Tics May Hold Clues to Learning Disabilities

While most of us think of the typical Tourette's patient as the rare eccentric who barks obscenities and jerks their arms wildly, a recent study says much more subtle symptoms of Tourette's and related tic disorders are far more common than once thought.
According to the study published in the journal Neurology, mild tics such as lip puckering, eye rolling, head tossing, and nose scrunching are important clues to diagnosing other learning disabilities.
"Kids with mild tics are at a higher risk for developing future school problems. This is a way of identifying children ahead of time so they can be monitored - a clue to how the child's brain is organized," says lead study author Dr. Roger Kurlan, director of the Tourette's Syndrome Clinic and the Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology Clinic at the University of Rochester in New York.
To determine the prevalence of tics and Tourette's syndrome in school-aged children, Kurlan looked at a group of 1,600 children in both regular and special education classrooms in Rochester.
Kurlan found that just under 20 percent of children in regular classes and up to 27 percent of children in special education classes showed signs of tics. His study also revealed a three percent incidence of Tourette's in the general population - a rate three to 30 times greater than previous estimates.
"People, including parents and doctors, thought Tourette's meant having severe symptoms, but these cases are just the tip of the iceberg. The vast majority of cases have extremely mild cases," says Kurlan. A lot of children have transient tics during development, but pediatricians usually tell parents not to worry about it, it will go away, and it usually does. The tic turns into a disorder if it lasts for longer than 12 months. And for tics to indicate Tourette's syndrome, both vocal tics (eg, grunting, beeping, throat-clearing) and motor tics (eg, shoulder popping, eye rolling, blinking) must co-exist for longer than a year.
Experts caution that if a parent notices their child has a mild tic, there is little need for immediate alarm unless a learning disability is also suspected.
"You really don't need a treatment for tics, but they are a sign you should pay attention to as they may point to other things," says Kurlan.
And experts stress the most important thing for parents of children with tics to keep in mind is the impact on the child's life.