Brad Cohen's Front of the Class: How Tourette Syndrome Made Me The Teacher I Never Had

My last stop on my Jewish Book Festival was Richmond, VA and I had a great turn out. I actually spoke two times. Once to the high school students and then to the adults. After my first presentation, many of the adults who were around commented how well behaved the high school students were and what amazing questions they asked. These kids were focused and I hope they got the message I was delivering in that we must give every child a chance. If a few students didn't give me a chance to join their group of friends, then I might not be where I am today!

What a great time I had when I visited the Barnes and Noble near Stripling Elementary School where I worked last year in Gwinnett County. I had a chance to see many of the former teachers I use to work with. It was also nice to meet many of the other people who stopped by to meet me and buy my book. This was my final book signing at a bookstore for the year. It is nice to have the first leg of my author career done!

What a great opportunity I had to speak at the Counselor's Conference on November 17th. Counselors from across the state of Georgia visited Augusta to learn more and bring back ideas to their schools. I presented on Tourette Syndrome and shared my motivational story with the group.

It is important for counselors in schools to know that they make a huge difference in the lives of children and teachers. I wanted to share with them that they can make a difference. I shared my story of what life was like for me growing up as a "different" student in the school. I wanted to motivate them and remind them that all it takes is for one person to make a difference in the life of a child. I made sure they had good knowledge of Tourette's and other associated issues that go along with TS.

On November 16th I had a chance to speak at the largest Jewish book Festival in the nation. We had a great turnout and sold lots of books. It was nice to speak in front of my hometown crowd! My former principal surprised me as he introduced me to the group.

On November 15th I had a chance to speak to a few different groups in San Antonio. One was a group of middle school students and another was a group of primarily adults. While in town I had a chance to visit The Alamo. The turnouts were very good during my visit!

On my visit to San Diego, CA on November 13th I had a great turnout with over 150 people attending my presentation and book signing. Nancy and I also had a chance to visit the San Diego Zoo and other attractions. I also had the chance to be on the local NPR Radio Show with Tom Fudge.
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kpbs/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=842612
Click here to hear the interview!

On November 8th, Davie, Florida had me do a presentation and a book signing for them. The turnout was over 100 people. It was great see friends from the past!

Another successful book signing and presentation. On November 7th, Acton, MA greeted me with open arms and was excited to have me visit. We had over 100 people in attendance with a good group of youth attending. During my visit, Nancy and I had a chance to tour Boston seeing Fenway Park and the most famous Bar in the world "Cheers!" That place had my name written all over it.

On October 29th, I had a chance to have a book signing at my elementary school's nearest Borders Bookstore.

We had a fun time as many of my students came out to see me as more than just a teacher....now they know I'm an author!

The turnout was nice and it was great to only drive a few hours instead of flying hundreds!

It's time to get ready for my Jewish Book Festival tour. Take a look at my event schedule below and see if I'll be in your area. Feel free to forward this to others who may want to hear me speak.

EVENT SCHEDULE:(Times and locations subject to change)
Feel free to email me to confirm times. Some of these events do charge an admission, please call the numbers below to learn more.

November 7th Acton, MA 6:15 p.m. Acton, MA Jewish Book Festival - Congregation Beth Elohim, Acton, MA 978-263-3061

November 8th Davie, FL 7:30 p.m. Jewish Book Festival- Presentation followed by book signing at Jewish Book Festival (David Posnack Jewish Community Center, 5850 S. Pine Island Rd.; 954-434-0499; www.dpjcc.org)

November 13th San Diego, CA 3:00 p.m. San Diego Jewish Book Festival- Lawrence Family JCC, 4126 Executive Drive, La Jolla CA 92037. (858) 457-3030

November 15th San Antonio, TX 7:30 p.m. San Antonio Jewish Book Festival- Barshop Jewish Community Center, 12500 NW Military Hwy, San Antonio, TX 78231

November 16th Atlanta, GA 6:30 p.m. Atlanta Jewish Book Festival - Zaban Jewish Community Center 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody, GA 30338, 770-396-3250

December 4th Richmond, VA 3:00 p.m. Richmond Jewish Book Festival- Weinstein JCC(804) 545-8607

I look forward to seeing you on the road!
Cheers

"I Have Tourette's but Tourette's Doesn't Have Me" premieres Saturday, November 12 at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT on HBO.

If you know people in the TS community, please make sure they know about this upcoming show!

No! I am not featured in this film!

What an honor it was to give a presentation to the educators at the National Tourette Syndrome Conference of Canada! My presentation was on "Making A Difference One Day At A Time!" My goal was to educate teachers about TS and what a difference they truly make each day in the classroom.

I reminded them that each day they get to make a choice...... Are they going to focus on the weaknesses of the children or the strengths? It is my hope that they will focus on the strengths of the child. I want them to look at the positive things kids do, not all the negative. After my hour and a half presentation, they were eager to read my book!

Montreal was amazing! The French culture just made the experience that much better for me and Nancy. The conference was great and the people attending were a delight to get to know. Pictured above are Leonard Misner and Rick Fowler, author of The Unwelcome Companion.

You'll also see that I had a chance to enjoy some delicious Pumpkin Soup in a real pumpkin bowl.

It was time to give a presentation to people in my own community with the Tourette Syndrome Association of Georgia. I gave a presentation on "Overcoming Obstacles and Winning the Game of Life." It was my goal to give strategies to children, parents, and educators about how to make life easier for kids with TS. It all begins with a POSITIVE ATTITUDE!

Barnes and Noble in Kennesaw, GA hosted an Educator's Night at their store. This was an opportunity for teachers to come out and buy books for their classroom with a nice discount. When they arrived, they got a chance to meet me and learn about my book.

As you see in the pictures, I had some fans come visit too. First, Alan was in town from St. Louis and the other picture is Heather's Family. I speak about Heather in my book. She was in my class my first year of teaching.

I was honored when I heard that Cobb County School Nurses wanted to learn more about Tourette Syndrome and how to help children with disabilities.

My goal during this presentation was to first, educate them about what Tourette Syndrome is.
Awareness must be the first step.

Second, I focused on my story, showing them that it is possible for someone with a disability to overcome the challenges that are placed in front of them.

Third, I wanted them to realize that all it take is for ONE person to believe in that child. So many times in the classroom, the teachers focus on the weaknesses of that child. It is my hope that nurses will help play a vital role in the life of a child with TS or any other disability because they can give them those positive experiences and words of encouragement that they may need.
I remember my middle school nurse allowing me to eat lunch in her room rather than eating in the cafeteria with the bullies of the school. She made a difference in my life, now I hope that nurses today can make a difference in some of their students lives.

This was by far the highlight of all my travels so far! Dreams do come true! And that is exactly what happened when I got to Cooperstown! I finally got a chance to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame! I now see why so many people have not been to this small town. It is in the middle of nowhere!

I was invited up by the Baseball Hall of Fame for their Special Abilities Weekend. I gave 2 presentations, had 1 book signing, and I led a "Mascot School" for the Sandlot Club, a kids club that does different activities throughout the year for the kids. Since I was the mascot for the Atlanta Braves Baseball Team, they thought it would be fun if I taught the kids how to be a mascot. It was great! I taught them the rules, told them some of my secret tricks and then we tried on a few mascot uniforms that the Hall of Fame provided so the kids could get some real hands on experiences. They loved it!

Overall, the entire experience was amazing!

Charleston was a great trip as a did a presentation for the Tourette Syndrome Association of South Carolina at the Medical University of South Carolina(MUSC). Then we headed over to Barnes and Noble in Mt. Pleasant for a 7 p.m. book signing. There was a lot of traffic with some familiar faces who showed up. It was a mini reunion for Nancy as she saw many people from Charleston that she knew. A big thank you to Richard Todd from WTMA 1250-AM "News Talk" radio. We had a 15-minute interview to promote the book and the events.

Thanks to my friend Wendy, we woke up bright and early on Sunday morning, September 25th and I had a live TV interview on the set of the NBC affiliate in St. Louis. At first I thought it didn't go well, but then when I watched it, the results were very good! Randy Jackson did the 5-minute interview where we talked about my experiences of living with TS in the St. Louis community and then we talked about what life is like now as a 2nd grade teacher. At the end of the interview, we discussed "Front of the Class." On the way out of the studio, the producer told us he had already gotten calls about how good the interview was. Thank you Wendy for setting this up and thanks to KSDK Channel 5 in St. Louis!

After the book signing on September 24th at Barnes and Noble in Clayton, I was told it was the largest book signing of the year. I could not believe the amount of people that were there. The amount of support they showed was great. Once again, I saw a lot of faces from my past, but there were also people who have heard about "Front of the Class" and wanted a signed copy.

The Community Relations Manager, Carrie, was GREAT! She made our experience so special. It was nice to see all the support from my home town! As you can see by the pictures above, we weren't clowning around....This was serious business!

My book signing at my mom's house turned out great! Friends and family got together to celebrate the success of "Front of the Class." I had a chance to speak to the 50 people about the book and then we all headed over to Barnes and Noble for a public book signing.