Year Three: Hardly Any Tics!

Man, does God rock or WHAT!



Three years ago this month, Pokemon Boy was diagnosed with Tourette's. As with any diagnosis, your mind immediately jumps to the worse case scenario and your heart breaks.

We have attacked this diagnosis with prayer first and close monitoring by his doctors, therapist and teachers second. As I've stated in many previous posts, Pokemon Boy hardly has any physical tics. Most of his issues revolve around his anxiety issues and difficulty controlling his frustration and anger. And that last bit is pretty much something I still wrestle with so I'm not willing to lay it at the feet of Tourette's.

Today, we had a parent/teacher conference with Pokemon Boy's 3rd grade teacher. She came in around the holidays after his initial 3rd grade teacher "retired" with no notice. This replacement teacher has been an answer to prayer. She is awesome. She is very present and cares greatly about each of the students. The initial teacher seemed to be going through the motions and appeared very overwhelmed. So yay God!

In the conference, Ms. Rockin' Teacher told us (Pokemon Boy was there, too) that she hasn't seen any tics except maybe the one where he shows his top front teeth every now and then. I have to agree. That's about the only one I see. And it's quick and not very noticeable.

Also, his anger issues and meltdowns at school have been getting better. He doesn't seem to have a "nemesis" at school or at church any more (usually a girl with whom he feels competitive). Ms. Rockin' Teacher suggested that Pokemon Boy work on creating a tool box of tricks over the summer. Little tricks he can employ when he's feeling the frustration or anger get the better of him. One that he already uses in gym class is, if he starts getting angry or frustrated, he goes to get a drink of water. His gym coach suggested this one. So Ms. Rockin' Teacher suggested he use that in her class as well. So over the summer, we'll be working on things like that.

She really encouraged him. She told him that she feels he has the skills and tools to enter 4th grade and be very successful.

But the fact that physical tics are what clued us in to the possibility of Tourette's and now there hardly ARE any? That's purely God right there, man. Three years into it, he's at the age where symptoms can really start escalating. But he's not stressed about it. And neither am I. We both figure God's got it. No matter how it goes from here - God's got it.