OCD college research paper - help please!

Hello, I'm a college student doing a research paper on ways schools/teachers can better be prepared to help students with OCD. I have a lot of information on the basics and what not, but I'm really curious about negative experiences with school.

The project is personal to me because my sister has OCD and my family is currently taking the school to court because of their actions towards my sister. The assistant principal has told my father that she feels my sister is 'faking it', when several doctors have said she has OCD.

I'd really like to know if anyone else out there has had similar or other negative problems with school. It'd be really appreciated. Thank you!

My son went to a public school program for severely emotionally impaired kids. Most of the teachers were very skilled in the way they handled my son....and his having OCD, hallucinations and anorexia. He finally was hospitalized, long term, but he came out much better than he went in.

Sweetngentle

I think spotting OCD is one of the biggest problems, when I look back now, i've probably had major symptoms of OCD since i was about six, but I wasn't diagnosed until I was twenty. I had a few teachers who pointed out behaviors- procrastination to perfect work, inability to concentrate, withdrawl etc. but they don't teach teachers about how to recognize and report possible mental disorders- they were just saying what they saw and may not have even known they were signs of a problem. In high school I exercised compulsively- my coaches and teachers knew- I would run miles with broken bones, but nothing was said to me, my parents or anyone else. they just acted like it didn't happen, there's no system of communication at the public school level. I've been acused of being lazy, but no one has ever accused me of faking it. why would anyone want to fake a disorder that controls your life? I hope you win your case and try to get some mental disorder legislation put into the school system. That type of insensitivity should be strongly repromended.

I am a teacher's aide who works one on one with several high school students who have varying degrees of OCD. The special ed/resource room teachers do a wonderful job working with them. The students I have worked closely with are in regular ed classes but have special ed support. I also know the basics of OCD but would like to have more information as to how to help these students. Often their compulsive behaviors impedes their learning, such as pushing the calculator buttons over and over and not being able to complete the math problem or spending a lot of time making sure desks are straight instead of concentrating on the lesson. I understand this is part of the disorder but what strategies can be used in the classroom to lessen these behaviors?