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Ten Ways to Help Your Child with Tourette Syndrome Succeed in School

Children with Tourette syndrome (TS) often face a hostile, unkind world in the public school system. Teachers can be impatient with the tics and peers can be cruel and insulting. What happens in the classroom, and how the tics are handled, can seriously impact the life of this special child. Here are ten classroom accommodations which can help your child with Tourette Syndrome (or other tic disorders) succeed in school: 1. Select a good teacher. The teacher should be carefully chosen. He or she should be patient, understanding, and knowledgeable about TS. The teacher should have a private meeting with … Continue reading →

Rett Syndrome: A Brief Overview

Rett Syndrome was first described in 1966 by Dr. Andreas Rett, an Austrian physician. Because it is caused by mutations on the X chromosome (specifically, on the MECP2 gene), it almost exclusively occurs in females. Females have two X chromosomes, so the mutation found on one chromosome is somewhat compensated for by the other. In males, however, mutations on the X chromosome cannot be compensated for by the Y chromosome. So males with the condition will most likely die prior to or shortly after birth. Rett Syndrome is found in every race and social economic class. It affects one in … Continue reading →

What is Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)?

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Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) is a term that often confuses parents. That’s because some professionals use it interchangeably with “autism,” while others refer to the two as distinct conditions. Sometimes in medical reference books you will see both terms listed side by side, as in “Autism/Pervasive Developmental Disorder,” with the same definition for both. So the question becomes… what exactly is pervasive developmental disorder, and how does it differ from autism? The answer is that, according to the DSM-IV-TR (American Psychiatric Association, 2000) a reference book used to identify disabilities, pervasive developmental disorder is actually a large umbrella term describing … Continue reading →