Letting Tourette's be: The importance of understanding lived experience in research and the clinic

Tourette Syndrome and cautious neurodiversity-disability categorization

This letter to the editor is on the commentary by Ne'eman et al. To view this paper visit https://doi.org/10.1111/dmcn.15746.

Coping with Tourette's syndrome: a meta-ethnography of individual and family perspectives

OBJECTIVE

This systematic review and meta-ethnography aimed to examine how children, adults and families cope with Tourette's syndrome (TS).

METHODS

A systematic search of four databases was completed in October 2022. Sixteen papers met the inclusion criteria and were synthesised using Noblit and Hare's (1988) meta-ethnographic approach.

RESULTS

Three themes were constructed: redefining the self and social identity, controlling the visible presentation of Tourette's syndrome, and challenging the narrative.

CONCLUSION

Findings indicate that coping involves the need to integrate TS with identity, to exert control over tics and to challenge the misrepresentations of TS in wider society. A supportive environment provided by parents and friends enables individuals to feel proud that they can control their tics, and this allows for the positive integration of TS into identity. Raising awareness at a societal level through educational campaigns is important when aiming to improve coping with a stigmatised condition. Further research is recommended, for example, to understand how common co-occurring conditions, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, impact coping.

Tourette syndrome and Tourettic persons: Internationalizing neurodiversity across diagnostic borders

This commentary is on the invited review by Bervoets et al. on pages 1422–1428 of this issue.