My Life with Tics: Kids With Tourettes Are Not Special

I’ve been doing homebound (also known as off-campus) learning on and off for the past six years. Basically I attend school at a district office for SMSD, so that I can let out my tics when needed without disturbing my classmates. My tics hardly flare up at homebound, because I don’t have the stress of sitting at a desk for seven hours a day, five days a week. However, I still do all of the work that my friends in school do.

Don’t get me wrong. I love my teachers and my parents. But this is not a “special” case. I’m a student who does the same work as everyone else. I may do most of it at home or at Starbucks, but that doesn’t mean I’m not working. And if I happen to get my work done faster than the kids in school, why can’t I have a break?

That’s why the whole special treatment of kids with TS drives me crazy.

Yes, I need notes given to me, because my handwriting’s terrible.

Yes,  I need private testing, because my tics get really high when I take tests.

And yes, I do need to be pushed every now and then to get my homework done.

However, when every single student in my school district gets a day off, why shouldn’t I?

The common answer from my teachers and parents, “You don’t go to school nearly as much as everyone else.”

Well yeah. Of course I don’t. But I’m still doing all the work, aren’t I? And if I get done faster than everyone in school, what’s the big deal. I’d just like to be rewarded for my more diligent work, by getting district wide holidays off, so I can spend time with my friends.