Video Reaction: Tourette’s Syndrome

Tourette’s syndrome is a neurological condition, but it can have profound social effects upon a child’s life. People who are unaware of the cause of the child’s uncontrollable motions and verbal tics may assume the child has a developmental disability, ADHD, or a dissociative disorder. The video highlights how children with the disorder are often extremely bright and self-aware of the social effects of their disorder. The children understand that people are going to stare at them, because they are acting in a way that defies social norms. Even some of their teachers do not understand why the children cannot control their tics. One of the children was homeschooled for a period of time.

The most heartening aspect of the video is how the children have found that physical activities like surfing or music have provided them with a source of self-esteem and a way to self-manage their tics. The children have found ways to lead productive and happy lives, even though they still express sorrow that they are unable to easily make friends. The children have developed a variety of ways to control the tics, such as applying physical pressure or “holding in” the tics, much in the way that people try to hold in a yawn or a sneeze. A number of them have become advocates for understanding, which has likewise given them a source of self-empowerment and acted as a way of reducing the fears and prejudices surrounding Tourette’s syndrome.

Tourette’s syndrome is often comorbid with OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder), and navigating this disorder with their other condition is yet another struggle for these children. Yet, the mental health and self-possession of the children in the video is striking, and is testimony to the fact that merely because a child suffers a disability in one aspect of his life, this does not necessarily mean that the child will struggle in other areas.