What are the symptoms of Tourettes disorder?
Tic behaviors seen in TD change over time, and vary in frequency and complexity. The following are the most common tic behaviors associates with TD. However, each individual experiences symptoms differently. Symptoms may include: • involuntary, purposeless, motor movements (may involve different parts of the body, such as the face, neck, shoulders, trunk, or hands) • head jerking • squinting • blinking • shrugging • grimacing • nose-twitching • any excessively repeated movements (i.e., foot tapping, leg jerking, scratching) Some of the more complex tic behaviors associated with TD may appear purposeful, and may include the following: • kissing • pinching • sticking out the tongue or lip-smacking • touching behaviors • making obscene gestures In addition to some, or all, of the above symptoms, TD is also characterized by one or more vocal tics (meaningless sound), in order for a diagnosis of TD to be made, including the following: • grunting or moaning sounds • barks • tongue clicking •
