TPP 400: Michele Turk’s Journey of Parenting a Child with Tourette’s Syndrome

There is a lot of misinformation and stigma around neurodivergence that can create extra barriers and challenges for our families. This is especially true for Tourette syndrome, which is often referred to as “the most misunderstood well-known condition,” often the punchline of jokes on late-night TV and sitcoms.

Its in large part because of these misconceptions and difficulty accessing resources that my guest today, Michele Turk, found herself at a loss when her 11 year old son Michael was diagnosed with Tourette. In her new memoir, What Makes Him Tic? A Memoir of Parenting a Child with Tourette Syndrome, she writes vulnerably about the challenges they faced as a family in getting the right support, navigating school, social, emotional, and academic challenges, and how she evolved from thinking she had to fix Michael to understanding her job was to accept him and help him do the same. She wanted the world to know he was so much more than the boy who shouted obscenities hundreds of times a day.

Because Michele has worked as a journalist for three decades, covering parenting, health, and education for outlets like Parents, Parenting, Elle, USA Weekend, The Washington Post, Brain, Child, and Next Avenue, she was compelled to write about her journey as she was in it, and that close up, honest perspective, blended with ample reporting on Tourette make What Makes Him Tic a compelling and informative read.

In this episode, Michele talks with us about the misconceptions about Tourette’s that she came across often in her work as a journalist and her private life as a parent. We also talked about what some of the early symptoms were and how they managed them, how differently she and her husband approached the diagnosis and what it took for them to get on the same page, how her son’s diagnosis impacted her daughter, and more.

Things you'll learn

• How parenting a child with Tourette syndrome be challenging and isolating, and why is it important to trust your gut and seek appropriate medical care
• What the most common misconceptions of Tourette are
• What makes navigating the school system so challenging for children with Tourette
• Ideas for navigating complex sibling dynamics in a mixed neurotype household
• How finding a passion or interest can help build self-esteem and provide a sense of belonging for children with Tourette

Resources mentioned

• Michele Turk’s website
• What Makes Him Tic?: A Memoir of Parenting a Child with Tourette Syndrome by Michele Turk
• Yale Child Study Center Tic and OCD Program Designated Center of Excellence
• Debbie and Her Husband Derin Talk About Their Journey of Parenting a Differently Wired Child (Tilt Parenting episode)
• Tourette Association of America
• Tourette Association Conference (Tic Con)
• Dr. Robert King
• Billie Eilish on Living with Tourette Syndrome (Harper’s Bazaar)
• How American Idol’s James Durbin Manages Life With Tourette’s and Asperger’s (Tourette Association of America)

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