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Tourette syndrome (TS) is a disorder that begins in childhood and is characterized by inappropriate utterances and movements. The nature of the syndrome causes daily functioning to be impaired. Although research has characterized the intellectual and academic consequences of TS in children, there has been little consistency among results. It is speculated that one reason for the inconclusive results is that some children with TS exhibit symptoms of attentional disorders or hyperactivity, unrelated to TS itself. Studies to date have not distinguished between TS children with and without clear attentional problems. To investigate further the possible need for this distinction, 30 children with TS were recruited, 19 of whom were further diagnosed as having attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity (ADD-H) according to standard diagnostic criteria. All subjects completed a battery of tests to measure intelligence and adaptive behavior (e.g., ability to communicate, attend to daily needs, and to socialize). It was found that the two groups (TS with ADD-H versus TS without ADD-H) were no different academically or adaptively, but there was a significant difference in performance IQ, or the ability to complete tasks requiring integration of visual, motor, and perceptual organization skills. TS subjects were better able to think conceptually, but they had more difficulty with numerical reasoning. They were stronger readers but poorer in arithmetic. Both groups were deficient in social adaptation. Overall, children with TS and ADD-H had poorer performance IQ. It is unclear whether this can be attributed to the presence of ADD-H alone, or its effect when combined with TS. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)