If asked to describe the moon to someone who had never seen it how would most people describe it?
Its sits in the sky is mainly round and bright and depending what time of month it is I gets smaller and then grows again through the next month and you will only see some of the moon unless it’s a full moon and then you see all of it.
So when asked to describe Tourette’s syndrome does the same thing happen.
Tourette’s is a neurological tic disorder consisting of various motor and vocal tics.
The description may go further and describe some of the tics in more detail but that’s normally how far it goes.
Not many people when they describe the moon mention the parts of the moon nobody really sees or talks about, the dark side the side that is in shadow.
They don’t go into detail that the moon waxes and wanes it has craters and how it orbits the Earth.
Why am I making this comparison?
Just because we can’t see the dark side of the moon doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist just because people don’t see all sides of Tourette’s syndrome it doesn’t mean we don’t suffer from it.
I have Tourette’s syndrome and if I was to describe my Tourette’s to someone I would start much the same as anyone else.
I have Tourette’s syndrome I have vocal tics I might swear I might say something inappropriate sometime it’s just sounds or random sentences.
I have physical tics neck jerking, eye rolling, skipping and punching I have quite a few different ones.
I also suffer from OCD, ADHD, ODD, Intrusive thoughts, hyperkinetic disorder, and Anxiety and you will find a lot of people with Tourette’s suffer from some or all of these too.
I do at times come to harm due to my intrusive thoughts and OCD coming together.
I spend most of my day avoiding thing that will bring me to harm or cause me to do things I don’t want to do, such as I avoid post boxes as I will post my phone and wallet or I will move away from my laptop so I don’t break it.
My OCD isn’t just about cleaning or locking doors I can obsess on anything in my day to day life.
I do have a level of intelligence but find it almost impossible to learn mainstream but can learn a lot my own way which can be quite challenging.
People who know me don’t tell me not to do things as it makes it more likely for me to do it whether it’s not saying something or doing something.
In conclusion I have found when I tell people about my Tourette’s some are interested to find out its more than they realised and others just don’t accept anything other than Tics are part of the condition.
Employers and some Schools are probably the hardest to convince.
If we had awareness of all sides of Tourette’s and the related conditions the sufferers would find it easier to accept it themselves and would find other people would accept and understand it more.
Do Tourette's tics increase after middle age?
On behalf of my daughter aged 11
Tourette's and aging
Tourettes not just a tic disorder