Madison Ebel
Tourette’s is nothing but a blessing. Being diagnosed at age six, Tourette’s has always been a part of my life. Growing up, I always had a perfect understanding of what the disorder was and why I was not always able to control my actions, words and movements. To me, not being able to control these aspects of my life was normal, so I never thought of it as anything out of the ordinary. I was bullied severely throughout middle school and even into high school, but I learned to let comments and bullying roll off my shoulders. Every time Tourette’s knocked me down, I picked myself up. I knew I was different from the other kids, but to me, that did not matter at all. I was always told that people are never given more than they can handle, and that Tourette’s was given to me for a reason. Though school and my social life with friends proved very difficult for me due to anxiety that came along with Tourette’s, being negative about it was a thought that never crossed my mind. I knew I had to work harder just to be at the same academic level as my fellow peers, but I accepted that and never got hung up on it. Four years ago, my mom told me of this camp for kids with Tourette’s called Camp Twitch and Shout, which has been the best week of my life every year ever since. My Tourette’s has blessed me with the amazing opportunity to meet and be friends with people I would have never met if I did not have Tourette’s. I look at the younger kids at the camp, and think back to when I was that age dealing with Tourette’s. Every year I go to that camp, I make it a goal of mine to spread the word of Tourette’s as a blessing and not as a curse. I want those kids to know that they aren’t alone and that with the disorder comes amazing opportunities that people without Tourette’s will never be able to experience. Tourette’s may knock us down, but it can NEVER stop us from getting back up on our feet again.