NJCTS Youth Advocate is Top Team in NJ Walks for TS

SOMERVILLE (June 4, 2020) - Jatin Nayyar, 17, of Morganville is the captain of his team ‘Team Jatin,’ one of the highest fundraising teams for the 2020 NJ Walks for TS Virtual Walk. On Thursday, in honor of TS awareness day, Jatin was awarded for his achievements. Team Jatin raised $2,714 for the NJ Center for Tourette Syndrome.

The NJ Walks for TS program was created in 2010 by kids, for kids, in collaboration with NJCTS. NJ Walks for TS promotes acceptance, awareness, advocacy, and action on behalf of New Jersey’s more than 20,000 children and families living with Tourette Syndrome and its associated disorders—an inherited, misdiagnosed, and misunderstood neurological disorder characterized by involuntary sounds and movements know as tics that affects 1 in 100 individuals. These team and individual events are a chance to stand up and step out to break the stigma attached to TS and show support for friends, family and neighbors living with this misunderstood neurological disorder.

Jatin was diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome when he was 7 years old. “Be open and do not be afraid,” Jatin says about his diagnosis. Jatin is loved and supported by his friends and family in this event every year. Jatin is also a member of our Youth Advocate program. He discusses his TS diagnosis with his peers at several schools across New Jersey. “I want to be the voice for those who cannot,” he says about his experiences as a NJCTS youth advocate. Jatin is graduating from Ranney School this month, as well as from the Youth Advocate program.

NJ Walks for TS encourages all participants to rally around kids, families, and adults with TS and form teams to walk and fundraise in support of a future with more treatments and less stigma. Jatin, his friends and family are all part of this vision. Thank you Jatin!

The NJ Center for Tourette Syndrome and Associated Disorders, the nation’s first Center for Excellence for Tourette Syndrome, is a not-for-profit organization committed to the advocacy of children and families with Tourette Syndrome and its associated disorders. Dedicated to delivering high quality services to these individuals, the Center recognizes the importance of educating the public, medical professionals, and teachers about this disorder through programs and affiliations with public schools, health centers, and universities. Visit www.njcts.org for more information.