Tourette Syndrome

I am writing to ask you to consider adding more awareness for Tourette Syndrome in the middle school classroom. It is hard enough for kids to fit into school to begin with. Now imagine going to school and having to face people bullying you for tics you cannot control and are often times embarrassed by. According to the Tourette Association of America, once the child gets to middle school it is more about the social aspect more than it is about the teachers’ understanding of Tourette Syndrome. Some personal experience about this is that my little brother, Jack Walker Combs, is in sixth grade this year. He has skipped days of school just because of how bad his tics are, and then there are other days when he comes home crying because someone made fun of his tics that he cannot control. Tics can be anything from excessive movements to making different noises and yelling out words. Programs from the Tourette Association can provide help for kids with Tourette Syndrome to have not only peace of mind but a way that they can help inform their peers to understand what they go through on a day-to-day basis. One weakness of this could be that the kids with Tourette Syndrome would get special treatment, and that is not fair to other students. However, such programs will be extremely helpful not only to the students with Tourette Syndrome, but their parents will be able to have peace of mind. I kindly suggest you look into this and into more funding and education for Tourette Syndrome in schools. REGAN COMBS Bentonville