Front of the Class: How Tourette Syndrome Made Me the Teacher I Never Had

Brad Cohen is positive and an exuberant personality. He has his life-time companion which is called Tourette Syndrome (TS). When he was 7 years old, he started making noises and barking as well as jerking and twitching his face, neck and part of his body. When he was young, he and his family didn't know about TS. His doctor suggested that he could stop his tics intentionally. Brad was not able to control his tics and there was no cure. Because of this he had hard time at school and until 12 years old, he had no friends in his life. His school teachers didn't believe him so that he often was sent to the Principal's office. However, his mother and his younger brother always supported Brad and they moved when he was 12 years old. Brad and Jeff began to attend a new school. However, teachers of the new school were the same. When Brad was sent to the Principal's office, however this Principal listened to Brad and believed him and gave a chance to explain his situation in front of the teachers and students. Before, he had no friends, and no one wanted to eat lunch with him. So he had never eaten lunch with someone at the cafeteria until he became 12 years old. The Principal who accepted Brad and the other ignorant teachers who didn't believe Brad's TS became the strongest incentive for him to become a teacher. He wanted to become a teacher who accepts children as they are. Brad had also difficult time when applied for a job in Atlanta, Georgia. I don't want to share it here, but his positive thoughts and perseverance resolved this and became a teacher. He proved himself that he was very good at teaching and received the First Class Teacher of the Year award in the state of Georgia. You should read this book.

If you know someone who has Tourette Syndrome (TS) or of you ha e it yourself, I definitely recommend reading this. Brad Cohen does a great job of explaining TS, but also gives it hope. As a parent of a child with TS, it's so important for me to read about the success of others who have TS so I can share that with my child. This book has helped me do just that. It's giving our family grwat conversation starters and a reference to help us understand some of what our son is going through. May I also add that I've had the pleasure of communicating with Brad and he walks the walk and talks the talk. He's just really a wonderful, open person and is someone to admire. I'm thankful he chose to openly share his life and his journey with TS.

It teaches you to achieve your dreams and to go above and beyond in order to achieve them. It teaches you to not discouraged and to not let anything out there stop you from achieving your dreams. It's an inspiring story to embrace your disability in life and turn it into an ability. Thanks so much for sharing such a beautiful story with others, to encourage us to keep moving forward and to never let anything get us down or stop us, in our race for achieving a good life. Thanks again, it means a lot. And the book was suspenseful and lots of fun to read.

I read this book because it was assigned for a class on special education training. I was very inspired by Cohen's story. I learned a lot about Tourette Syndrome and about what it's like to navigate the world with a disability. Cohen accomplished a lot in his life. I didn't give it all five stars, though, because it suffers a typical problem with memoirs in that the author is trying to be simultaneously honest, modest, and proud about his accomplishments but not quite finding the right balance.

Brad Cohen has given us both a profound and genial gift in this book. When we read it we gain insight from the life of someone with the mysterious and cruel Tourettes Syndrome. We also learn more about ourselves, and our reaction to sounds and movements that we consider out of the ordinary. This book is like reading an Oliver Sacks book from the inside out. But here's the BEST part. Brad Cohen is a man with a great sense of humor,a deep inner strength, and a wise sense of observation of the human race. As Brad chronicles the events of his life and the massive obstacles that he overcame due to Tourettes Syndorme, you cry, you laugh and you get angry. Ultimately though, you find yourself wanting to one day be privileged enough to hear "wa, wa, wa, ja, ja, ja" shouted from some corner of a room so that you could run up to Brad and tell him how inspired you were by his story.

I bought this book as a gift for a special little girl in my life. She has faced many struggles in Iife (mostly physical) so she could relate to this book immensely. She loves this book, it has inspired her. When she found out it was a movie as well we had to watch it. Reading about people that are experiencing the same struggles she's facing in middle school and life makes her not feel alone.

I had to read this book for my special education class. It was a joy to read! I was able to learn about a disorder along with the things that come with it while making a new friend. The book is written is such a way that you feel as if you and Brad are good friends by the end of it and his Tourette's are barely prevalent. In addition, you gain the perspective of someone else's teaching philosophy while hearing about actual incidents that have occurred the ga school system. This is a book I believe should easily be a standard in all education curriculums, not just the general education (elm school education curriculum.) Thank you for writing this book, Brad.

I have a 13 year old boy with TS who read this book in school. I read it also and have since purchased it for our library and school library. Brad Cohen is a Pollyanna of sorts in that despite negative attitudes, feedback and obstacles, he stayed positive and always looked for the good that comes out of a situation. He is an inspiration whether or not you have a disability. We should all practice his positive and resilient attitude. This is A MUST READ FOR EVERY EDUCATOR! TS effects approx. 1 in 200 children. There is no cure and medication does not always work. The Hallmark Hall of Fame Movie that was made from the book is excellent and captures the spirit of Brad and his family. A MUST READ!

Muy bien y rapida entrega

un libro molto interessante che ha contribuito alla buona riuscita di un esame di mia figlia! tutto bene quindi, grazie

I loved this book, I had already seen the movie, it is so inspiring to read what he went through and how all his teachers thought he was just a trouble maker, his own father thought he was just attention seeking and how his tenacious mother through hours of endless research finally gave him the diagnosis his doctors failed to do and how through his own grit and determination found his calling as a teacher and this allowed him to educate, both the young and old, that people can be different, but the same

The book is not delivered to me even after 2 months of full payment made. Never expected such response from site like Amazon.

Le narrateur nous raconte son histoire, les défis et les embûches face auxquels il a dû faire face étant atteint du syndrome de la Tourette! Quel courage et détermination. Je recommande ce livre sans hésitation.