Update--Third week of School

So I get a phone call from the assistant principal of Elijah's school today. He bit a student in art class. I mention to her that biting has been one of his tics in the past. He has put his mouth/teeth on a doorknob, on my arm or hand and on many other things. He does it when he is frustrated. Last week he spit at someone at lunch. Again, this is one of his tics. I can hear the air leave the room when I speak to the assistant principal on the phone. She really doesn't "get it". Now, I don't want him doing these things, but we all have to work with him on finding a replacement tic.

Thankfully, I also got a call from the LSSP(school psychologist) last week and I absolutely love her. We had talked about the spitting incident and she spoke to the school about it being a tic. She did a training at the school this past Wednesday. I called her this afternoon and we talked about the biting incident. She then told me she had biting listed as a possible tic for kids with Tourette's. She assured me she would go to the school and speak to them again.

Now, Elijah and I talked about the spitting when it happened and again today about the biting. The school and I need to work with him on finding a replacement tic and looking for what precedes these incidents so we can try to keep this from happening. What drives me crazy is the feeling that they don't realy believe these are tics. I don't want to be seen as the mom who makes excuses for her son so he can misbehave.

I told someone one the phone just now, what I want is for more understanding on their part. For them to examine the situation and not always assume some action couldn't be a tic, but rather examine the situation and determine if it might be a tic. Elijah is pretty honest about his tics and if it isn't a tic he will tell you. The only thing keeping me from being really aggravated with the school is knwoing the LSSP understands and she will step in and work with the school staff to help Elijah and help them to understand Tourette's. It really is a hard one to wrap your brain around.