I can relate, in an indirect way. My son has TS. When he was about 5 years old, he began making an odd throat clearing sound and the doctor had no idea what caused it. He, and my wife and I, all figured it was just an odd habit he had picked up. Not long after that, he began to develop minor facial ticks and a couple of additional 'noises' that he would make and it seemed random to us. We mistakenly believed that these things were simply habits and told him to knock it off. Eventually, it became clear that he was largely unaware that he was even doing these things, so we took him back to the doctor (he was 8 by then) and he was diagnosed with Tourettes Syndrome. He was given medication that seemed to minimize his ticks, but made him worse in other ways (personality and behavior), so we stopped the meds after about a year.
He was (and is) lucky and none of his ticks have ever been more than slight sounds and facial ticks, but that doesn't mean it was easy for him. He even used to get into trouble at school, because his teachers were ill informed.
Anyway... I have enough experience to know that it is anything but funny.
He was (and is) lucky and none of his ticks have ever been more than slight sounds and facial ticks, but that doesn't mean it was easy for him. He even used to get into trouble at school, because his teachers were ill informed.
Anyway... I have enough experience to know that it is anything but funny.
