwilling organizes all of our chapter Youth Ambassador presentations at Long Island schools, as well as our chapter ‘Buddy’ Program. Her efforts have improved the academic and social lives of countless children living with Tourette. We are so proud of the impressive stream of Youth Ambassadors that she has mentored in our chapter; they are all developing into remarkable adults, and the YA experience has played a large part in that achievement.
Many thanks to Dr. Zwilling and to Dr. Budman for all they have done and continue to do! The recognition event took place at a reception at the Crest Hollow Country Club on Nov. 1st .
2016 OUTSTANDING COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD WAS PRESENTED TO:
Beverley Del Greco
December 2, 2016
Pictured from left to right: Darren, Andrew, Beverley and Jason
Along every Outstanding community Service Award recipient is an outstanding family!
AMERICANA MANHASSET CHAMPIONS FOR CHARITY 2016 AT LONDON JEWELERS
December 1, 2016
Thank you everyone who came out to London Jewelers for the Champions For Charity Kick-Off Event! It was a great success and we are extremely thankful to London Jewelers for their generosity and support.
Our logo bracelet is available at Manhasset London Jewelers for $85, and London Jewelers will be generously donating $50 per bracelet to Long Island Chapter of Tourette Association.
NIGHT AT THE THEATER TO SEE THE NUTCRACKER
December 11, 2016
A great time was had by all at the performance of The Nutcracker on December 11th at The Patchogue Theater! We were so proud of Katelyn, who starred as Clara. She did a beautiful job!
2016 HOLIDAY PARTY
December 2, 2016
Thank you to all who came to our holiday party! It is because of you that this event is wildly successful and so much fun each year.
