Bringing the Principles of Neuroscience to Educational Practice and Career Development.
So many of the ‘greats’ who we honour in life made many big mistakes and had significant failures. We do not remember their failures because they did not let those failures dominate their future.
Dwelling on the past failures produces nothing but negativity and makes a situation in which our brains build neurological pathways that re-enforce the beliefs about the event and our failure. Continue reading “Persistence for the Win”
A person with Tourette’s Syndrome and its related behaviours was not going to fit the mould of standard high school education without difficulty. That difficulty has turned out to be a gift as I achieved far more by not fitting into the standard plan.
I am Dave Brebner. I am a successful teacher, career coach, husband, father of six, son, brother and friend. This is my story and I want to share it with you.
A short time ago, I ran into an old friend who was very angry. He ranted about other cultures and was even happy to cut me off from his circle of relationships because I would not join him in his worldview of certain situations.
It is not the first time I have encountered this lately and am concerned at what I know is the mis-information out there and the fact that people are riled up over things they have no control over with often no first hand evidence of any of it. Continue reading “People of Influence”
People with Tourette’s syndrome often have a challenge in finding work, particularly in the public eye.
While many of us have very subtle symptoms, commonly known as ‘tics’, there is a perception among the general public that all sufferers use foul language, scream or yell spontaneously, have profound body movements, and that the condition is completely outside of our control. Continue reading “Your Ideal Employee”
I recently read a letter Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Empire, wrote to his 16-year-old self.
It really touched me as he, like many of us, struggled in school. He had Dyslexia, which made him fall behind in class and find school rather irrelevant.
As a teen with Tourette’s, I had my fair share of unwanted attention from schoolmates and was occasionally an embarrassment to others who did not understand. Continue reading “Your Biggest Asset”
“The future is coming!” I heard someone claim in a talk to an amused audience several years ago. At a glance, it appeared to be a very strange thing to say, and a rather obvious statement.
However, since then it astounds me how many people I run into, both socially and professionally, who would claim that it is a stupid comment, yet behave as if the statement is not true at all. Continue reading “Supportive Culture”
Have you seen the preview of the upcoming Australian television show ‘Employable Me’?
Our very own ABC, Screen Australia and the NSW Government confirmed their investment in the new series last year to begin production.
The documentary series follows people with neuro-diverse conditions such as Autism, Asperger’s and Tourette Syndrome as they look for employment in Australia. Continue reading “Building Community Attitudes”
Are your staff up to date and knowledgeable on how to support TS students with vocal tics, movement tics and obsessive traits?
How do you confidently and accountably support school students with Tourette’s Syndrome? How does that support differ for a primary school student and a high school student? Continue reading “Schools & TS Students”
I wanted to share a story with you that keeps me on track with what is important versus what is urgent.
A friend once told me about a discussion he heard in which a paramedic likened many people’s overly busy lives to car accidents. He said when arriving at a scene of destruction, someone who is untrained in procedures will often tend to take notice of the victims who are screaming, have minor injuries and attracting a lot of attention.
In making this choice, they will neglect the ones who are not arousing attention and who are often quietly slipping away.
Continue reading “Important v Urgent”
When in France, returning from a camping trip around Morocco, I had a problem. Our gas cylinders and attachments were all in imperial sizes and we were unable to use the European gear, which was in metric sizes.
Completely out of cooking gas, we stopped off at a hardware store in the French countryside to see what could be done.
Continue reading “What Are You Saying?”