MrsMisstery I think I have always had it. It's just part of the way I am. There is a lot of evidence that Tourette's syndrome is genetic. It took a while to realise that some of the things I do are tics.
There are some people who suddenly develope Tourette's syndrome often after a traumatic event but a lot of them have always had tics they were just less noticeable.

PrincessPear
I do work but I am on maternity leave at the moment. In my current job it doesn't affect me too much. A lot of people don't notice. When I am concentrating on things my tics are a lot less prominent. Oliver Sachs wrote about a surgeon with Tourette's who did not have tics when he did surgery. This doesn't surprise me because when you are focused on something you don't have enough space in your brain for anything else (I am not a surgeon).
If you saw me on a station platform or waiting for a bus you would definitely know that I have Tourette's it is weird like that.

I did affect me in previos jobs and it was one of the main reasons I stopped being a primary teacher. I found it too hard to suppress my tics. I was fine when I was in the classroom but things like assembly was really hard. I loved working with the kids but the school environment was not right for me.

I do have vocal tics. As you probably know( it sounds like you know about Tourette's). To be diagnosed with Tourette's you needs to have regular physical and phonic / verbal tics.

I do have quite a few verbal tics I will suddenly find myself saying something totally random like I want toast which I didn't expect to say. I taught myself to turn some of these Radom outbursts into something that makes sense in the context but don't always manage. I don't have random tics in the middle of a sentence as some people do. I don't have corprolalia (swearing tics) either; only about 10% of people with Tourette's do.
Not everyone with Tourette's has verbal tics some people only have phonic tics like coughing but won't actually say anything.

I was diagnosed with perinatal OCD. I worried that something bad would happen to my baby. There is definitely an overlap as it is sometimes quite hard to distinguish between a tic and a compulsion. I often think of the worst possible thing I could say in that moment and feel compelled to say it. Fortunately I am able to surpress this but I often have to leave the room.I can't walk past a drain without feeling the urge to dro my phone down it. I don't think that normally a diagnosis of OCD is a good fit for me.

I have ADHD with is also linked to Tourette's and that is more like me. I am totally scatty.

Shakininthehighcourt it has definitely affected my ability to form friendships. As you can imagine I did not have a great time at school. One of my tics is screwing my face up like I am disgusted which means people think I am disgusted with them when it is just a random face I pull. I think the relationships I do have are stronger as it is with people who can see past it. I do have social anxiety which is a rational response to having Tourette's.

I think I have experienced discrimination definitely at school as my primary school tried to send me to a special school for people with moderate learning disabilities. I now have a PhD. If I apply for a job I don't put it on the application form as I have never got an interview if I have. I am lucky that it affects me in a more subtle way.

MrsJayy physical tics can be painful. My most upsetting tic / compulsion is holding my breath. I have a hand squeezing tic and I have claouses on my knuckles and have on occasion taken the skin of my hands because I did it so much.

Most tics are not painful. Some I actually quite enjoy if I can do them without it being too inappropriate.

PrincessPear I am definitely an immersive reader. I love to read books in one sitting when the last Harry Potter book came out I didn't speak to anyone until I had finished it.
I don't think I had OCD until I was pregnant. It is interesting that you became more anxious to as pregnancy definitely changes the way you think. I was obsessed with risks to my baby and he is absolutely fine now.

Sherlock I first realised that I was different when I started primary school. This was based on other people's reactions to me.

Your daughter sounds like she does have Tourette's if she has regular physical and phonic tics. I think the issue is does this have a negative impact on her life. Can she do her daily activities, do other people accept her does it bother her or interfere with her learning? If this is the case then I would be concerned.

1% of the population have Tourette's and most of them don't know and wouldn't feel the need to get diagnosed. I was listening to Matt Smith on Desert Islad Disks and he said that when he was a child he was different and had a lot of odd habits which sounded to me very much like Tourette's but everyone accepted him so he was fine.
How does your daughter feel about her habits?

glitterbiscuits I love your username. I also have biscuit related tics. I am sure that I annoy my husband. He probably has developed the ability to filter much of it out in the way people stop noticing the cars that come past the house. He does get upset when I have a tic attack. That is when I have one tic after another when I am upset. When I was pregnant I had one in the shower and he came in and held my hands to stop me squeezing them and I calmed down.

Sometimes when we are in public he must want to say I'm not with her but he doesn't.

I do worry that my child would have it . The idea of anyone rejecting him breaks my heat. If he has it I will understand and be able to help him cope. I started to watch a program about children with Tourette's one of the mum's seemed so ashamed of her son I had to switch it off because it was upsetting me. If he does have it that doesn't mean he would be severely affected.

I have never tried hypnosis.

Dadsbigsausages I know what you mean about fear of the word as people's reaction when you say have have tics to I have Tourette's are very different even though it is the same thing. If you have noticeable tic calling it Tourette's can help people be more understanding.
From what I know of Tourette's it is quite typical to have some times when you are severely affected and some times when you are better. Is there a pattern to the severe times?

I think if you have Tourette's you always have some tics but they don't always impact on you. There are a lot of people who have developed better coping stategies as they get older. I read about research which looked at people who thought they had stopped having tics. It turned out that they did still have some but they didn't notice them and they didn't have a impact on their lives.
Does your son like music? That can help a lot of people with Tourette's. There is a guy who helped himself to control his tics by playing the drums. If focus helps your son help him find something he is interested in to focus on.