Tics & Tourette’s Syndrome
What are Tics?
Tics are a neurological condition that causes a young person to make sudden, rapid, non-rhythmic repetitive sounds (vocal tics) or movements (motor tics) which they do not choose to make nor can control.
What can Tics look like?
Sound (vocal tics) can include:
- Whistling
- Sniffing or clearing throat
- Making animal sounds
- Repeating a sound, word or phrase
Movement (motor tics) can include:
- Rolling eyes or blinking
- Shrugging shoulders
- Jerking or twitching movements
- Tensing stomach muscles
- Jumping
It is common for tics to become intensified when young people are in certain environments such as being stressed, nervous, excited, anxious or tired. On the other hand, some can suppress their tics until they are in a safe environment, which can then result in lots of tics occurring within a short space of time.
Tics are likely to come and go (wax and wane), change over time and can go away on their own accord. For some young people tics do not impact their ability to function or engage in daily life but for others they can cause severe distress.
- Provisional tic disorder; brief motor or vocal tics that typically last less than 1 year.
- Persistent motor/vocal tic disorder; either vocal or motor tics are present for longer than 1 year.
Tourette syndrome is a neurodevelopmental condition that causes a young person to make sudden, repetitive sound (vocal) and multiple movements (motor). It is a type of Tic disorder.
For more information or support for tics, please look at the below resources:
- Tourette’s Action (https://www.tourettes-action.org.uk/) is a charity that focuses on different forms of the condition. Their website offers a wide variety of useful information about possible management and treatment, as well as online support groups and a wider community to provide a space for those with tics to come together.
- Great Ormond Street Hospital Explaining tourette syndrome to others | Great Ormond Street Hospital have excellent parent information webpages, including a Tourette’s Syndrome Information Pack, and other sections including ‘Tourette’s syndrome and school’. Both this and Tourette’s Action webpages outline the course of the condition, that tics do ‘wax and wane’ by nature and that there is the distinct possibility of tics decreasing and disappearing by early adulthood.
- Leaky Brakes :: Tic Management Toolbox A dynamic, video-based support toolkit for children and teens (and their caregivers) living with tics. The “Leaky Brake Toolbox” series is by the Ontario Child & Parent Resource Institute’s Brake Shop Virtual Clinic. This comprehensive package guides users through ten structured steps, such as “Creating a Tic List,” “Be a Tic Detective,” “Creating & Using a Tic Blocker,” “Starving Tics of Attention,” and “Stress Techniques.”
- Motor tics in children and young people:Motor tics in children and young people :: Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust An informative and supportive leaflet detailing what motor tics are, how to reduce them and manage them.