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A Foreign Language Learner with Tourette Syndrome

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Introduction
n Quincy is the first student with Tourette syndrome (TS) to attend your MFL class. The symptoms of Tourette Syndrome (TS) are tics. Tics are repeated, chronic and involuntary movements and sounds. Someone with TS may be able to suppress them for a while but eventually they have to release the tics. The symptoms often decrease towards the end of adolescence. Coprolalia, the involuntary utterance of obscenities, affects only 10%-15% of people with TS.

Problem 1
n What advice is given to MFL teachers seeking to include students with TS in their classes?
n Read Including students with disabilities in a foreign language class, with particular reference to its case study of a 10-year-old boy with mild TS. George's parents hope that learning German will reduce their son's anxiety about the trip to Germany where the family is spending their next holiday. Find out about George's profile, his Individual Education Plan targets, his academic strengths and needs, and his social, emotional and physical development. What conclusions do you draw from the conduct of George's case?

Problem 2
n You decide to find out how to support MFL learners with TS.
n There are cross-curricular online guides to TS, for example here, suggesting classroom strategies to deploy when including students with the condition: which tactics are particularly appropriate for the MFL classroom?

Further reading
n Duval, E. D. (2006) 'Including Students with Disabilities in a Foreign Language Class', Teaching Exceptional Children, 38(6), pp. 42-48. Online at http://cell.uindy.edu/conferencecd2007/files/34%20Including%20Students%20with%20Disabilities%20in%20a%20Foreign%20Language%20C.pdf

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