Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T04:11:29.396Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Tourette’s Syndrome and the School Experience: A Qualitative Study of Children’s and Parents’ Perspectives

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2016

Rebekah Grace
Affiliation:
Psychological Medicine, University of Sydney, N.S.W
Cherry Russell*
Affiliation:
Behavioural and Community Health Sciences, University of Sydney, N.S.W
*
Dr. Cherry Russell, Department of Behavioural and Community Health Sciences, University of Sydney N.S.W. Australia. E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

This article reports on research exploring the school experiences of 26 children (aged between 8 and 15.5 years) diagnosed with Tourette’s Syndrome. The research adopted a qualitative methodology, and is reported here from the perspective of both the parents and the children themselves. Three different groups of families emerged: those who were moderately satisfied in their experiences with the school system, those who were dissatisfied in their experiences with the school system, and families who were so completely dissatisfied that they removed their child from the school system altogether. There was no participating child or parent who was entirely satisfied in their experiences with teachers and the school. Themes that emerged for each of these groups are discussed. This research stresses the importance of teacher understanding and flexibility, as well as parent/school communication. The facilitation of social acceptance for a child with Tourette’s Syndrome is also extremely important to successful classroom integration.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Australian Association of Special Education 2005

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abwender, D., Como, P., Kurlan, R., Parry, K., Fett, K., Cui, L., Plumb, S., & Deeley, C. (1996). School problems in Tourette’s Syndrome. Archives of Neurology, 53, 509511.Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-IV). Washington DC: Author.Google Scholar
Brookshire, B., Butler, I., Ewing-Cobbs, L., & Fletcher, J. (1994). Neuropsychological characteristics of children with Tourette Syndrome: Evidence for a nonverbal learning disability? Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 16, 289302.Google Scholar
Carpenter, B. (1999). Sustaining the Family: The case for effective early intervention. Australasian Journal of Special Education, 23, 7989.Google Scholar
Carter, A., Pauls, D., Leckman, J., & Cohen, D. (1994). A prospective longitudinal study of Gilles de la Tourette’s Syndrome. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 33, 377385.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Champion, L., Fulton, W., & Shady, G. (1988). Tourette Syndrome and social functioning in a Canadian Population. Neuroscience and Biobehavioural Reviews, 12, 255257.Google Scholar
Chowanury, U., Christie, D. (2002). Tourette Syndrome: A training day for teachers. British Journal of Special Education, 29, 123127.Google Scholar
Coffey, A., & Atkinson, P. (1996). Making sense of qualitative data: Complimentary research strategies. California: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Coffey, B., & Park, K. (1997). Behavioural and emotional aspects of Tourette Syndrome. Neurologic Clinics, 15, 277289.Google Scholar
Cohen, D. (1991). Finding meaning in one’s self and others: Clinical studies of children with autism and Tourette’s Syndrome. In Kessel, F.S., Bornstein, M.H., & Sameroff, A.J. (Eds.,), Contemporary constructions of the child: Essays in Honour of William Kessen (pp. 159175). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Cohen, D., Leckman, J., & Riddle, M. (1992). Tourette’s syndrome and tic disorders. In Noshpitz, J. et al. (Eds.), Basic handbook of child psychiatry. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Comings, D. (1990). Tourette Syndrome and human behaviour. Duarte, CA: Hope Press.Google Scholar
Comings, D. & Comings, B. (1985). Tourette Syndrome: Clinical and psychological aspects of 250 cases. American Journal of Human Genetics, 37, 435450.Google Scholar
Creswell, J. (1994). Research design: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Dykens, E., Leckman, J., Riddle, M., Hardin, M., Schwartz, S., & Cohen, D. (1990). Intellectual, academic, and adaptive functioning of Tourette Syndrome children with and without Attention Deficit Disorder. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 18, 607615.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Friedrich, S., Morgan, S., & Devine, C. (1996). Children’s attitudes and behavioural intentions toward a peer with Tourette Syndrome. Journal of Pediatrie Psychology, 21, 307319.Google Scholar
Gadow, K., Nolan, E., & Sprafkin, J. (2003). 22% of preschool children, 8% of primary school students, and 3% of adolescents have tics. Evidence-Based Mental Health, 6, 10.Google Scholar
Gallimore, R., Weisner, T., Bernheimer, L., Guthrie, D., & Nihira, K. (1993). Family responses to young children with developmental delays: Accommodation activity in ecological and cultural context. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 98, 185206.Google Scholar
Gallimore, R., Weisner, T., Kaufman, S., & Bernheimer, L. (1989). The social construction of ecocultural niches: Family accommodation of developmentally delayed children. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 94, 216230 Google Scholar
Gallina, N. (1990). Tourette’s Syndrome in Children: Significant achievement and social behaviour variables. Dissertation Abstracts International, 50(8-A), 2430.Google Scholar
Grad, L., Pelcovits, D. & Olson, M. (1987). Obsessive-Compulsive symptomatology in children with Tourette’s Syndrome. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 26, 69.Google Scholar
Gubrium, T., & Holstein, J. (1997;. The new language of qualitative method. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hansen, C. (1992). What is Tourette Syndrome? In T., Hearle (Ed.), Children with Tourette Syndrome: A parents’ guide (pp. 125). MD: Woodbine House.Google Scholar
Kurlan, R., Whitmore, D., Irvine, C., McDermott, M., & Como, P. (1994). Tourette’ Syndrome in a special education population. Neurology, 44, 699702.Google Scholar
Matesevac, H. (1991). Toward a psychological understanding of Tourette Syndrome. Psychotherapy, 28, 643645.Google Scholar
Minichlello, V., Aronl, R., Timewell, E., Alexander, L. (1995). In-depth interviewing (2nd Edition). Melbourne: Longman.Google Scholar
Riessman, C. (1993). Narrative analysis. California: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Robertson, M., & Stern, J. (1997;. The Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome. Critical Reviews in Neurobiology, 11, 119.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rosen, A. (1996). Tourette’s Sydrome; The school experience. Clinical Pediatrics, 35, 467469.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sacks, O. (1995). An anthropologist on Mars. New York: Alfred A. Knopf Inc.Google Scholar
Schuerholz, L., Baumgardner, T., Singer, H., Reiss, A., & Denckla, M. (1996). Neuropsychologlcal status of children with Tourette’s syndrome with and without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Neurology, 46, 958965.Google Scholar
Shady, G., Fulton, W., & Champion, L. (1988). Tourette Syndrome and educational problems in Canada. Neurosciences and Biobehavioural Reviews, 12, 263265.Google Scholar
Shapiro, A., Shapiro, E., Young, J., & Feinberg, T. (1988). Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome (Second Edition). New York: Raven Press.Google Scholar
Silver, A. (1988). Intrapsychic processes and adjustment in Tourette’s Syndrome. In D.J., Cohen, Bruun, R.D., & Leckman, J.F. (Eds.), Tourette Syndrome and tic disorders: Clinical understanding and treatment (pp. 197206). New York: John Wiley and Sons.Google Scholar
Strauss, A., & Corbln, J. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Weisner, T. (1993). Ethnographic and Ecocultural Perspectives on Sibling Relationships. In Stoneman, Z. & P.W., Berman (Eds.), The effects of mental retardation, disability, and illness on sibling relationships (pp. 5183). Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.Google Scholar
Wilson, J., & Shrimpton, B. (2002). What’s normal? A reflection on Tourette Syndrome. Primary Educator, 8, 68.Google Scholar