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Question 8:

Our son, M. (11 years old), was just diagnosed with TS. We are wondering how to tell his classmates and what to tell them. Your in-service workshop sounds wonderful. His teacher seems pretty eager to do something as the other students are wondering why Matthew gets away with certain behaviours and they don't. What do you suggest? K. and T. F., Ontario, CA.

Hi K. and T:

First I'd like to congratulate you on wanting to initiate this step (disclosing to the school): it is a scary one, but one that I firmly believe solves (and in your case, circumnavigates) many much more severe future problems.

Seeing as you are in Canada, you may wish to attend your next local affiliate meeting of the the Tourette Syndrome Foundation of Canada (the chapter with which I am involved, Wellington-Waterloo, meets the first Thursday of each month at 7:30 p.m. Please click here to find contact information for an affiliate near you. The Foundation has an In-Service Manual I helped author which numerous individuals across Canada (3 in the Kitchener Waterloo area) are trained in.............as Sanctioned In-Service Providers we are committed to going into classrooms and presenting free of charge.

To very briefly answer your question though, I frame to the other children as best I can what the child with TS is going through -- kids aren't usually mean as much as they are misunderstanding of the problem. Typically once they understand TS better, why extra help is needed becomes obvious to them (I use the analogy of being covered in mosquito bites you must constantly itch, for example, to explain the uncontrollability of tics and the difficulties paying attention and controlling irritability for example).

I hope this helped!
Dr. Dunc.

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