Living with the Tics: Tourette Syndrome Stories

Inside this volume

Fifty first-person accounts describe Tourette syndrome and tic disorders, told by people with tics and by the parents, grandparents, siblings, partners and teachers around them. Some writers were named as children after three doctors; others heard the word Tourette's at forty-four or sixty-one. They include a city bus driver, a nurse of thirty-five years, a chef in a hot kitchen, a point guard whose coaches thought his eye-roll was disrespect, a violinist, a lawyer with a vocal tic in court, a pastor in the pulpit, a postman who whistles on his route, a stage actress and a gaming streamer, from Gdansk to Nyeri and Vermont to Manila. Families describe learning not to react, prayer before a doctor, a refugee mother finding help in a new language, and a grandmother raising her grandson. Treatments include CBIT and other behavioural practice at the kitchen table, medicines that helped some and brought side effects for others, and support from a pharmacist. Writers also talk about ADHD and obsessive rituals, telling a date, relaxed screenings, and running. Several accounts are hard: a neck tic that caused injury, a throat tic that threatened a teacher's voice, bullying at school, tics returning in a man's late fifties, and years of severe tics that one writer could not live a normal life with.

Who it's for

For children, teenagers and adults with tics, and for the parents, siblings, partners, teachers and employers who want to understand what is happening behind a sniff, a blink or a sound.

Format · Instant download · PDF & EPUB · Fifty first-person accounts · PDF: 231 pages

A collection of personal testimony, offered as companion reading — not medical advice.

• 50 single-author testimonies from real people
• A short, plain-language introduction to the topic
• Editor's note, contents page, and curated resource list
• Professional interior typesetting and an original cover

Every purchase includes a print-quality PDF (best for desktop, tablet, and printing) and a reflowable EPUB (best for Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo, and phones). Files are DRM-free. You can download both instantly from the order-confirmation screen, and we email them to your inbox as well, so your books are always within reach.