I feel as a mom of three young children, with one of them having Tourette Syndrome, that showing our gratitude to our daughter’s teacher — Mrs. R — was one of the best things we have ever done. Our daughter was just diagnosed at age 7 while she was attending Mrs. R’s first-grade class.<\/p>\n
She reached out to us and expressed concern for some different behavior our daughter was showing. We followed up on it with our pediatrician and then with a pediatric neurologist. While the diagnosis was a hard one to swallow, we were able to see things in a different light and get our daughter the appropriate help she needed.<\/p>\n
Mrs. R has remained in our daughter’s life after first grade as a math tutor. Mrs. R has been tutoring our daughter for three years now and has given her the confidence she needs in herself when it comes to\u00a0 schoolwork.<\/p>\n
Our daughter feels so secure with Mrs. R, who we owe a lot. Math has been the subject our daughter struggles with. It would take her three hours to complete homework when it should only take the average child an hour — maybe hour and a half.<\/p>\n
I would be lost without Mrs. R and have told her to never retire. Mrs. R has helped our daughter maintain good grades in math just by making her feel secure and confident. Teachers must be rewarded for outstanding teaching. Mrs. R not only is a teacher, she is now someone we call “friend.”<\/p>\n
Our daughter absolutely loves Mrs. R, and Mrs. R loves our daughter. I can see the stress gone from my daughter’s face when it comes to schoolwork. Mrs. R gave us our daughter back, and I will be forever grateful.<\/p>\n
NOTE: If you are from New Jersey and are the parent of a child with Tourette Syndrome, you can nominate one of your child’s teachers for the NJ Center for Tourette Syndrome’s 2014 Educator of the Year Award<\/strong><\/a> — given out to a New Jersey educator who has gone above and beyond to help a student with TS. Nominations are due by May 1.<\/em><\/p>\n