{"id":3479,"date":"2014-03-18T10:32:46","date_gmt":"2014-03-18T14:32:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/njcts.org\/tsparents\/?p=3479"},"modified":"2014-03-18T10:32:46","modified_gmt":"2014-03-18T14:32:46","slug":"school-meetings-how-to-make-them-easier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/njcts.org\/tsparents\/school-meetings-how-to-make-them-easier\/","title":{"rendered":"School meetings: How to make them easier"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ken Shyminsky<\/a>,\u00a0<\/strong>a former vice president of the Greater Toronto Chapter of the\u00a0Tourette Syndrome Foundation of Canada<\/strong><\/a>, draws upon his personal experiences as an teacher and student with Tourette Syndrome to help children with TS and related disorders. He also has Tourette himself and is the founder of the website\u00a0Neurologically Gifted<\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

School meetings<\/strong>\u00a0are most often difficult for the parent but so important for your child. \u00a0Your child is special, requires special accommodations, your child\u2019s behavior doesn\u2019t follow the normal or expected behavior or your child isn\u2019t learning as well as he or she could.<\/p>\n

Perhaps it\u2019s not your first meeting or perhaps the strategies being implemented aren\u2019t working. \u00a0Perhaps your child\u2019s teacher or school administration isn\u2019t understanding your child\u2019s difficulties and differences or are unable to offer help. \u00a0In any case, it usually provides for a\u00a0stressful time<\/strong>\u00a0for the parent … trying to make things better for your child.<\/p>\n

I have attended countless\u00a0school meetings<\/strong>. \u00a0My son, having Tourette Syndrome, Attention Deficit Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Oppositional Defiance Disorder, provides an unending barrage of challenges for the adults who help to shape his life.<\/p>\n

Some of these school meetings have gone well, some have been a complete disaster. \u00a0I have survived them, dreaded them and finally, I now feel blessed that the adults in my child\u2019s school understand his differences, see his challenges and strengths, listen to him and help to guide him and teach him.<\/p>\n

\"SchoolIn the past, have been at school meetings because my child was suspended for behaviour that was out of his control. \u00a0I have been to school meetings where I have been face to face with an adult who told my son he was faking and didn\u2019t have Tourette Syndrome or coprolalia.<\/p>\n

I have been to school meetings where I have been asked to keep my child home for all or part of school days. \u00a0I have been to school meetings where administration has asked my child\u2019s psychiatrist how they can \u201cturn a blind eye to his behavior and just let him get away with it?\u201d \u00a0It has been a very heartbreaking and difficult road.<\/p>\n

I have not always been able to follow these tips that I will share,\u00a0but I do know<\/strong>\u00a0that even the really, really bad school meetings would have been a little better if I had been able to remember these tips for school meetings:<\/p>\n