While most of us think of the typical Tourette’s patient as the rare eccentric① who barks obscenities② 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.
Mild tics such as lip puckering③， 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.
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. A lot of children have transient tics during development， but pediatricians④ 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 syndrome⑤， 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.
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 don’t need a treatment for tics， but they are a sign you should pay attention to as they may point to other things.
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.
① eccentricadj. (人、行为等)古怪的，反常的；不同圆心的
② obscenityn. 猥亵的言语(或行为)； 可憎的事
③ puckervt. 使起皱；使缩拢；折叠[(+up)] vi. 皱起；缩拢；折叠[(+up)]
④ pediatriciann. 小儿科医师
⑤ syndromen. 【医】并发症状；综合症状
抽搐
大多数人认为典型的图雷特氏病患者十分少见，这些患者的症状是用尖锐或咆哮的嗓门说出污秽下流的话并且胡乱地挥动着手臂。但最近的研究表明，图雷特氏病和相关的抽搐综合症的亚临床症状比以前认为的要常见得多。
轻微的抽搐如卷舌头、翻眼睛、摇头和抽鼻， 是诊断其它一些学习障碍的重要线索。
有轻微抽搐的孩子将来发展成学习问题的危险很高，这样可以提前诊断这些孩子，及早监测他们，这也提供了一个帮助了解孩子的脑组成的线索。
包括父母和医生在内的人，都以为图特氏病的症状很严重，但这些严重的病例仅是冰山一角，大多数病例的症状极其轻微。许多孩子在发育过程中有短暂的抽搐，但是儿科医生通常会告诉家长不要为此担心，这种抽搐会消失，通常情况就是这样。假如抽搐持续超过12个月，抽搐就转为一种病了。此时，如果要确诊抽搐者患了图雷特氏病， 那么声音抽搐（如发出呼噜、嘟嘟，清喉声）和运动抽搐（如耸肩、翻眼、眨眼）必需同时存在超过一年。
如果父母发现他们的孩子有轻微的抽搐，除非他们还怀疑孩子有学习障碍，否则几乎不需要马上就惊慌不安。你不需要去治疗抽搐，但是它们是一个信号，你应该关注由它们可能预示的其它问题。
专家强调，对有抽搐症状儿童的父母来说，最重要的是记住抽搐对孩子一生的影响。