Teens4TS exists because of conversations like this

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Teens4TS

The following conversation took place the other day on the Teens4TS Facebook page. One of our newest bloggers, RoxanneSix, introduced herself this way:

“Hey, I’m 15 and I’ve had Tourette since I was nearly 2 or 3. I got paralyzed, and the docs said I would never walk again, but I did, and something didn’t work out, and I developed Tourette. I’m the first one in my family history to have it, but I’m proud of it because it makes me unique.”

Then after a series of piercing, unacceptable bullying by two users that had to be blocked and their comments removed, an exchange between our new Facebook moderator, RuthieP; Roxanne; and several other Facebook users took place. Here is how it went down:

RuthieP: “If you cannot respect people with Tourette’s, I will ask you to leave this page and stop commenting if you can’t contain your rude comments. I have had Tourette’s all of my life and I know more about the condition than most adults. I can tell you both, with 100% certainty, that EVERY case of Tourette’s is different. Some people have little control over their tics, and you will see them tic a good majority of the time, while other people have found a lot of control and can hold back their tics almost all day until they can get home to let out their tics. For some people, you would never know they have Tourette’s unless they told you.” Continue reading →

Don’t let Tourette cause you to not take pride in who you are!

Posted on May 16, 2012 by RoxanneSix

I’ve had Tourette Syndrome since I was nearly 2 or 3, and I got TS because I had meningitis, from which I later got paralyzed. The doctors told me I would never walk again, but my mum wasn’t about to give up, so she eventually got me walking again. But I developed TS because something never healed in me, and I also have trouble feeling hotness and coldness in my finger tips.

I also have OCD. At school, people look at me like I’m a normal girl, but if I told them I had TS, they would start saying I didn’t, start calling me a liar and start bullying me because of it. At school, I can calm my Tourette down, and it rarley happens at school, but it’s a lot worse when I get home because I had to hold it in even thought I know I shouldn’t.

At the end of the day, if you have Tourette you should be proud of it because it makes you unique!

People usually make my tics worse

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Jacquelynn

I’m almost 16 years old, and I have Tourette Syndrome. I don’t have it as severe as others, but it’s still highly noticeable to most of the people at my school. They are smart enough — I think — to know that tics are involuntary. Yet they still get a rise out of calling me out because of it, or even mocking me. No one at this school is understanding, not even the teachers.

Some of my tics are: Jerking my neck (like a fierce nod), rapid blinking/eye rolling, quickly tensing my stomach muscles and the releasing, or making a noise in the back of my throat (sounds like I’m either laughing kind of or saying ” hut ” – the more stressed/anxious I am, the louder it gets.)

I’m normal. I have “friends,” go out on the weekend, get boyfriends, do good in school, etc. — just like everyone else. They just choose to call me out on my tics. It’s extremely hard to find someone completely understanding/supportive of my Tourette at my school.

I wouldn’t wish TS on anyone, but sometimes I wish I had a best friend or a boyfriend who had it too, so they would be more understanding. I hate my tics. They make me extremely self-conscious — like I’m a freak. And people calling me “Bobble-Head” or “Twitchy Freak” doesn’t really help my self-esteem any, soooo…

What is the definition of normal when you have Tourette Syndrome?

Posted on May 10, 2012 by EmmaO

Hey guys! I was just wondering what everyone’s definition of “normal” is. I personally think there is no such thing … I mean, you can say I’m not normal because I have Tourette Syndrome, but I could say you’re not normal because you have brown eyes, and I have blue ones. No one is normal … or maybe everyone is their own type of normal.

Dictionary.com describes normal as: conforming to the standard or the common type; usual; not abnormal; regular; natural.

It says “regular” and “natural” and conforming to the “standard or the common type” and “usual.” But what is usual? It’s just a synonym. And what is standard or common? Who gets to say what is normal? Maybe different things are normal in different environments, such as what is normal in a specific clique at school or a culture.

But what is normal overall? What is normal for ALL of the cliques and EVERY single culture? Apparently I’m not normal, because I have Tourette, but doesn’t everyone have a little something? Maybe I’m normal and you’re not. Normal may speak as what the majority of the population does or thinks, but wouldn’t that just be popular? Continue reading →

A rough day and an unacceptedly mean teacher

Posted on May 1, 2012 by RuthieP

I had a rough day of tics yesterday, and I was yelping loudly and jerking my body pretty violently in a good majority of my classes. It was a long, long day and not a very fun one. I only have three more days left of official classes as a senior at my high school, and I have SOOOO much work — tests, projects, essays, exams and much more.

It is a very stressful time, so no wonder my tics are bad right now. To make matters worse, I had an incident with one of my teachers (Ms. P) that made me feel very self-conscious and frustrated.

Ms. P is very, very strict and gets mad when people try to leave to go to the bathroom during class. In my specialized learning plan, though, it specifies that if I need to leave the room when I am having a lot of tics that I can – no questions asked.

Sometimes my tics just get really bad in class and I need to walk around, get a drink of water and/or go somewhere to really let my tics out. The problem is that Ms. P is just so used to me yelping and jerking in class that I think she must have forgotten about this accommodation. Continue reading →