Tourette Syndrome

Tourette Syndrome

People stare at them wherever they go. No one sits next to them on a bus or a train. People sometimes call you rude, offensive, and crazy, and there is nothing you can do to change their minds. This is what life can be like for someone with the disorder Tourette Syndrome.

People with Tourette Syndrome are sensitive to repeated "not normal" movements and sounds called tics. Tics are not done on purpose they are difficult and sometimes impossible to control. In mild cases the tics may be rare and not seen by the untrained eye. In severe cases, the tics maybe repeated and extremely noticeable. TS is a worldwide disorder, it affects people of all races. Males are three times more likely to have TS than females.

To some people who don't know about TS, the behavior of someone with this disorder may seem really strange. The common motor tics (body movements) include repeated winking or blinking, facial expressions, sudden jerks of the head or shoulder, and other movements of the hands and the arms. People with TS must deal with many vocal tics. A vocal tic may be a word or phrase, but it usually sounds like someone clearing their throat and many other sounds like, sniffing, barking, clucking, hissing or a popping sound.

For someone to be diagnosed with TS, the person must have shown signs of a vocal tic and several motor tics over a period of time. The diagnosis also requires that the 2 types of tic happen several times a day and they have to have been happening for a year. The tics must also change in power the older the person gets meaning that the older the person gets the more intense the tics get. There are two kinds of tics simple and complex. Eye blinking, shoulder shrugging, and head jerking are all examples of simple motor tics. Throat clearing is an example of a simple vocal tic. Pinching, punching, smelling things and repeatedly touching people are examples of complex motor tics.

TS first appears when a child is between seven and nine years old and gets more powerful during teen years. Luckily the tics usually begin to lower during the ages of sixteen and eighteen. Even though tics are usually hard to control, some people can store them away if they know its about to happen. But when they do this, the tics come out later and they are worse than they would have been. People with TS are