Lexington, Ky. — The night before his tics disappeared, Stephen Johnson sat in his living room and wept in his mother's arms. Then he went to his room, kneeled at the foot of his bed and stayed up half the night praying until he collapsed from exhaustion.
Johnson was on the verge of his teenage years, a natural athlete but a born introvert who had retreated so far into himself that he felt as if he might never make friends again. When he was eight, a special education teacher, who was also Johnson's Little League coach, noticed Stephen twitching his mouth and eyes, and suggested he get tested.