How does TOURETTE'S SYNDROME affect the lives of those who have it?

Question

I'm doing a report on tourette's and I don't know anyone who has it, so I'm hoping to get a glimpse on how people who have it are coping with the disability. That way, my classmates would understand the disability more.

Answer 1

I prefer to call Tourettes a disorder rather than a disability. However, some might consider it to be so. Tourettes is a neurological disorder characterized by tics, which are involuntary movements of the eyes, face, head, neck, or other parts of the body. They can take the form of blinking, sniffing, head bobbing, snorting, grimacing, and other peculiar facial movements and vocal sounds. Most people with Tourettes can lead perfectly normal lives, once their condition is explained to classmates, co-workers, and other people they come in contact with. The tics can be controlled with medication and sometimes with other therapies. There is nothing wrong mentally with Tourettes victims. My oldest grandson has it, and he's 19, an outstanding student, plays the guitar, drives a car, has a part-time job, and the girls are nuts about him. He's handsome and tall. So he blinks and snorts. Most everyone thinks he just has an allergy. It's no big deal. However, some cases might be more noticeable than others. It varies among individuals. For more information, visit some websites that deal with Tourettes. Web MD might be helpful to you. Good luck on the report.

Answer 2

Gilles de la Tourette syndrome is just that, a syndrome. A syndrome has more than one feature to it.
Here is a great link: http://members.tripod.com/~tourette13/
I have 2 children with Tourette and have Tourette myself
One child is scary smart, has behavioral issues and is charming as all get out. His tics are mild and usually not noticeable.
His brother looks normal. But the younger one has been in special education since the first grade. He did not meet milestones, does not "catch on" quickly and has required a lot of support educationally and socially. He has not had any behavioral issues.
I've just always been accused of having no tact. My tics have always been small and I didn't realize what I had was Touette until my son's were diagnosed.
Few people have coprolalia, (the spontaneous saying of "forbidden" words), and among those everyone does not cuss. They may just blurt out the one thing they would not want to say.
So to sum it up, Tourette is a spectrum disorder. People who have Tourette can have symptoms that fall anywhere in the spectrum and this is why the presentations are so varied and individual to each TS person.

Answer 3

How Tourette's will affect the lives of those who have it, depends on the person and how severe the Tourette's is. It can be mild or it can be severe.
Several good sites are :

Answer 4

i dont have that syndrome but i do have a friend suffering from such..base from my observations, he indulges his time in sports bec while playing, his extra movts are not recognized..this friend of mine plays the saxophone and as i can see,his concentration diverts those extra movements..he is also my seatmate..some people laugh at him bec his movements are likely to promote accidents..i feel sorry for him sometimes but i really appreciate his will in continuing his nursing course..in our course,socializing is very impt in building up trust..during our immersion, people look at him with eyes of fear..i know hes sad about it but again hes also happy because he is being loved and accepted by his friends..i hope this would help though its out of the blue..

Answer 5

well for some, it can be very severe. they have no control of the volume of their voice or their outbursts. because of this, problems arise in the class room. it can be very embarrassing for the people affected by it. i'm sure there are books about it by people who know firsthand how it feels.