BY A SHOW OF HANDS, DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT TOURETTE SYNDROME IS?
FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO RAISED YOUR HANDS, DO YOU PERSONALLY KNOW ANYONE WHO HAS TOURETTES?
FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DID NOT RAISE YOUR HAND, THAT’S OK!
THE THINGS THAT YOU DO KNOW ABOUT TOURETTES, ARE THEY ONLY THINGS YOU’VE SEEN ON TV OR IN THE MOVIES?
IF SO, WOULD YOU BE SURPRISED TO LEARN THAT, THAT IS NOT AN ACCURATE REPRESENTATION OR PORTRAYAL OF WHAT TOURETTES SYNDROME IS?
DON’T FEEL BAD; YOU’RE NOT ALONE.
A MAJORITY OF AMERICANS SEE TOURETTES AS BEING SOMEONE WHO IS BELLIGERENT, BLURTING OUT OFFENSIVE WORDS, SWEARING UNCONTROLLABLY, AND REPEATEDLY USING NONSENSICAL WORDS. IN REALITY, TOURETTES HAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH CURSING.
TOURETTES BY DEFINITION IS CHARACTERIZED BY INVOLUNTARY TICS.
THERE ARE TWO DIFFERENT TYPES OF TICS. SIMPLE MOTOR TICS VERSUS COMPLEX MOTOR TICS. SIMPLE MOTOR TICS ARE SUDDEN BRIEF REPETITIVE MOVEMENTS THAT INVOLVE A LIMITED NUMBER OF MUSCLE GROUPS. WHEREAS, COMPLEX MOTOR TICS ARE DISTINCT COORDINATE PATTERNS OF MOVEMENTS INVOLVING SEVERAL MUSCLE GROUPS.
THE MOST COMMON TICS ARE:
*BLINKING (WHICH MY MOTHER AND I BOTH HAVE)
*COUGHING
*THROAT CLEARING (WHICH WAS MY PREVIOUS TIC)
*ARM FLAPPING
*CURSING AND
*OBSCENE GESTURES
STUDIES SUGGEST THAT TOURETTES SYNDROME COULD BE A GENETIC OR INHERITED CONDITION.
*** PLEASE NOTE THAT APPROXIMATELY 10% OF THOSE WITH TOURETTES ARE OBSCENE OR CURSE, YET THOSE ARE TWO OF THE MOST COMMON CHARACTERISTICS ASSOCIATED WITH THE DISORDER.
FINALLY, DID YOU KNOW THAT THERE ARE CELEBRITIES THAT HAVE BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH TOURETTES SYNDROME?
IN CONCLUSION, TOURETTES SYNDROME IS NOT UNCOMMON, AND IT DOES NOT MEAN YOU ARE WEIRD. AFTER 11 YEARS OF BEING DIAGNOSED AND FEELING LIKE AN OUTSIDER, I AM FINALLY PROUD TO SAY, “MY NAME IS KIANA CLARK, AND I HAVE TOURETTES!!!”