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Children & young people
Information related to children and young people who have Tourette Syndrome.
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Leaflets
About ADHD - A guide for children
This booklet is designed for children with ADHD and will help them understand what ADHD is, how it may affect them, what help they may need and how they can help themselves.
Factsheet - Coprophenomena
Coprophenomena is the involuntary expression of socially unacceptable words or gestures including coprolalia, coprographia and copropraxia.
Factsheet - Exam revision tips
This factsheet offers information on what exam access arrangements are available to someone with TS and tips on how to best prepare for exams.
Factsheet - Functional Tics
This factsheet aims to give you an introduction to functional tics, it is not a factsheet about Tourette syndrome, but discusses the overlap between TS and FND.
Children & young people
Factsheet - Transitioning to higher education: A student's guide
A helpful guide with advice and information to aid the smooth transition from further to higher education.
Download 1727102218_Factsheet---Transitioning-to-higher-education---students.pdf
Children & young people
Factsheet - Transitioning within the education system: A parent/carers guide
A helpful guide on managing the transition process, with ideas and strategies to support what can be a challenging time for those with TS.
Download 1727102298_Factsheet---Transitioning-within-the-education-system---parent-carers-(1).pdf
Key Facts for Teachers
This leaflets outlines the most important things that teachers need to know when working with a pupil who has Tourette Syndrome.
SEND Guide – DoE guide for parents
This guide is for parents and carers of children and young people aged 0-25 years who have special educational needs (SEN) or a disability.
Tic Attack document only - A4 Easy print
Easy print version of the A4 Tic Attacks document, for adults and children.
Tic Attack document only - A4 Easy print, child friendly version
Adapted version of the Tic Attacks document for children, with images.
TS Passport - A4 Easy print
Easy print version of the TS Passport for adults and children.
TS Passport with Tic Attacks sheet - A4 Easy print
Easy print version of the TS Passport for adults and children, with Tic Attacks sheet.
Children & young people
TS Social Story
A learning tool to help support the exchange of information between children with TS and their teachers, friends and others in social situations.
TS the simple truth - guide for young people
We asked children and young people with Tourette Syndrome what they wanted to know about the condition, and we've asnswered their questions in this easy to read guide.
Report
Children & young people
Differences and similarities of ASD and Tourette Syndrome
Chartered research psychologist and freelance neurodiversity consultant Seonaid Anderson is the author of an interesting article featured in the 2021 Jan/Feb edition of SEN magazine.
The article compares the many differences and similarities between Tourette Syndrome (TS) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), such as prevalence, symptoms, co-occurring conditions and movements which are associated with each condition.
Videos
A school-based exercise to demonstrate how concentration can be impaired by tics
Harvey is passionate about informing teachers about TS, and wanted to make a short video to demonstrate how TS can be a barrier to learning.
Children & young people
Caspar Lee speaks out about life with TS
About TS
Dance, Yoga and how it's helped my TS
Clair Beckett, professional dancer, yoga teacher and theatre company director talks about her experience of movement based practices and how they support her TS.
About TS
Growing Up with Tourettes
Top international digital star, Caspar Lee interviews young people about growing up with Tourette Syndrome in this heart-warming video.
Jack Mangan: Me and my Tourettes
8 year old Jack talks about his experience of having Tourette Syndrome.
About TS
Jamie Sanders on Tourettes jokes
Jamie discusses the misuse of the word Tourettes in popular culture, and how this limits people's understanding of the condition
Living with Tourettes: Finding the flip side
Michael Chichioco tells an inspiring and deeply emotional story about living with Tourette's syndrome .
Rupert shares his experience of CBIT therapy with Tourettes Action
Watch this informative video which shows the benefits of Comprehensive Behavioral Intervention for Tics (CBIT).
About TS
Samuel Morris
12 year old Samuel made a fantastic awareness video to share all about TS with his class at school.
About TS
Things Not To Say To People With Tourette Syndrome
The fantastic BBC3 series 'Things Not To Say To People', that helps break down stereotypes and myths about social groups have made an episode on Tourette Syndrome.
Children & young people
This is me! Cello, music and Tourette Syndrome
12 year old Wilamena is determined to "help other children who have TS and inspire them to live life to the max, regardless of any sneaky tics." In this video Wilamena talks about her love of music, and her journey so far living with Tourette Syndrome.
About TS
University of Nottingham research study into online support groups
An online survey exploring users’ experiences of using online support groups for tic disorders and Tourette syndrome
What TS means to me
Meet Logan, he has Epilepsy, Tourette Syndrome, Autism Spectrum Disorder (Asperger’s), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Hypermobility Disorder. These conditions can make life difficult at times, but Logan has a great attitude to life that supports him in doing everything he wants to do. In this video he explains what having TS means to him.
Children & young people
Yusuke Osada: Finding solace in the piano
Yusuke Osada is a talented pianist who finds that his tics stop when he plays the piano. In this inspiring video, Yusuke talks about his relationship with music and urges other people with TS to take up an instrument and see what happens...
Books
Anger management games for children
This practical handbook helps adults to understand, manage and reflect constructively on children's anger.
Breaking Free from OCD: A CBT Guide for Young People and Their Families
This self-help book for young people aged 10-16 is for adolescents who have suffered from, or know someone who has suffered from, OCD, their families, teachers, carers, and mental health professionals.
Can I Tell You About Tourette Syndrome? - Mal Leicester
A guide about TS for friends, family and professionals.
About TS
Can I tell you about Tourette syndrome?: A guide for friends, family and professionals
Meet Max - a boy with Tourette syndrome (TS). Max invites readers to learn about Tourette's from his perspective, helping them to understand what tics and triggers are and what it feels like to have TS. He explains how living with TS can sometimes be difficult, and how people around him can help him to feel happy and accepted. This illustrated book is ideal for young people aged 7 upwards, as well as parents, friends, teachers and other professionals working with children with TS. It is also an excellent starting point for family and classroom discussions.
Coping with Tourette syndrome: A Workbook for Kids with Tic Disorders
This practical workbook includes forty activities to help kids with TS, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) understand, prepare for, and mask their tics.
Disorganised Children: A Guide for Parents and Professionals
Psychiatrists, speech, family and occupational therapists present a range of behavioural and psychological strategies to help disorganized children improve concentration in the classroom and a variety of behaviour and social interaction difficulties.
Kids in the Syndrome Mix
A concise, scientifically up-to-date, all-in-one guide to the whole range of often co-existing neuro-behavioral disorders in children.
Late, Lost & Unprepared - A parents' guide to helping children with Executive Functioning.
Executive functions are the cognitive skills that help us manage our lives and be successful. This book is suitable for parents of children from primary school through high school who struggle with: Impulse Control; Cognitive Flexibility; Initiation; Working Memory; Planning & Organising; and, Self-monitoring.
My Tics and Me
My Tics and Me is a warm, engaging picture book that introduces young children to Tourette syndrome in a way they can easily understand. Written in playful rhymes and brought to life with colourful illustrations, it follows Jamie — a lively child who sometimes makes unexpected sounds and movements called tics. Written by Paul Stevenson using his lived experience of living his life with Tourette syndrome.
Nix Your Tics!: Eliminate Unwanted Tic Symptoms: A How-To Guide for Young People
Dr. B. Duncan McKinlay, Psychologist (‘Dr. Dunc’) has Tourette Syndrome. That means he’s been living with both motor tics (movements he has a hard time stopping) and phonic tics (noises he has a hard time stopping) for most of his life.
Second Chances - A young person's guide to emotional resilience
An inspiring book that looks at various ways in which young people can build emotional resilience to help them cope with the stresses and strains of being a young person with health issues.
Tariq: A Tortoise with Tourette's
Meet Tariq, a kind and talented tortoise who worries his Tourette's makes him different. As we learn more about his condition, his friends help him realise he has nothing to worry about, and that he is brilliant, just the way he is.
The Tourettes Survival Kit: Tools for Young Adults with Tics
Struggling to manage your tics in the classroom? Worried about your tics in a job interview or on a first date? This survival kit will give you the tools to survive and thrive in every location - at home, school, work or out with friends.
Tic Disorders - A Guide for Parents and Professionals
Uttom Chowdhury and Dr Tara Murphy. Foreword by Suzanne Dobson, Chief Executive of Tourettes Action UK.
Tic Talk: Living with Tourette syndrome
Dylan Peters shares what he has learned of tolerance and acceptance during the five years he has had Tourette syndrome
Tics and Tourette syndrome: A Handbook for Parents and Professionals
This guide to tic disorders and Tourette syndrome tackles problems faced both at home and at school.
Touch and Go Joe: An Adolescent's Experience of OCD
One in every 100 people suffers from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and 16-year-old Joe Wells is one of them.
Tourette syndrome: A Practical Guide for Teachers, Parents and Carers (Resource Materials for Teachers)
Clinical descriptions and medical treatments are discussed and advice on diagnosis, identification and assessment in the classroom is given.
Whatever Happened To Twitch Morgan?: A Life with Tourette syndrome by David Jowsey
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO TWITCH MORGAN? 'An approachable and uplifting story of life with Tourette syndrome'
Links
About ADHD - A guide for children
This booklet is designed for children with ADHD and will help them understand what ADHD is, how it may affect them, what help they may need and how they can help themselves.
Children & young people
Online ID card application form
Complete your application for a TS ID card online and submit all supporting documents plus a passport size photo (Jpeg).
Click here to apply online
Presentations
What is TS? A presentation for Primary School children
This presentation has been designed to inform young people about Tourette syndrome; and help friends and family better understand how they can support someone living with the condition.
What is TS? A presentation for Secondary School children
This presentation has been designed with young adults of secondary school age in mind. It's aim is to inform about the complexities of Tourette syndrome and to dispel some misconceptions around the condition. By increasing TS knowledge amongst pupils, this will hopefully breed acceptance and understanding of the condition.
Website links
The Umbrella Gang
The Umbrella Gang tells the story of five young people and their pets – all of whom are neurodiverse – and their journey from first learning to understand their learning differences, to overcoming a struggle and emerging at the end triumphant, understanding and managing their new-found superpowers.
Press cuttings
About TS
New Scientist article: People with Tourette's may find it easier to pick up new skills
People with Tourette's syndrome seem to have enhanced memory that could make them better at learning tasks unconsciously, such as speaking a second language or driving a car.
About TS
SEN magazine article April 2018
Don’t panic! Pupils with Tourette’s just need the right support, not fear and misunderstanding, writes Suzanne Dobson, Chief Executive of Tourettes Action.
