PS, I'm so glad I found this place, friends and family and just the general public are kind of ignorant when it comes to Tourette's and just down right judgemental when it comes to ADHD and ODD. So this helps me to remain confident and possitive. Thanks DS!

ive have adhd, ocd, anxiety, and tics. for me i was clearly diagnosed in 5th grade. that year i had a very helpful teacher. what are his adhd symptoms?

We went thru all this with our son. Your school can't expel a student with a disability. Please educate yourself and get your school involved. They may fight back but the threat of suing is very powerful. Some schools do not want to deal with this. Go to http://www.tsa-usa.org, they have a lot of info on what schools are obligated to do for students with a disability. Find a neurologist that has experience with TS and learning disabilities, will make a huge difference to you and your child.

You are right in saying that adhd meds can exacerbate tics. You could try him on Strattera which is a non stimulant drugs and shouldn't effect the tics. If Strattera doesn't work and his adhd is bad enough you could try a low dose of Ritalin etc and see how he handles it. You must find the right doctor though. I know how dificult all this is. It's a real journey. Good luck.

erllve, you can find a full discription in my first journal on my profile page.

west44, I have been educating myself non stop the for about a year and a half now. The only reason I'm having any progress now is because we moved to a new town with a better school and they're actually willing to try to find a solution. Before it was detention after detention after detention. And parent teacher conferences. I have gotten into some pretty heated arguments with his last teacher. I'm glad that's over. Anyway, right now it's just a waiting game, my son's doctor can't move forward until the school board gets all their ducks in a row and turn over some documentation. I understand they are busy, but it sure is taking a while. In the mean time, he spends alot of time in the principal's office and gets a write up 3 out of 5 days a week.

kgore, we must travel to Pheonix to meet with ANY neurologists, let alone a good one. It's a 3 hour drive one way and all we're waiting on is a referal.

Thank you all for your replies!!

My 11 year old son has TS and ODD/ADHD. He is a handful. He has been kicked out of two schools. He is on Concerta and Apraprixil (sp?). He has also been kicked out of hockey...all because of his swearing and aggression.I am at my wits end...with the education system and our community.

Momma27, I'm starting to know how you feel. My son is only 6 and he's already been kicked off the bus twice. I'm told he spends most of his days in the office. Now how the heck do they expect him to sit in a chair staring at the wall all day if he can't even stay in his seat in class? I was hoping that once we have our official diagnosis and IEP that the schools will be more accommodating. Please tell me they DO eventually work with you. If not I'm seriously going to try homeschooling.

my son is 5 he has adhd odd and tourettes.
he takes ritalin for adhd and catapres a relaxant for tics and it also calms down a lot of his anxietys.

ive decided being known as the naughty boy was more damaging then anything and he needs an education or he's gunna end up in trouble when he's older so i believe meds are the best thing for him.

I know that 90% of the time, a child who has been diagnosed with Tourette's has accompanying ADHD. My son's is severe so he takes Concerta, which I know is probably exacerbating his tics. He is 16 now and on the few occasions when he hasn't taken his Concerta he is completely unmanageable. He doesn't even like himself, uncomfortable in his own skin. I recently, and reluctantly, increased his Concerta to 72mg daily. He takes Risperdal for the mood stabilization and tic control, Concerta for the ADHD and Propranalol to counteract the migraine-inducing effect of the stimulant meds. He has mostly normal days and it is my desperate hope that, when he is older and hopes to stop taking meds, he will have a sense of "normalcy" and, despite his challenges, be strong enough to strive to maintain that sense. It's so complicated and such a difficult judgement call. Now that my son is getting older, we're thinking much more about the rest of his life instead of just the here and now. I desperately want to take him off of all meds... I'm curious if he would even have tics if he wasn't on Concerta. But I'm scared to try. I think he would have to be hospitalized. I've been told that many people lose their tics in their later teen years, but the ADHD may never go away. Ugh!!!