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69: I was wondering if I should explain
my Tourettes to my two fine arts instructors.
One is dance, the other piano. Both classes
channel my tics, and the few that do come out
are not even noticeable to the few in the class
that know I have TS. Both instructors are a
bit hard to contact, so I was wondering do you
think I should just let it go and not explain
unless something comes up or do you think it
would be more respectful to go though the difficulty
of contacting even if I may not ever do a noticeable
tic in front of them? I know it is my decision
in the end but I would like an opinion for someone
more experienced than I am. R.J., CA, USA
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67: A lady that I represent in a union
capacity, recently had an outburst of foul language.
She says that she suffers from Tourette's Syndrome
and that this a normal behavior pattern associated
with her condition. Her supervisor wants to
discipline her under our company's Code of Conduct
Rules. I say she cannot punish her as I believe
the employee falls under American Disabilities
Act (ADA), and they will have to allow this
as a reasonable accommodation. It does not effect
her work performance. So, my question to you
is this. Do you agree that she cannot be punished
for this kind of outburst under ADA or not?
Thank You, R.H., CO, USA.
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54: My son is 16 years of age he has
mild tourettes....He is also ADHD and has a
learning disability. He is attendng a private
school now that caters to his learning disability
and gives him all the help he needs. He has
developed this attitude lately that he feels
he does no have to do any work at school. As
a result his marks are sliding terribly. His
every answer out of his mouth is I DON'T CARE
OR GIVE A F ---!!!! hE WON't complete his assignments
or do any amount of work. We are tearing our
hair out trying to tell him that he needs to
finish high school and get his diploma. But
he thinks he can be a bus driver or anything
without working towards anything. I wonder if
I keep at him about this or just let him fail
and suffer the consequences? What do you think
is the best route? S.M., AB, Canada.
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47: Hi my name is Z. I have tourette
and i wanted to tell you what i have discovered
about my ts. I went to your presentation when
you in Edmonton Alberta before xmas in 2001.
I take alot of different meds for my ts. I also
control my tics alot, but now that i'm older
I'm starting to stop controling as much. I'm
always thinking that my tics are embarassing
but i have discovered (with the help of my parents)
that the tics are not all that bad, that is,
in public, but in school it's a hole different
matter, so, i gave myself a goal that if i could
tic a certen amout every day i could build up
the amout of tics i let out every day i would
get used to the feeling that i get. My brain
keeps telling me that people are laghing at
me, even though i know that they could care
less about my tics. How did you get used to
that ugly feeling? I want to know because I
hate feeling like that every time that tics
in the class room or even worse in the halls
after the bell rings for second period. If you
could please e-mail me back ...it would be great.
Thanks. From: Z.J., AB, Canada. P.S. i'm 16
years old.
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Question
46: I have spent 1/2 an hour already
searching thru sites to do with TS and I thought
yours sounded friendly enough to ask this question...if
there is something applicable in your archives
please tell me. My son has formed a friendship
with a boy (9 or 10) who has TS and they are
looking at spending the next year together in
the classroom. He is quite a conservative wee
kid but is having difficulty concentrating while
his new friend does his utmost to distract him
and cause trouble. Without demanding that he
be moved I feel it's necessary that he learns
to find ways of dealing with this as it's unlikey
to be his last encounter with disabilties of
any kind. I do not want to rely on the teacher
to monitor everything and feel at least a little
prepared so that a friendship can be maintained.
Thankyou for your time. L.R., Auckland, New
Zealand
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28: Iwanted to thank you for giving
me the time of day. I am not use to what you
say in the e-mails you send. You said you are
prod of me and the way I am handling my TS.
I on the other hand feel like my family is attacking
me. I know my parents would not attend [a presentation].
But I would like to....Under suspicion by my
instructors, because the most I cold explain
about TS in the 5 sec I got between classes
is that it is a 'neurological condition'. Family
friend don't want to get in the middle of the
family tension, or just side with parents. My
friends are having a hard time with my being
out about TS, Mostly because most of my friends
them selves are disinhibited. We joke about
safety in numbers. They don¹t want to be
out. And want to ignore it and go on. They can't
relate to my want for understanding and the
freedom of being out. I have no support in the
USA. I have Mailing list. And you say I am doing
well. I don't want to know what bad is.........................................
.......................................Oh
and I am doing better. My dad wants me to be
re-diagnosed. Maybe he will believe it when
he hears it from the mouth of an expert. R.D.,
CA, USA.
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16: Hi. You were just in town talking
to the kids at [my son's] school.My son has
o.c.d. and he is 12 yrs. old. I did not realise
that o.c.d. was a part of tics....I have been
trying to tell the taechers about [my son's
behavioural problems] but it does not work.
They think I'm lying.Igot the doctor to sign
a note saying he has it but it does not help.He
is getting into trouble for things he can not
help.I would like to know how to deal with the
teachers?My son was very impressed with you
and really enjoyed listening to you. His friend
at the school has tics and him and her talk
all the time about there problems, but when
you came to the school and spoke on this he
has not stopped talking about it.Thanks for
coming to the school and talking to the kids.BYE.
M.M., ON, Canada
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15: What I have read about add and
TS is that the child has difficulty learn and
does not score well on test. That is not the
case with J., inspite of the problems he is
very intelligent with a high IQ.
The
problems that [my son] is having at school we
understand is not controllable, but the school
wants to force him to act and be held accountable
like the rest of the school. The problems that
he had on the one day I talked about were fueled
by the actions of the school and now they have
taken away....part of [his] IEP along with a
lot of other items that could help J....The
school is unwilling to try and work with him
and is labeled a trouble maker. We are working
with an advocate and have filed a case with
the state department of education....We are
frustrated....and feel that J. is being discriminated
because of his problems which I believe is illegal.
But forcing someone to do something is usually
not the best way, we would like them to want
to help.
Any
suggestions would be helpful. R.M., OH, USA
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Question
3: I'm going into the health care profession
and as a health care worker, I have concerns
on how to deal with patients with Tourette Syndrome.
- Do I ignore the fact that they have it, or
do I acknowledge it and then move on? Basically,
does the patient generally feel better if I
ignore it or should I tell them that I realize
what's going on and then get back to the task
at hand?? C.M., Alberta, CA
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