Cohen continued to educate people about TS, increasing his confidence and speaking skills.Ĭohen graduated from Parkway Central High School in 1992, and was president of the St. In the beginning of his eighth grade year, after Cohen appeared on the Sally Jessy Raphaël show, his middle-school principal decided to let Cohen speak to the school about his Tourette syndrome. She took him to a Tourette syndrome support group meeting, where Cohen realized that other attendees "seemed resigned to a life of defeat" and was "inspired to triumph over the disorder". From then on, I knew that I wanted to be that teacher-one who would offer support and acceptance and really be there for each kid." When Cohen was 12 years old, his mother identified his behavior as TS from her own research. I really needed support and acceptance from my teacher and didn't get it. He felt humiliated and decided that he would become the teacher he never had, saying: "I always felt like the kid in the corner. His fifth-grade teacher forced him to walk to the front of the classroom to apologize for the noises he made and promise that he would never make them again. Teachers did not understand Cohen they thought he was mischievous, due to the noises (tics) caused by his TS. His mother was compassionate, but his father did not understand why his son did the things he did, often getting frustrated and punishing him for making noises or other physical tics.ĭoctors initially told Cohen's mother that his tics were an emotional reaction to his parents' divorce. Someone asked his mother once if she had considered an exorcist. Cohen barked and twitched constantly during his waking hours, and would knock his knee against the inside of the car door. His parents divorced during his early childhood.
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