IN NEED OF PARTICIPANTS

This is the Outline Examination Approval Form for the research on Group Dynamics courtesy of University of the Philippines, College of Education.

Twitch and Shout Lay Forum: March 26, 2007, St. Lukes Medical Center

Nota Bene: If you don't want it with music, just click the speaker icon on the left hand corner. :-)

Individuals With Disabilities Edcation Act (IDEA) for Children with Tourette Syndrome

In the middle of 1960 and 1975, the US Congress, state legislatures and federal courts have come up with educational rights for children with disabilities. They have passed laws encouraging and/ or funding programs in special education. The Public Law 94- 142 in 1975 which was originally introduced in 1971 is now named the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or IDEA has a primary purpose of creating rights for children with disabilities. This law together with ADA or Americans with Disabilities Act which was passed in Congress in 1990 have been the two main bodies for litigation during the past years.

Consequently the IDEA provides many specific procedural protections for the parents of children with disabilities. These safeguards are spelled out in the US Code of Federal Regulations, Title 34, Subtitle B. Chapter 3, Part 300. Some advocated said that these safeguards were poorly enforced at that time.

In 2004, IDEA was reauthorized to also serve children with Tourette Syndrome. The changes that were done were made effective last July 1, 2005. And these changes include

• short term goals will no longer be required on the Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) except those children under "No Child Left Behind" assessment ( or those with severe cognitive disabilites)
• flexible IEP meetings particularly alternative attendance such as by telephone or video conferencing
• three year IEPs to meet evolving needs of the child
• discipline as schools will not only provide support for academic purposes but also in terms of behavioral and functional goals which are very important for children with TS
• "Stay Put"- the right of the student to remain in the current placement has been eliminated, parents can now appeal for placement changes for their child
• early and positive intervention
• professional development- personnel who will work with children with disabilities should improve their academic and functional performances
• collaboration relationship- there is a greater focus to train parents and schools to use collaboration techniques
• transition services to focus not just on academic achievement but also on functional development
• the "specific learning disability" can no longer be required only on the aspect of academic achievement and IQ score
• schools will be prohibited from requiring that the child be under medication as a condition when attending school, recieving services or evaluation purposes
• schools may use 15% of IDEA's funding if the child requires more academic and behavioral support
• evaluations must not focus on the academic achievement of the child but also on developmental and functional abilities

See the more comprehensive summary of the new law.

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Source:

Martin et. al., Special Education for Students with Disabilities, Vol. 6, No. 1, 1996

Tourette Syndrome Association, USA

Deep Brain Stimulation in Action

I've talked about Deep Brain Stimulation in my previous entries, now I get to share with you a movie clip showing how it's really done.

An Update on Self Esteem for People with Tourette Syndrome

I read an article from the Tourette Syndrome website in the USA about uplifting your self- esteem. I talked about it before and i decided to post this entry as a follow-up about that personally because I find this also very relevant. Furthermore, the information that i will be sharing with you came from a TS diagnosed himself, Paul Devore, who despite his struggles about Tourette syndrome managed to become so successful in his life.

In the article, he wrote many things about himself but what I want to share are the tools that he enumerated to help build self- esteem. According to him, the following are the tools that you can use.

1. BE THE BEST YOU CAN BE
Focus on your strengths and not your weaknesses.

2. SET OBJECTIVES
Find and set the importance goals in your life.

3. BRING VALUE TO OTHERS
Focus on the positive, hang out with winners!

4. THINK OPTIMISTIC
Surely bad things happen in this world, but respond positively to it!

5. IMPROVE THE THINGS THAT YOU'RE GOOD AT

There may be other ways by which you can improve or enhance your self- esteem, you might be able to get the strategies deep down inside you. Another thing that struck me through reading his article was when he said that "SCHOOLS TEND TO FOCUS ON THE WEAKNESS".
He said that this might be different today but for many years this has been the tendency. The author claimed that when he was in grade school, he couldn't draw much. His teacher was always giving him exercises to work on his drawing skills. Most teachers go away with the weakness by letting the student work on something that possibly might not be his or her interest at all. The end result is forgetting about what the student is really good at that could be used to his full advantage. Paul Devore even said and I quote:

"...if we focus on those things we’re good at and we like, we have a possibility, the potential, to not only enjoy our life but to develop a passion for what we do. And that is, a passion is, how you become excellent at something."

6. PROJECT YOUR BEST QUALITIES
Take pride in your strengths, accept compliments

7. NEVER MAKE A PROMISE UNLESS YOU CAN KEEP IT
According to Paul , this is a credibility builder. This will also build your reputation for other people.

8. CHANNEL PROBLEMS INSTEAD OF LAYERING THEM
Don't waste time thinking about problems one after the other (layering), instead focus on each one, assess and give solutions to it until you have one problem solved (channeling). Take your time into it.

9. LEARN AND GROW
"How can you make life better for people with Tourette Syndrome? Give praise to others at every opportunity. You deserve high self-esteem. You don’t have to be perfect. There is no need for perfection. You don’t have to be good at everything. Just make the best of your strengths. Reduce the focus on your weakness. Identify and work on your unique abilities. Pursue them and achieve great things. Feel good about who you are because you are terrific."