Brad Cohen, ‘Front of the Class’ Author, Educates About Tourette Syndrome

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With all of the news stories about kids being bullied, we often forget that there are some kids that are labeled “different” who have no control over why they are different. Brad Cohen, author of “Front of the Class: How Tourette Syndrome Made Me the Teacher I Never Had," shared his experience of growing up as a child who exhibited several neurological tics because of TS. Brad writes:
In fourth grade I developed the strange new habit of clearing my throat every few seconds, all day long. … Like “Lord of the Flies” the kids in my school turned on the one child who was different from all the rest. … At that time, the social resources for conditions like mine were so few and far between that as my symptoms grew deeper, my mother and brother found themselves alone in the house with a virtual stranger.

The Many Strengths That Come From Failure

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Failure is a part of life, especially if you’ve messed up on something. Forget to study for that spelling test, and it’s not surprising that you don’t get a good grade. What happens, though, when you DO study for spelling and the result is still failure? Many children spend most of the school year failing tests, failing classes, and flunking out, but it’s not for lack of trying. Our twins have struggled with this from the very first day of school.

Study Finds Drastic Increase in Kids with ADHD

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More parents are reporting their kids have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder. The number is up from 7.8% in 2003 to 9.5% in 2007, according to the National Survey of Children’s Health. That means 1 million more kids were diagnosed with ADHD over the course of four years. The study, “Increasing Prevalence of Parent-Reported Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Among Children,” notes that all demographic groups have reporting this increase. No states had any significant decline in the number of children with ADHD.

Do High School Students with ADHD Mellow Out More Often With Marijuana?

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Adolescents with ADHD are more likely to use marijuana, according to the Royal Statistical Society in London. Rising high school freshmen and sophomores with ADHD who smoke weed infrequently may begin to increase their dependence on it. The report is called, Latent Transition Models with Latent Class Predictors: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Subtypes and High School Marijuana Use.