What Makes Him Tic?: A Memoir of Parenting a Child with Tourette Syndrome

by Michele Turk

When the author's 11-year-old son Michael was diagnosed with Tourette syndrome, she began a quest to make sure he didn't remain, in his words, "a freak" who shouted obscenities hundreds of times a day. In What Makes Him Tic?: Parenting a Child with Tourette Syndrome , Michele Turk blends firsthand experience raising a child with Tourette with useful information on how her son was able to control his symptoms, accept his condition, and lead a normal life. The book also provides ample research and reporting on Tourette to educate readers about what's been referred to as "the most misunderstood well-known condition." What Makes Him Tic? is written for any parent of a neurodivergent child who refuses to accept the conventional wisdom that these kids will never succeed and that kids with conditions like Tourette are destined to become carnival sideshows. What Makes Him Tic? is a bare-all account of the six years Turk spent battling a medical problem that was, by all accounts, incurable, and making sure Michael survived his school years with his self-esteem intact. The reported memoir will serve as both a roadmap and an inspiration for thousands of parents of children with Tourette and other tic disorders who are despondent and desperate as she was. What Makes Him Tic? describes the author's leave-no-stone-unturned strategy to figure out what Michael needed to succeed academically, socially, and emotionally and her journey to launch him into a world where Tourette is the butt of jokes on late-night TV and shows like The Simpsons. The author used her tenacity as a mother and resourcefulness as a journalist to get Michael the right medical care, a good education, help him navigate the social landmines of middle school, and harness his talents as a musician (he magically stopped ticcing when he played guitar, drums, or sang). This book takes readers to Carnegie Hall, where Turk was certain she was the only parent ever to sit in the audience and wonder whether her child would drop the f-bomb while singing onstage. It takes readers inside medical exam rooms, classrooms, and barrooms where Michael sang, played drums and guitar, and the bathroom, where she hid so her kids wouldn't see her cry. And it takes readers inside a marriage in turmoil; Michael's struggle took a toll on the author's marriage as her husband, a doctor, was unable to help his son, leaving her, a woman who had doubted her abilities as a mother, to find reserves of strength she didn't know she had.

218 pages, Paperback

Published June 4, 2024

Reviews

[Gabi Coatsworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book needed to be written, and I imagine it will be particularly helpful to parents of children with Tourette.
But I found it relatable because even though I don’t have a child with that particular issue, I could relate to the frustrations of a mother with difficult children.

[Gail Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

When her son Michael was eleven years old, Michele Turk heard a screechy string of obscenities’ sail out of the TV room where he was watching Saturday cartoons. She was stunned. Then it happened again. Both parents calmly and wisely asked Michael if he had done this on purpose, and he said no. The following Monday, her son’s pediatrician told her it would likely soon pass, but it didn’t. When it got to the point that her son could no longer attend school, the family was thrown into crisis.

Michele Turk’s in-depth account of her son’s Tourette Syndrome, her search for answers and her struggle to hold her marriage together under the stress of this mysterious illness is a skillfully written, heartfelt memoir but also a very useful primer for any parent faced with a similar situation.

Tourette’s has no clear pathway forward, but what every parent wants right from the start are doctors’ straight answers, a complete and immediate cure, and an end to the chaos. She got none of these. There are many schools of thought on Tourette’s, and when her husband’s thinking varied from hers, the stage was set for marital discord.

Those of us who have been lucky enough to hear about Tourette only from a comfortable distance will learn what we all should know about this baffling condition. Those who must take it on directly will appreciate the author’s first-hand accounts of hunting for information, dealing with schools, and talking to specialists. The extensive end notes supplement these accounts with thorough source information. Perhaps most importantly, everyone will read not only the raw truth about how frustrating, guilt-inducing and scary the struggle for answers can be, but also how parents and children, including the kid with Tourette, can pull together as a family and find a way forward.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This memoir was based in my Tourette-warrior husband’s home state, and thus featured his lifelong doctor…and his high school principal as icing on the cake. He said multiple times how he couid have written this himself from Michael's viewpoint. Dunkin even gets multiple shoutouts, and if you know my husband…you know how important that is to him! This is DEFINITELY a must-read for the Tourette community and beyond!