A friend of mine went to a seminar in 2007 relating to ADD and Tourette syndrome. At this seminar “sensory issues” were discussed.
She described sensory issues to me very briefly:
"....sometimes people have sensory issues..........for instance, one might only like soft foods because its too painful to chew hard foods, or people will chew on everything from their nails to erasers, etc because they have to satisfy the sensation of wanting to chew. It is too much to explain here.........and I don't think I could do it justice."
So far, we have been told that tics affect two areas: motor and vocal. As the years have gone by, however, my net friends and I have realised that tics affect everything. Which makes sense if the dopamine theory of Tourette syndrome is true.
Like many other aspects of this site, this page is put together from anecdotes and personal experiences. I am always looking for more input into these sort of things, so please email me if you have a story to tell.
Visual
Visual tics are any sudden, repetitive, stereotyped, uncontrolled desire or need to look at certain objects. The only time that this is really a problem is when people have self destructive urges or a need to stare at something forbidden. An example of a self destructive visual tic is the need to look directly at the sun.
Auditory
Auditory tics are any need to hear a certain thing. Common auditory tics are the need to hear a certain sound repeated, and a need to hear sounds correctly. For example, one young man insisted his parents repeat the phrase they had just said in different ways until it sounded right.
Gustatory
Gustatory tics are any sudden, repetitive, stereotyped, uncontrolled desire to taste or touch the tongue to something. This is a common sensory tic for Touretters. This can include:
- foodstuffs
- household objects
- toxic items such as soap and bleach
- things better left unmentioned
This can be a very strong and quite distressing tic. Many people are afraid they will poison themselves accidentally. One person had the urge to lick the edges of the lids of tins, often cutting his tongue.
Olfactory
Olfactory tics are also very common among Touretters. They are the sudden, repetitive, stereotyped, uncontrolled need or want to smell something. This often accompanies an Obsessive Compulsive trigger. For example, one lady repeatedly smells her finger tips after being exposed to dirt. She then washes under her nails until she can only smell soap.
Tactile
These are pretty much part of the typical motor tic spectrum. The need to touch things including:
- things that others have just touched (echopraxia)
- things that you have just touched previously (palipraxia)
- things that you really don't want to touch (not copropraxia)
- things that are dangerous to touch
It is also the need to touch certain types of thing. For example, a young boy must touch every piece of denim he comes across in his life.