Frank, I know you're talking about Tourette's syndrome, but much of what I've read in this thread is a description of my daughter, who has autism. Her autism is classic, and her one sensory defensiveness is her hearing. She gets overwhelmed on a loud busy playground. Yet at home she will get three kinds of music going at once. (It was suggested to me that it creates "white noise" for her) She likes my playing music, and we have seen a calming effect it can have on her. But like Night Owl says, it isn't all music. Some calm her, some can hype her.

I did see Dr. Sacks speak, and he told us a story about a man with Tourette's syndrome. Dr. Sacks was able to help the man control his ticking with drugs, but it took the creative edge off of his sax playing. So the man would take the drugs during the week to be calm at work, and was drug free on the weekends so he could play in the jam sessions. His family had to put up with his dual personalities!

I don't know that my daughter's hearing is so very acute, or if she just can't tune things out. There is that inability to control the neurological functions of the senses. Is that the same with ticks? Who knows. Yours, Margo