Familial Neurological Disorders: Tourette Syndrome

Tourette Syndrome is a neurological disorder characterized by tics; involuntary, rapid, sudden movements or vocalizations that occur repeatedly in the same way. Diagnostic criteria include: both multiple motor and one or more vocal tics present at some time, although not necessarily simultaneously, the occurrence of tics many times a day (usually in bouts) nearly everyday or intermittently throughout the span of more than one year; period changes in the number, frequently, type and location of the tics, and in the waxing and waning of their severity. Symptoms can sometimes disappear for weeks and or months at a time; and the onset is before the age of 18.

This literature review is focused on the characteristics, prevention, assessment, and intervention of TCS. An assortment of different sources were utilized in the collection of information regarding these areas, including journal articles, texts, and websites. Though, texts and web information were both used in a limited capacity. The literature review specifically focuses on the effect the syndrome has on the speech and language of affected individuals.

Tourette's Syndrome Gilles de la Tourette’s Syndrome (TS) is a sporadic or inherited complex neuropsychiatric disorder (not an illness) influenced by neurological, psychological, and sociological factors. It is characterized by involuntary tics - sudden, rapid, recurrent nonrhythmic movements or noises that occur repeatedly in the same way (Temple, 2003). The symptoms include: both multiple motor tics and one or more phonic tics (which may or may not include vocalizations and which sometimes include outbursts of swearing) present at some time during the disorder although not necessarily simultaneously; tics occur many times a day (usually in bouts) nearly every day or

Tourette syndrome is a neurological disorder first described by a French physician named Georges Gilles de la Tourette, in 1885. Tourette syndrome (TS) consists of varies abrupt, rapid, involuntary, and repeated movements or vocal sounds, known as tics. “Until 1970, TS was frequently misdiagnosed as schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, epilepsy, or nervous habits,” concluding that this mental disorder is extremely rare and has similar characteristics as other mental disorders (Kahn and Fawcett 375). Since there is no specific test that can diagnose TS, doctors have to rely on a person’s behaviors and personal history to identify the disorder. About one person in two thousand people is likely to have TS; additionally males are four

Tourette Syndrome, or TS, affects approximately one hundred thousand Americans of whom you will find in a variety of professions and social settings (7). It is a neurological disease which is characterized by repeated and involuntary body movements and vocal sounds. Before TS was known to be a health problem uncontrollable by the patient, it was seen as nervousness, possession by a spirit, epilepsy or simply as bad habits (5). Today it is known that imbalances in certain brain chemicals are what causes the symptoms of this disease. It is interesting to examine TS and use it as a tool for better understanding (in part) how, in what quantity, and at what level the brain (and the nervous system as a whole) contribute to

Stage fright, a bad case of the nerves before a first date, perhaps a few of those proverbial butterflies in the stomach when preparing for a job interview: all of these are symptoms of social anxiety that the general American population accepts as normal. Everyone has those moments when the pressure is on and they fear what others may think about them if they mess it up. For some people, this is more than an occasional bout of nervousness during an abnormally stressful circumstances; it can be a debilitating reaction to any number of social situations. If the social anxiety is experienced regularly and to an abnormal extent, it is often diagnosed as social anxiety disorder. Normally, people with social anxiety disorder fear that they will do or say something that will invoke a negative evaluation from other people, causing personal embarrassment. However, there are some people for whom this social anxiety takes on an entirely different approach. Instead of fearing that they will embarrass or humiliate themselves, they become afraid that they might embarrass or offend other people. When this is the case, the disorder is referred to as taijin kyofusho,

Imagine your psychosis was deteriorated so severely that you were harming yourself and needed treatment but denied due to your mental status. “J.S., a twenty-four-year-old male schizophrenic, has been taking antipsychotic medication regularly since the age of fourteen,” as stated in Cases in Bioethics from The Hastings Center Report by Carol Levine and Robert Vasch. “Four years ago he was admitted to private mental hospital where he was treated with moderately high doses of Prolixin, a powerful neuroleptic.” J.S started to experience symptoms and was diagnosed with tardive dyskinesia. Dr. James Robert Brasic who wrote on Medscape’s article on tardive dyskinesia, “Tardive dyskinesias (TDs) are involuntary movements of the tongue, lips, face,

Tourette Syndrome (TS) is an inherited tic disorder that usually appears in early childhood and is classified by multiple motor tics and verbal tics. (Mayo 2012) Tics are sudden and repetitive movements, with motor tics being physical muscle movements, and verbal tics being sudden vocalization. Common tics range anywhere from constant eye blinking to throat clearing and grunting. Although the word “involuntary” is usually used to describe tics, this is not completely true, a better word would be “compelling.” It wouldn’t be true to say that people with Tourette’s can’t control their tics, some people can hold the tics back for hours at a time, but this only leads to a bigger outburst when they are finally let go. Tics are comparable to

Symptoms include the child losing powerful hand skills and ability to speak. Hand movements such as hand wringing, washing, clapping, tapping, as well as the child putting their hands in their mouth become habit in this stage. The movements are prominent when the child is awake and disappear when the child is asleep. Breathing irregularities such as apnea and hyperventilating occur. Some of the girls will begin to display autistic like symptoms, losing social interaction, avoiding eye contact, and loss of communication. Slowed head growth becomes noticeable in this

They have issues with transitions because they have inflexible adherence to schedules. Lastly, they have repetitive motor mannerism such as rocking back and forth, spinning in circles, clumsiness, and walking on tiptoes. Levels of severity are determined by how persistent the behaviors are and how much these behaviors disrupt everyday functioning (Durand, 2014). There are three levels of severity that either requires support, substantial support, or very substantial support. These specifiers of severity will assist in an accurate diagnosis since similar criteria are involved in other disorders such as social (pragmatic) communication Disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Social communication disorder is apart of a serious of diagnoses that can have similar symptoms with ASD (mostly with regards to communication) but do not completely meet the requirements for ASD. Another example of these differential diagnoses is Rett syndrome that occurs only in females. Females with Rett syndrome might regress but can over time have improved social communication skills.

A thing that helped Dr. Bennet cope was through rhythmic movement, for instance driving a car with no traffic or riding a stationary bike while reading and smoking a pipe. Along with his nervous tics, Dr. Bennet suffers from a strange name compulsion where he locks onto a strange name or word and repeats it for months. He also has violent tendencies, though it should be noted not at other people, rather he would throw inanimate objects at fridges or kick holes in the wall. Tourette's Syndrome did not stop Dr. Bennet from being a brilliant surgeon, however, and he is heavily praised by those he’s helped. Dr. Bennet’s gifts are remarkable and have even amazed other doctors, for instance, Dr. Sacks.

Scientists have yet to get to the bottom of Tourette syndrome. Tourette is still a mystery in the eyes of many people. Researchers have discovered that Tourette syndrome is hereditary. They believe that it is caused by mismatched chromosomes. “Researchers believe that tics are caused by and excess, or oversensitivity to, the brain chemical dopamine. (Dopamine is a chemical which ordinarily helps transmit signals involving control of motor movements from one nerve cell to the next” (Tracy Haerle 6) Scientists were clueless as to why individuals with tics and uncontrollable tantrums acted the way they did. Tics are twitches or quirks of speech or behavior. So psychologists assumed that it was because of bad parenting techniques.

Tourette syndrome (TS) is a disorder of the brain that is observed in people who have involuntary movements or vocalizations called tics. Named after Dr. Georges Gilles de la Tourette who first discovered this disorder, this French neurologist described a noblewoman who exhibited these symptoms in 1885. These tics could range from repetitive movements to inappropriate vocalizations.

Tourette Syndrome (TS), first described by Gilles de la Tourette, can be the most debilitating of the tic disorders and is characterized by multiform, frequently changing motor and vocal or phonic tics. There are multiple diagnostic criteria, as defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV.

Throughout the movie, Brad got into plenty of trouble because of the tourette syndrome. For example, on his way to a interview for a teaching job, Brad got caught by the cops for speeding. While the cop