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Tourette's Syndrome

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1. What is the name of your movie and what year was it made? Synopsize the movie plot, etc
The name of the movie I chose for the assignment is Phoebe in Wonderland. This movie is about a nine year-old girl named Phoebe Lichten who is obsessed with Alice in Wonderland, and as a result, joins her school’s theater production of the Lewis Carrol novel, playing the lead of Alice. Throughout the movie, you can see Phoebe developing symptoms of Tourette’s syndrome such as spitting (a form of disinhibition known as “tics”), mimicking others, and unwillingly saying inappropriate things. Tourette’s oftentimes is accompanied by obsessive compulsive behaviors, which can also be seen in Phoebe as she performs obsessive, ritualistic actions such as jumping …show more content…

When I think of the “stereotypical” Tourette’s image, I tend to picture a child cursing, as seen in many movies, but Phoebe did not display this particular tic that is often portrayed. I believe the film accurately portrayed a child with Tourette’s syndrome because it depicted that feeling of loss and hopelessness a child can feel when they feel like they have no control of their body. Phoebe also presented the less portrayed, but more common, symptoms of Tourette’s such as the simple and complex tics. The Mayo Clinic states that Tourette’s patients commonly display simple and complex tics of either motor or vocal origin (Mayo Clinic, 2012). Phoebe’s mimicking of others, using different tones of voice, and saying inappropriate things (such as calling someone “fat”) are examples of complex vocal tics (Mayo Clinic, 2012). Her finger flexing when nervous is a simple motor tic, and her hopping and spitting are examples of complex motor tics. The movie also depicts Phoebe’s symptoms worsening with anxiety and stress, which is a common occurrence with Tourette’s syndrome as well as portrays accurately the ability for other related conditions to occur with Tourette’s (Phoebe’s OCD). The age of onset is also typically between the ages of 2 and 12, which falls into Phoebe’s age of onset at 10 years of age (Mayo Clinic, 2012). I Finally, I thought the film portrayed a positive outlook for Tourette’s patients by allowing Phoebe to realize that she can live a normal life with the

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