Intellectual, academic, and adaptive functioning of Tourette syndrome children with and without attention deficit disorder

The intellectual, academic, and adaptive strengths and weaknesses of 30, medication-free children (M=10.5 years) with Tourette syndrome (TS) were assessed with a battery of standardized psychoeducational measures and the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales. Results indicated significant relative weaknesses in mental and written arithmetic, and relative strengths in reading achievement and abstact, logical thinking. Socialization skills emerged as a signifiant weakness in adaptive functioning. Comparisons between TS children with attention deficit disorder with hyperativity (ADD-H) (n=19) and without ADD-H(n=11) pointed to similar profiles of strength and weakness in both groups in all areas assessed, but significantly lower performance IQs in TS subjects with ADD-H. These findings are discussed in relation to future research with TS children.