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Give it a break. A child with Tourettes Syndrome to the point that they blurt out is so rare that most people have never met one. In 1970 it wasn't even heard of by most people.

Believe me I have TWO boys with ADD. ADD isn't anything new. Discipline helps them more than mollycoddling. Excusing their behavior only leads to them having a tougher time bringing it under control when they are adults.

I am truly sorry that your daughter is severely brain damaged. If your daughter is as brain damaged as you say, she should be in classes that can provide for her special needs. "Mainstreaming" her only drags down the rest of the kids.

IMO, one of the worst things that politicians have done is to insist that all children receive at least a high school diploma. Some of the laws they passed encourage kids that probably should drop out (the druggies, unmotivated losers, etc.) and they do little but disrupt those who want to learn.

Actually, my daughter with special needs (only half a brain), has one of the best math scores in her class.

She is not the top reader in the class (her identical twin sister is). However, she is in the middle of the class.

She has only missed one spelling word on all of her spelling tests for the entire year. She routinely gets her bonus words correct. She is in the first grade and can spell the months the years, the days of the week, equation, equals, collection, holiday, and a multitude of other words that are bonus words.

She is one of the best spellers in her class. I think the best speller is her identical twin sister.

My daughter is one of the best behaved kids in the class, and probably works harder than the other "normal" kids.

She does have severe speech problems and does not talk much.

If you have a kid with ADD then you must know about IEPs. IEPs are plans with teachers and parents to figure out the best education for a kid. It does not say what kind of classroom setting this kid was in. Maybe it is a special needs class. Maybe the kids needs to be in a room by himself. He doesn't need to have his mouth taped shut.

People have made all sorts of assupmtions about the kid. There is just too little information, but I do know that taping a kids mouth shut is extreme. It is physically dangerous.

Actually it's not that rare. My son has a tic disorder (not tourette syndrome). I think it is something like 10% of kids will have a chronic tic disorder, and then I think about 10% of those have full blown Tourette Syndrome.

Nowadays, there are medications that hide a lot of the symptoms so you may not know that someone has full blown Tourette's Syndrome.

Tics wax and wane. They are usually worsened by stress.

If a kid is talking in class too excessively, then the teacher needs to talk to the parents. There needs to be a plan of action but not taping a mouth shut. If it is something like Tourette's syndrome, then the kid might need to go to another room or might need more medication.

I'm not saying that the kid should disturb other kids. Taping a mouth shut is dangerous. People can gag, vomit and die because their mouths are taped shut.

I also have asthma and severe allergies. I cannot breath through my nose.

This teacher was stupid and made a huge mistake. There are lots of other options to handle a kid who talks too much. Geez, just send him to the principals office would be a first start.