Responses are due on Friday, Feb. 6th, at class time.
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In Speeded processing of grammar and tool knowledge in Tourette’s syndrome, a study published by Matthew Walenski, Stewart H. Mostofsky, and Michael T. Ullman; the writers attempted to enrich the understanding of speaking aspect of Tourette’s syndrome by studying idiosyncratic and rule-governed knowledge. The study did not focus on the facial and verbal tics, rather only on the use of tenses and word usage. In the study, it was found that although both Tourette's and non-tourette patients scored similarly in declarative memory, people with Tourette's had abnormal levels of procedural memory retention. It went on to show documents from case-studies and concluded that "the study reported here suggests that the processing of previously-acquired procedural but not declarative knowledge is particularly speeded in Tourette’s syndrome."
People suffering from Tourettes have a hard time switching to past tense verbs and sometimes had excessive endings such as doubling "ed" in words like "groundeded" . This was linked to other disorders that affect the basal ganglia, such as Huntington's disease. The data gained from this experiment concluded the disorder will not only have tics but can also be attributed to the unsuppressed and rapid behaviors but will also affect the cognitive processing of rule-governed language and procedural knowledge.
I felt this reading was too scientific and hard to read. I worked as a teachers assistant at a school for troubled teens and many suffered from Tourette's syndrome. I found that once the child was aware of their surroundings and was in a relaxed environment, they had less trouble with facial tics and/or speech. While the scientific findings are helpful in analyzing a disorder, they offer little or no help with how to cope with it.
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18 comments:
In my student teaching experiences, I have never come across a student with Tourettes Syndrome. The post was interesting to read about the use of verb tenses and word usage. I knew people with Tourettes Syndrome had difficulty with daily life and schooling, but I didn't know the specifics with grammar. Since students with Tourettes Syndrome have a hard time with memory retention, it is only normal to believe that they would also have trouble grasping grammar concepts. The double ed' at the end of words was interesting to learn because the students have a hard time learning rules towards language. I believe it is true that a relaxed environment helps the student with their disorder and although this may not cure them, it helps them cope a little better.
Any time that you deal with a person with a disease such as Tourettes or any other disease that cripples basic functions, resulting deficiencies will follow. It is interesting to read that Tourettes Syndrome affects speech in the way that the disabled person forms endings of words, but not so much the disabling of basic speech functions. A relaxed environment were the affected person feels comfortable and safe will result in less tics and and mannerisms.
I've never read up on anything about Tourettes before and after reading I googled Tourette's syndrome and learned that it's not that rare of a disease anymore. I've never had any experience with anyone who has had Tourettes and the most I knew about it before hand was that people would stutter or have those "tics" that interfered with their speech. To know, however, that it actually effects their memory retention was something, obviously, new to me. It is very interesting to learn about syndromes that affect people in this way.
I had a class on teaching students with special needs. It went through all of the diseases and what to look for. It also taught us the laws and rules on how to deal with it, but only experience can teach you how to "teach and help them deal" with the special need(s). The article was interesting because I didn't know the specifics with grammar. Tourette's would be difficult to live with everyday because it affects your speech.
Since becoming aware of Tourettes Syndrome in middle school, I never realized the specifics of the disorder until now. I thought it was purely facial and language tics; I did not know that people with this syndrome have trouble regarding memory retention and grammar concepts. I definitely believe that a relaxed environment can help sedate the 'tic' as much as anything. People, especially children, perform better when their stress is minimal, and when they don't have to worry about their surroundings.
I am quite surprised to read that there is much more to Tourette's syndrome than language outbursts and involuntary physical compulsions (which is of what I mostly hear.) It is fascinating to learn of the memory process being involved. I also appreciate Anna's sharing her personal experience of the disorder with us.
I also found the article extremely hard to read. It does not surprise me that children with Tourette's syndrome have a hard time learning grammar. Tourette's syndrome affects the brain. I did find it interesting that the children with Tourette's added a double ed at the end of the words. What I found odd was the fact that when I read the article I thought it was saying that children with Tourettes learned grammar and rules much faster. There were way too many scientific terms. I'm glad it wasn't my blog post or I would have got it all wrong in my summary. I also believe that the effects of Tourettes’s syndrome are most likely different in every person's case. Patients that learn in a more comfortable and familiar setting most likely will do better than those who are not happy with their surroundings.
I personally have not experienced working with students who have Tourettes Syndrome. I have seen people with it and I currently have a class with a student who has Tourettes Syndrome. I see where it can be difficult for students with Tourettes to comprehend grammar. It is important to provide students with this disability calm environments to learn. I did not know students with Tourettes put an extra 'ed' at the end of words and I can understand why this may occur. The student in my class has "tics" and will have outburst throughout class. I can tell it is a struggle for this student, but I believe the environment is very calm and the student feels comfortable. The teacher goes on with the lecture and students continue to listen and do not bring attention to this student. I think this is very important and as a future teacher I believe my professor is a good example of how teachers should act in a situation like that.
I am not surprised that students with Tourette's syndrome have a difficult learning grammar. I found the article difficult to read, but I did think that it had some good ideas and points about this. I had no idea that children with Tourette's syndrome added a double ed at the end of the words. I'm sure that there are different levels of Tourettes and all of them learn at different rates.
Although it's a confidential obligation of myself and other staff of Brehm Preparatory School, I must say that it's quite difficult for learning-defenciency students. Brehm Prep embodies students that have numerous phsychological and learning defects, but Brehm works to enrich these "setbacks" with other learning tactics. I feel that once a student, meaning ANY student, is placed within an environment of people/staff, that they'll better relate to their work and have better comprehension. As far as learning grammar guidelines, in spite of Tourette syndrome characteristics, it isn't inevitable for them to comprehend grammar. The methods applied to correlate their understanding makes the difference in their learning process. I feel from any circumstance, whether "disease" or not, we (people of society) can gain an interesting insight. For instance, the article mentioned that Tourette children move at a faster paste with word usage and other ideals.
Overall, the article's diction within itself, was a bit confusing considering the scientific dialect.
Before reading this article I did not know much about Tourettes Syndrome except that it can be extremely difficult live with. I found it interesting that not only do people with Tourettes have issues with outbursts, but also memory. However, I believe it is possible for students with Tourettes to learn and improve their grammar. Like many have said before, the environment can have a huge impact on students learning abilities. I feel that if a student with Tourretes was in a relaxed environment, he or she would be able to excel more.
I have never actually had a conversation with a person with Tourettes Syndrome. The one experience that I have had was earlier this year. In one of my classes there was a student with Tourettes Syndrome; the tics were obvious, but I never noticed any flaws in his word usage. I agree that it appears when students are in a relaxed environment the tics are less common. Whenever the teacher directed a question, or a comment, towards him the tics seemed to be more common. If I were to teach a student who suffered from Tourettes Syndrome, I believe my first, and primary goal, would be to educate his or her peers. This would in return make the classroom more relaxed.
The article was a bit too scientific to read, but I did not know that Tourettes Syndrome affected speech. It is interesting to know there are grammar problems that affect people with Tourettes specifically. I did know that there different degrees of severity in Tourettes syndrome, but before reading this article I would assume that students suffering from milder forms of Tourettes wouldn't have problems learning proper grammar.
After reading this article, it seems that more information needs to be made available to teachers about the learning habits of children with disabilities. This article was too scientific for the average person to fully understand. Educators need access to scientific studies regarding children with disabilities that are easy to understand. I think that schools such as Brehm Preparatory are a good idea. Children with disabilities require special attention from teachers that have specialized training. I’m not planning on becoming a teacher, but I am glad that research is being done on this topic. Educators should continue to study the ways in which all children learn so that they can become more effective.
Although I must admit I have never interacted with someone suffering from Tourette’s syndrome I did realize that, like someone with any other neurological disease, Tourette’s syndrome sufferers would face different barriers in learning to communicate than most students would. From reading the article I did learn that making the classroom a relaxed environment helps to make them more comfortable and, in turn, makes it an environment more conductive to learning for those special needs students. With the disease being as prevalent as it is this knowledge is sure to come in handy during my teaching career.
I found this article interesting in that it made me think about the many different parts of the brain, and types of transmissions, involved in everyday speech. Distinct grammatical structures - rules or irregularities - translate to different types of mental processing. For example I would never have thought that words related to learned motor functions belong in a different category than other nouns. That makes sense, though; when a person learns language, they also learn how to use their body, and so associations are made that the memory imprints for lifetime use. So many layers of behaviors and "rules" lay atop one another inside our minds. I find it fascinating.
Maybe the article did not literally help us learn to "deal with" a student with Tourette's, but understanding the brain's function, and common mistakes or strengths of those with non-ordinary brain function can surely help us to understand the disease and its sufferers.
I find it very interesting that you've worked with children with Tourette's. I wish that you had worked more of your personal experience into your post. What is Tourette's, even? If the article was too scientific and wordy, i would have been interested to read your take on Tourette's and the English language.
Tourette's syndrome would be a devastating condition for one to suffer from. I knew someone who had a mild case of it and even with his condition he suffered from eye and facial twitches constantly. You could tell that it frustrated him a great deal to have to endure that. I founded it interesting to learn that Tourette's sufferers add an extra "ed" to the end of certain words. That leads to me to think that may be because of their tick that leads them to say it twice instead of just once. I can't imagine living with a disease such as Tourette's or Huntington's which disrupts daily life so much.
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