TOURETTE SYNDROME

Post Reply New Topic

What is the difference between an Aspie 'blurt' and a Tourette 'blurt' apart from the fact that the Tourette blurt will usually/always have an accompanying physical 'tic'.

Although Tourette is 'best known' for the obscene nature of the 'blurt' I think that many Aspie blurts would stand up well in a contest with a Tourette competitor. ie


Tourette: f*** f*** c***

Aspie: Do you swa**ow?


Aside from the tic, what distinguishes the Aspie blurt from the Tourette blurt?

Tourette's tics are far harder to control without medication. It's like you feel the need to stim, but it just feels outright impossible to avoid it.

The best known aspect of Tourette's Syndrome, the swearing, is a somewhat rare condition known as Coprolalia, which affects less than 15% of people with Tourette's Syndrome. Unfortunately, because most NTs find the idea of screaming swears at random to be absolutely hillarious, this is what they typically associate TS with. This is why I, a person with TS, have to explain to so many people why the way my head twitches is TS even though there's no swearing involved.

You know how people come up with pathetic reasons why they feel you can't possibly be on the Autistic spectrum, it goes the same way with TS where people will tell me that I can't possibly have TS because all I do is twitch.

The swearing is the result of the brain involuntarily doing things that would normally be considered taboo. Swearing, making racial slurs, obscene gestures, etc. are all things that happen with it. It's things that you would normally try to avoid that become the hardest to avoid. There's even been cases of deaf people swearing in sign language, so it's not just a verbal thing either.

Like I said before, for the record, the swearing aspect is known as Coprolalia and it affects less tthan 15% of people with Tourette's Syndrome, which leaves the other 85% as being people who twitch and make weird noises but don't swear uncontrollably. Unfortunately the stereotype has already sunken too deeply into pop culture.

Then there's those who know hardly anything about TS and assume that all there is to TS is people who like to come up with excuses for having fun annoying people, I once had a teacher like that who refused to believe that I wasn't in control of the clicking noise I was making with my tounge.

When people think TS, they think swearing. There's such a huge variety of tics that people can have. My son is ASD/TS his tics include constant hard blinking, facial twitches around the nose and mouth, throat clearing, and the most interesting one, climbing. He could scale the outside of banisters (and my stairs are in the centre of the foyer and open up to 3 stories) and also bookshelves in the library, tops of filing cabinets etc. He was like spider man. It was rather impressive.

Obviously the climbing was becoming a huge safety issue and we had to medicate. Once we did the climbing went away as did the throat clearing, and good portion of the blinking. The facial twitches are still there but not as noticable.

His stimming behaviour, on the other hand, is pacing and leg swinging.

I just did a search of Tourette on a well know internet auction site..........


1. More pets with Tourette's (published in California?)

2. Tourette de France (must be a British author..... without Tourette's)

3. Mr. Tourette's (Mr Men! ,unofficial I think)

4. 'I love my grandchild with Asperger's and Tourette's' badge (well any parent would love their grandchild but...........AS and Tourette's, wow, )

Climbing seems like more of an OCD thing than a Tourette's one, I know that TS and OCD are very simmilar, but there are plenty of differences between the two.

*steps into the "has TS" boat*

Though lately I've forgotten so much about it, having been off medication for a couple years now. I just let the world watch me waggle, since my case is mild enough anyway not to annoy me.

I just took the Aspie test.

The result is; basket case: Aspie; 177/200; NT: 46/200

Most of the categories were black and white except:

Aspie Communication: 8.3/10: 'A high score sometimes related to Tourette (f*****, c****, F*****), but mostly stimming (for sure) and unusual communcation (ok)

NT 'Hunting' related to Dyslexia (maybe) and Dyscalculia (this is funny I am a math whizz BUT I cant hear a phone number unless you make the right 'pauses' to break up the numbers


Funny; Tourette without the tics..............and we were just talking about it.............

At least I can feel more comfortable when I swear now

Maybe George Bush did what he did BECAUSE he has Tourette's?


They can do a lot with cameras, microphones and mirrors now