Tic, tic, tic

Imagine speaking in front of a group of your peers. All eyes are focused on you and what you have to say. But the bottom of your foot itches and that’s all you can think about. You can’t itch it right now, with everyone watching, but you can’t ignore it either. So you continue to speak. The more you try to ignore it, the more you are aware. Your thoughts are split between presenting your speech and thinking about ignoring the itch. It’s difficult to think of both but the itch won’t go away and yet, you have more to talk about. Finally, your talking ends, you run to a private place, pull off your shoe and itch it like crazy! Ahhhh…relief. You held it together, the feeling had intensified and finally you could take care of it and relax.

Now try reading the paragraph above again, but this time every time a sentence ends roll your eyes, clear your throat and snap your fingers. Every time you read the word ‘itch’, think about the way your sock feels on your foot. Go ahead, try it.

I’m sure it was a little tougher the second time around. Tourette Syndrome is characterized by tics. Tics are quick, sudden, repetitive movements or sounds that are uncontrollable. Often there is a sensation prior to the tic and often the tics can be suppressed for a short time. However, like the itch on your foot, the feeling does not go away until the tic is expressed. By suppressing, the feeling increases and when finally expressed may be much more intense. It also takes a great deal of energy and concentration to suppress the tics for any length of time. Many other times, the tics cannot be suppressed and often the person is not aware they are even ticcing or are aware but cannot control them. It’s as if the body has a problem with the “braking” system and inhibition of movement/sounds is difficult.

A tic can be any movement or sound. A list of common tics is here. Often the tics will come and go, increase and disappear, or change from one tic to another. Some can be harmful, some annoying, and some a little funny. My oldest son used to rub his toes together until they were raw, bend his arm forcefully and rapidly until it hurt, and blink his eyes so much he had headaches. He also had a jumping tic for a while where every few steps he took, he had to jump. This was really interesting when playing hockey (yes, lining up for a faceoff, snapping his arm then a quick jump before the puck was dropped!) and standing in line at Disney World was a little bit of a challenge.

When my middle son started banging and “drumming” it was honestly just plain annoying. Banging his head into a wall was scary and weird. When my youngest was three and one of his tics was letting out a blood curdling short scream out of nowhere (and continued on with whatever he was doing at the time), I was really happy that tics can come and go (thank goodness that one didn’t last long! ).

The one tic that is sterotyped with TS is swearing. Often that is the only thing that people associate with TS. But uncontrolled swearing is not a requirement and in fact very few people with TS ever have this tic. The only experience we have personally had was when my youngest was about 5 years old and he would interject the word stupid randomly throughout his conversations (he also did this with woo hoo). That lasted only a short time and that may have been his “swearing” at the time. That doesn’t mean that swearing doesn’t occur (don’t ask my kids about this one! ), however, it may not mean it’s a tic.

By now you’re probably thinking, “Sitting at that dinner table must be quite the experience!”. It can be, but most of the time it’s having three boys that makes it a challenge, not the TS! For us, the tics are just a part of everyday. Most people who know my kids and me would never know that they even existed. They may see a few things but not think twice about them. It can and has been a challenge, but beyond the physical pieces, are three incredible boys who just happen to have Tourette Syndrome.