Language skills of adolescents with Tourette Syndrome

A multiple single-case study investigated language characteristics of adolescents with Tourette Syndrome (TS). Ten adolescent subjects with diagnosed TS were evaluated on a test battery sensitive to high level language and discourse impairment. Results were compared to established norms or, where no norms have been established, with results obtained by 15 non-neurologically impaired adolescent subjects. Five subjects were differentiated from normal communicative performance by their test results. Although language profiles were variable, disorganized output, concreteness of language and poor language formulation abilities were apparent in these subjects. This symptomatology may reflect prefrontal disturbance and can possibly be explained by the pathogenesis of the disorder. This finding adds to literature regarding subcortical and frontal cortex language involvement and indicates further research.