The Tourette's Guy

     The Tourette's Guy...we have all seen him. He sits on a couch, or in a store, and screams out obscenities and yells a lot. He has been a YouTube sensation for years. But does this really portray what Tourette syndrome looks like? NO. The media has always shown Tourette's as swearing and cursing, which to someone who doesn't have TS/Coproalia, this might seem funny. 

     As described in The amazing Marc Elliot's book "What Makes You Tic" it's the opposite of funny. Marc was impacted by Corproalia. Like many people with TS, we have additional disorders such as ADHD, OCD, behavioral problems, etc. However, Marc struggled with OCD, he would think of the riskiest thing to say (such as bomb on an airplane or a racial slur in certain neighborhoods) and that would become his tic. For those who think this is funny, I challenge them to start yelling bomb on an airplane. See if they still think it's funny.

   Back to the Tourette's Guy. I was on the AppStore of my iPhone looking at the Autism Speaks app, which I highly recommend, and I wondering if there was aTourette Syndrome Association app. So I went to the search bar and typed in "Tourette" and before I could finish 4 things came up. 1.) Tourette's Guy 2.)Tourette's Guy soundboard & videos 3.) comic book Tourette's and finally 4.( talking Tourette's Guy- bobble head....

   I was not amused. This is just a way to continue to joke about TS. It is my mission to spread as much awareness as I can!! 

-Allie

"Oh Okay I Guess I'll Take the Massage"

Hello Friends,
       Yesterday I called a new Chiropractor because I was a dancer for over 9 years and my body gets very sore. Also my tics do not help my case. From stretching my neck and back I get stiff and sore. I called the Chiropractor and after they asked me all these questions they had me set an appointment for an alignment. After the appointment was set they told me they like to have their clients have a deep tissue massage after an alignment. "Is that okay miss?"Ohhhh darn, well okay I guess I will take a deep tissue massage if I HAVE to!" I just smiled and told the kind lady that would be lovely. Moral of the story, there are always perks to having TS :)


-Allie

Marc Elliot

   I was once able to talk to the amazing author of the book "What Makes You Tic?" Marc Elliot. I wanted him to come to my high school at the time to speak. He's an amazing public speaker who discusses tolerance, acceptance and touches on Tourette syndrome. Marc was one of the 10% with Coprolalia. He like many people with TS had severe OCD. He would think of the worst thing to say in a situation and that would become his vocal tic (bomb on an airplane or a racial slur in certain neighborhoods).

   During our phone conversation he told me he didn't do public speaking anymore but he does classes to teach people how to make their tics go away by taking control of them. He asked me If I would be interested. I thought long and hard about this. Even though my tics are annoying and sometimes painful, I wouldn't change them. My tics make me who I am. I cannot imagine going a day without my TS. And because of it I have met amazing people and have gotten to go to great events. I would be curious to ask others with TS if they had the chance, would they make themselves not have Tourette's? Until next time.

-Allie

Coffee Talk

     I have been diagnosed for two years but experienced symptoms for 11. Once I was diagnosed my neurologist told me to give up caffeine. This was a challenge. I would go through periods when I didn't drink it and didn't notice a drastic change in my tics. Of course I would go back to it due to my love of pop and coffee. 

       Many people have said their tics lessened a tremendous amount when they gave up caffeine, but with everything it just depends on the person you talk to and the severity of their TS.

"Stop scrunching your nose!"

     When I was 8 years old I began scrunching my nose constantly. Everyone was telling me I could stop it so I tried and tried and of course, it never stopped. People told me it was a faze and I would grow out of it. When I became self conscious about it I would try to hold back and attempted to not scrunch. Whenever I did this my face felt like it would explode As the years went on I continued to do corky things with my face. Not only was I scrunching my nose but I was blinking my eyes, stretching my neck, and moving my jaw painful ways. Finally I told my doctor about it and she told me it was just a motor tic and would disappear with age. However, it never did and eventually I was sent to a Neurologist. After countless appointments and being told it was a motor tic, I eventually developed a mall vocal tic. On September 9, 2012 I was diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome.
      After I received the diagnosis, I felt a whirlwind of emotions; relief being the most prominent. All the times I was treated differently came rushing back. I remembered the time I was in my senior English class discussing the meaning of a poem. At the time I was in the beginning of an eye rolling tic. As I was enjoying the poem my teacher stopped reading and told me to stop being disrespectful and if I was going to continue to do so I should leave the classroom. I had never been more humiliated. I knew why he thought I was being disrespectful but I was not comfortable explaining that I could not control it. Once the diagnoses of Tourette's came in, I finally had something to place on all those embarrassing times.
       Having TS has had is ups and downs. I have been able to spread awareness and meet amazing people. Although with all the positive, there will always be negative aspects. Whenever people find out I have Tourette's people never believe me. TS has been very negatively portrayed in the media. People think of Tourette's and they think of screaming obscenities. So many do not realize that Coprolalia is only a rare side effect of Tourette's Syndrome and only 10% of people are effected.
        My goal is to spread awareness and lower the negative stigma towards TS and educate people. Please enjoy my blog


-Allie