Case Study: Tourette’s Syndrome

Image of child (Jason)
Image of child (Jason)

Jason is ten years old.  He appears to have normal ability and enjoys class and the company of his peers.  He does however, find it very hard to stay quiet for more than a few minutes.  He frequently interrupts the teacher by making strange noises or gestures which the other children find amusing.  His class teacher finds this behaviour most annoying, has frequently rebuked him for this but to no effect. She has recently begun to keep a notebook of his behaviour.  One of the targets she has set him in class is to be able to sit quiet and still for at least 15 minutes each hour.  She feels that Jason’s behaviour problems are sufficient to have him labelled as having emotional and behavioural problems and therefore he may need statemented.

Jason’s mother has tried to explain that his problems are due to Tourette’s Syndrome and that Jason is not deliberately disrupting the class. She is concerned that he is now coming home from school distressed and unhappy and is reluctant to go in the morning and is trying to convince the school that all he needs is the opportunity to have a few minute’s time out when he feels the compulsion to have a ‘tic’.

Teaching Strategies