<p>I currently am in eight grade. I have an interest in screenwriting and am beginning to look at some college options. Even though I have a long time until college, I would still like to looking because I am so interested in screenwriting and would like to learn to write professionally. I do have some learning disabilities like having Tourette Syndrome and being foreign language exempt. Would something like being foreign language exempt or having Tourette Syndrome prevent me from being able to go to a college?</p>
<p>I think a good place to start to find the information you need would be to go to the Tourette Syndrome Association, which is online (Tourette</a> Syndrome Association TSA Home Page) and has a section for kids, and also to the Tourette Association for your state. (You can google "Tourette Syndrome" and then the name of your state to find this.) You could also share your concerns with your doctor who could probably direct you to some reassuring information. </p>
<p>I'm wondering, do your parents know about your concerns? If you let them know that you are worried about this, it would be great if your family could find information as a team, maybe even find some college students with Tourette Syndrome who could talk with you about their experiences.</p>
<p>There are many colleges that do not have a foreign language requirement, and some colleges that do have the requirement may be willing to waive it for LD students. </p>
<p>You might also want to go onto the Parent's Board and post with the heading "College Students With Tourette Syndrome" or something like that. It is possible that there are parents here who would tell you about their children's experiences with Tourettes at college.</p>
<p>Finally, I want to advise you to please NOT post your real name on an Internet site like this. Even though there are many helpful people here (and I don't want to sound too parental, but this is what I would say to my own kids), the best way to stay safe on the Internet, especially for young people, is not to identify yourself.</p>
<p>I hope that 5 years from now you will be a college freshman posting on this board, helping younger students.</p>
<p>My son has Tourette's Syndrome and is very successful in college. In fact, he goes to a college that has an excellent writing program, Bard College.</p>
<p>Many people are misinformed about Tourette Syndrome. It is not "ADD with a tic," which I am sure that you are aware of. It is a neurological disorder associated with the basal ganglia of the brain.</p>
<p>actually im a former tourettes student and my ticks medicine helped with my adhd considerably. So i can say that i agree with tourettes being add w/ a tic. I eversince have stopped my tics almost entirely and i don’t even remember that i used to b on tics medicine, until i hear tourettes pop up</p>
<p>I have Tourette’s too but never had any academic difficulties from it. It’s even hard for me to think of how Tourette’s would fit as an LD, but I guess if you ticed badly enough it would. I definitely disagree with the characterization of Tourette’s as ADD+tics since not everyone with Tourette’s has ADD or ADHD there’s just an increased chance. I’m not diagnosed with ADD or ADHD, though I and other people have noticed some similarities but I’m not worried about that.</p>
<p>Another thing I’m wondering about is the foreign language exempt thing. Is that related to tourette’s? I never had any problems with foreign language. The biggest problem I ever had was keeping myself organized but that never became enough of a problem in middle or high school for me to be evaluated to see if there was something wrong.</p>
<p>rv4life, I notice a category error in your first post. Having Tourette’s is a diagnosis. Being foreign language exempt, on the other hand, is an accommodation. Whatever college you choose may decide to continue to grant the accommodation based on your diagnoses, or not.</p>
<p>If you don’t want to have to study a foreign language in college, you should look for colleges that don’t require foreign language proficiency (there are quite a few) and colleges that do have a foreign language requirement but will waive it for people with your diagnosis. Like other posters, I doubt that a diagnosis of Tourettes, by itself, would be enough for a college to justify waiving a foreign language requirement.</p>
<p>Be aware that a college is perfectly within its legal rights to require foreign language requirement for all students, regardless of disability.</p>
<p>rv4life- you can get into any college if you try hard enough. Use Tourettes as an explanation for why things are more difficult for you, not as an excuse. I have Tourettes, and I got into every college that I applied to.</p>