{"id":1505,"date":"2012-11-06T08:00:23","date_gmt":"2012-11-06T13:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/njcts.org\/tsparents\/?p=1505"},"modified":"2012-11-06T08:00:23","modified_gmt":"2012-11-06T13:00:23","slug":"is-tourette-syndrome-cursed-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/njcts.org\/tsparents\/is-tourette-syndrome-cursed-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Tourette Syndrome cursed? Part 2: Books"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>In addition to\u00a0everything\u00a0I’ve read on closed Facebook Tourette Syndrome groups<\/a><\/strong> about the stigma, bullying and mistreatment\u00a0happening to people with TS, we also had a boy reading the book \u201cThe Schwa Was Here,\u201d by Neal Schusterman, in his middle school class. He came across this passage:<\/p>\n

It was Howie who suggested the Elephant Man theory. We had all been trying to figure out what condition Crawley\u2019s granddaughter suffered from that was bad enough for him to pay me to spend time with her.<\/p>\n

“I mean, she\u2019s got to be ugly in some basic, unnatural way to make it worth money,” says Howie.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe not,\u201d said Ira. \u201cMaybe it\u2019s Tourette\u2019s syndrome.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s where you have these little seizures and can\u2019t stop cursing people out.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And then this:<\/p>\n

Lexie finally stepped out of the shadows. I didn\u2019t see anything wrong with her at all. Tourette\u2019s syndrome, I thought. Any second she\u2019s gonna start cursing me out.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He went to his teacher and told her that he was offended. She told him to write the author. That was it. There was no class discussion clarifying that that is not what Tourette is, just \u201cmaybe you should write the author.\u201d It took his mother going to the school administration to arrange to have the school counselor come to the class and explain to the class what Tourette is and that a member of the class has it but he won\u2019t be cursing anyone out.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sorry, but this story just royally pissed me off so it needs more than just a bullet point. I\u2019ve read part of the book and it seems like a good middle school level book, except for those two passages.<\/p>\n

I can understand the average teacher using it in a classroom and not even noticing the Tourette reference being misinformation\u00a0 because most people don\u2019t know that that is not what Tourette is, but this was a class with a student with Tourette, the teacher knew there was a student with Tourette and had no class discussion planned!<\/p>\n

In a middle school setting where bullying is common, that is just giving a potential bully ammunition. He went to the teacher, she had a chance to discuss with the class what Tourette really is and didn\u2019t take it. His mother contacted the teacher and still no class discussion. The fact that it took his mother going to the school administration and complaining to finally have it explained to the class that what the book said was not correct is appalling.<\/p>\n

But the sad thing is, it\u2019s not that shocking to me anymore that this would happen. The belief that Tourette is about swearing (coprolalia)\u00a0is so common that people don\u2019t feel the need to correct that misperception when they see it, even teachers.<\/p>\n

Come back Thursday for more, or check out my blog<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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