Tourette Syndrome (TS) is a disorder characterised by involuntary, repetitive and non-rhythmic motor and vocal tics. There exists a problematic representation of the disorder in the mainstream media that tends to the formulaic sensationalism portrayed by recent TV documentaries. This prevalent image of TS may have a detrimental effect on public service provisions (education, health, in the absence of NICE guidelines etc).
In 2024, a group of collaborators bringing together lived experience, the arts and psychology came together to explore the shared question – what does a typical day, for an adult living with Tourette’s, look and sound like? Together, we set out to discover how these experiences could be captured visually and experientially. The resulting film, Everyday Tics, aims (to counter the more sensationalist representations of Tourette’s) by showing the complex and often nuanced expressions of tics as experienced during an average day. Filmed by a group of eight focus group members with lived experience, the film also details the some of the lesser-known challenges of living with the condition. While there is a significant body of research focusing on paediatric and early adolescent cases, less is known about the expression of tics and how their impact on everyday life in adulthood. This project provides the seed research to address this gap.
Funded by a University of Hertfordshire AHRC Impact Accelerator Award