Score: 88+/100 (8.8+ out of 10)
Tic Talk is an inspired, spirited, and eye-opening book by Dylan Peters concerning the topic of Tourette Syndrome! This book seeks to remind the world that every child deserves a chance including those suffering from a disorder like Tourette's, a neurodevelopmental disorder that results in abnormal, uncontrolled movements and vocal sounds called “tics” (giving the book its title). It only takes one caring, patient, and understanding person (particularly an educator) to change a child's entire life. We saw that happen in Jar of Tears by Kathleen Templeton earlier this week in which a teacher, Mrs. Davis, was the first to recognize what the child (Mira) was going through, giving her a non-judgmental ear to express herself to. In Tic Talk, it's Mrs. Rita Sudalter who recognizes that there's more to Dylan than meets the eye. Mrs. Sudalter recognizes that there are underlying reasons for Dylan's otherwise-strange and unsettling sounds and actions. Rather than dismissing him, being annoyed with him, embarrassing him, or even punishing him, Mrs. Sudalter does what other educators failed or neglected to do: be understanding and give him a chance. Dylan was diagnosed with Tourette's at the age of four. As the book explains, the disorder causes Dylan to uncontrollably and unexpectedly jerk his head, gurgle, and clear his throat. This behavior seems strange or weird to some who view it as attention-seeking or annoying. However, the people who rush to these conclusions likely don't understand Tourette's or the fact that it is often out of the person's control. And that's where this book shines the most: in raising awareness and understanding of Tourette Syndrome, something which—quite frankly—few people in our society know much about. In fact, most people's views on Tourette's comes from YouTube videos and television shows in which Tourette's is often shown to be part of a joke or as comedic relief. The truth of the matter is, it's not always funny or humorous for people who actually suffer from the disorder. In fact, it can be saddening, maddening, and upsetting. If people only knew the truths about the disorder... that it's out of the person's control and that it doesn't make a person unintelligent, autistic, sick, bad, dangerous, or scary. The book even makes the point that Tourette's isn't contagious like a disease or rabies and that you can't get it just by associating with someone. Adults with Tourette's might even lead people to jump to the conclusion that they are on illegal substances (like drugs) when that's simply not true. Conceptually, this book is powerful, beautiful, and brilliant. There's a bit to be desired in terms of the execution though. One of the things that really sticks out are the illustrations, which were done by a childhood friend of Dylan named Zachary Wendland with some paintings by Kris Taft Miller. They do leave a little to be desire. However, we understand that Zachary is still young and working on his craft. We've seen images of Dylan and Zachary working together on this book (and promoting this book) as kids, so it's easy to understand why they chose this route: they're a team. From what we gathered, neither Dylan nor Zachary are kids anymore. In fact, we're told that Dylan has already graduated from high school with numerous honors and academic awards including a National Merit Scholar Award. He has probably graduated from college by now seeing as he entered college before the pandemic. That's really inspiring! And it goes to show that you can make lemons out of lemonade, as the book tells us. Your situation—good or bad—is what you make of it. The book also does a good job at demonstrating that we're all weird and different in our own ways, not just those with Tourette's. In fact, during a class lesson, the different students all talk about ways in which they are different. For example, one student is short-sighted and wears glasses. This is a very inspiring book that could be great for parents of children with Tourette's! It could also be a part of classrooms in which teachers could educate their students about it. Check it out on Amazon!
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