As a child growing up with Tourette’s, I did not comprehend the disorder as much as I do now. My parents would take me to doctors, therapists, or counselors but I didn’t know why. I wondered why I was making movements and sounds that I could not control. Thankfully, I was never bullied throughout my life. During the transition from middle to high school, I finally grasped on to what research and my neurologist said. Sometimes I would get mad or upset because the tics would get in the way of my schoolwork or that I could not concentrate on school work or work at home. Other times people would look at me differently or ask me if I was okay because they did not know that I had Tourette’s. One memorable experience that I still remember to this day was when I was sitting in my English class and started making these weird movements and sounds. Everybody started looking at me strange and asked me if I was okay. I did not know what was wrong I thought it was normal. I remember taking small fast breaths and squinting up at the ceiling.
I still wonder what triggers these repetitive sounds or movements and why I cannot control them. I try so hard to where the point it hurts sometimes. During school and in public, I try to hold my tics in as long as possible so I do not get embarrassed, and as soon as I get home I just let go. But God made everyone for a reason. God knew that if I was diagnosed with Tourette’s that I could overcome this little bump in the road and handle it and just move past it. Yes, I still do get angry or upset because they affect me negatively, but I have learned to communicate with myself to just tough it out. I’ve been on all different kinds of medicine. Some for OCD, stress, ADD, etc. Some have worked great and some not so much. I know that I will have Tourette’s the rest of my life but it’s what me, me! Yes, I do wish that I didn’t have them sometimes, but everybody is different in some way. All 7 billion people around the world are different from one another and I’m glad that is. From this day forward I will look as if Tourette’s are just something to brush your shoulder and move on. I also encourage anybody who has Tourette’s to do the same. Not to be embarrassed or shy that you may have them and just live life.