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Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Tourettes in the Classroom

I missed my post for day 7 of Tourette Syndrome Awareness Month, so I decided I'd do a quick one this morning to make up for it.  This past school year has been filled with struggles for Monster Man at school.  Through it all, though, he's managed to maintain his grades to mostly A's and B's (one very high C).  It hasn't been easy, and he's faced many challenges along the way, but that's how it tends to be for students with Tourette Syndrome.

Tourette Syndrome can be hard enough to live with at home, let alone to be in a classroom setting, with students that can see (and possibly make fun of) the tics, teachers who think the student is being disruptive, and the added stress of trying to keep up with the lessons while controlling the urge to tic.  So many co-morbid issues add to these problems, as well, such as ADHD and disgraphia.  The classroom setting can be very stressful indeed for students with Tourette Syndrome.

The Tourette Syndrome Association offers many resources to help educators understand and prepare for students with Tourette Syndrome.  As parents, it can help make our children's classroom lives easier if we provide their teachers with some of these materials.  It would also be helpful for schools to keep some of these materials (many of which can be found for free or at a very low cost) on hand to prepare not only for current students with TS, but for any new students that might come along or anyone that might get diagnosed.  Being prepared can make the classroom life so much easier for everyone involved.

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