Exploring the Mind: Seven StudiesMain MenuA Story of TempleArumpanayil,Megan; Lawson,Aliah; Woerdeman,Sam: An Anthropologist on MarsThe Truth Behind Tourette'sA Life Without ColorStuck in the '60'sSplash page. "The Last Hippie" is the second chapter in Oliver Sacks' /An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales./Psychic SeizuresArtistic ParadoxGrace Armstrong, Alexia Kim, Cesar ArduinoAbout the Authors
12017-11-18T15:51:34-08:00Dylan Rasmussend0b1b774d22a2c8ccf09bff36e3254513a79fb2e253261What are tic disorders? The DSM-V classifies three different tic disorders: Tourette's syndrome, persistent vocal or motor tic disorder, and provisional tic disorder.plain2017-11-18T15:51:34-08:00YouTube2017-01-11T20:02:40.000Z1w8lPOgFxt4OsmosisDylan Rasmussend0b1b774d22a2c8ccf09bff36e3254513a79fb2e
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12017-11-03T09:32:14-07:00Olivia Battistoniaf41514a8b088db7499e2ba6272a3d5ce74b76abTourette Syndrome: Physical ManifestationDylan Rasmussen18Physical characteristics of individuals with the disorder, including tics, movement, and vocalizations.plain2017-11-19T19:00:54-08:00Dylan Rasmussend0b1b774d22a2c8ccf09bff36e3254513a79fb2e
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12017-11-03T09:32:14-07:00Tourette Syndrome: Physical Manifestation15Physical characteristics of individuals with the disorder, including tics, movement, and vocalizations.plain2017-11-19T13:15:22-08:00
by Dylan Rasmussen
According to the Tourette Association of America, Tourette syndrome is a Tic Disorder characterized by the presence of “at least two motor tics and at least one phonic/vocal tic in some combination over the course of more than a year” (“About Tourette” 2017).
Motor tics are simply bodily movements. They can vary in complexity from a series of blinks, to a slow, elaborate set of steps or twirls. Dr. Bennet possesses several such motor ticks, as was the first thing Sacks noticed when they met. Stepping off the plane, he was greeted by a “half lunge, half tic, a gesture of welcome idiosyncratically Tourettized” (“An Anthropologist on Mars” 80). Further time with Dr. Bennet revealed more complicated movements, a majority of them based upon symmetric spatial orientation and the touching of objects. Specifically, Sacks recalls that “driving back from the ranch was a stimulating, at times terrifying, experience.” Dr. Bennet’s hands repeatedly left the steering wheel to smooth his moustache or jab at the windshield. At times he even jerked the wheel, sending the car swerving down the road, to restore symmetry within his field of vision (100-101).
On the other hand, the Tourette Association of America describes phonic or vocal tics as the production of sound. Like motor tics, they can range in complexity from simple sniffing or throat clearing to unrecognizable words or phrases that consistently occur out of context. A commonly portrayed type of vocal tic, coprolalia, includes “swearing, ethnic slurs, or other socially unacceptable words or phrases,” yet it only occurs in 10-15% of cases (“About Tourette” 2017). Dr. Bennet also possesses several phonic tics. Sacks is first to note several “high pitched vocalizations […] that sounded like ‘Hi, Patty,’ ‘Hi, there,’ and, on a couple of occasions, ‘Hideous!’ (80-81) Embracing the uniqueness of his phonic tics, his sons “are constantly on the lookout for ‘odd’ names – names that sound odd to an English-speaking ear, many of them foreign… and when they find a ‘juicy’ name, they add it to a list they keep.” Many such names possess an alluring combination of sounds to which Dr. Bennett is drawn towards. The names may be incorporated into tics for several months, only to disappear one day and leave others in their places (Sacks 88).