Language skills of adolescents with tourette syndrome.

Abstract

A multiple single-case study investigated language characteristics in adolescents with Tourette Syndrome (TS). The initial impetus for this study was a lack of unanimity in the literature on language features in TS and the limited role of the speech and language therapist in a neurological condition associated with educational and social impairment. Ten adolescent subjects with diagnosed TS were evaluated on a test battery sensitive to high level language and subtle discourse impairment. Results were compared to established norms, or where no norms have been established, with results obtained by five non-neurologically impaired adolescent subjects. Intact communicative functioning was demonstrated by six of the ten subjects within the group, however certain tasks within the battery posed particular difficulty for two subjects whose performance was otherwise judged to be within normal limits. Four subjects were differentiated from normal communicative performance by their test results. Disorganized output, concreteness of language and poor formulation abilities were apparent. This symptomatology may reflect prefrontal disturbance and can be explained by the pathogenesis of the disorder. The results gleaned from this investigation indicate that disordered language may be an integral feature of the syndrome. This finding adds to the literature regarding subcortical and frontal cortex involvement in language and places importance on the role of the speech and language therapist in the clinical and educational management of the TS population,