Have you heard of Tourette syndrome?

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The photo was taken at the surprise lunch and has nothing to do with the topic. The term ‘Tourette syndrome’ has turned up twice in my life over the last few days. Maybe my writing about it is the third occurrence. Once, few people had heard of Tourette’s but perhaps now it is better known. Good old Wikipedia says it ‘is a common neurodevelopmental disorder with onset in childhood, characterized by multiple motor tics and at least one vocal (phonic) tic.’ Again from Wikipedia, tics ‘are sudden, repetitive, nonrhythmic movements (motor tics) and utterances (phonic tics) that involve discrete muscle groups.’ Last night I watched a show called ‘Employable Me’ which follows the journey of people with disabilities and their struggle to find employment. One was a young man, Kiah, who has Tourettes. Kiah explained how the tics wax and wane. They are totally spasmodic and ‘new’ tics can develop at any time and may last a few days, weeks, months or years. Kiah is one of only about 10% of sufferers who exhibit ‘coprolalia’. He frequently utters obscene and/or socially objectionable words and/or phrases. It was very sad to see him continually slapping his face, smashing his hand down on a table or trying to hold a conversation in between bouts of saying ‘sh*t, f*ck’ and/or whistling. ‘Peanuts’ was the latest word that had inflicted itself on him. He had no idea why. Kiah often drops items as his hands and arms seem to have minds of their own. Watch him trying to get a meal was very confronting. Kiah has learnt Auslan which is the sign language of the Australian Deaf Community and finds it a help as a communication tool. He eventually procured a job within a government deaf facility helping others with Auslan. Suffice to say, don’t let anyone with Tourette’s read to your young children.