Thursday, November 20, 2014

Another day in the life....Tics being set off by sniffing

Today i'm doing research in the lab over at the medical school campus and the other student that sits next to me has a cold today and keeps sniffing really loudly. It's killing me because every time she sniffs I feel the overwhelming urge to do my sniffing tic! 

My sniffing tic seems to by one of my tics I have the least control over as I hardly ever feel the premonitory urge before it happens, so it's certainty a strange feeling and something very new for me to feel the urge SO strongly today as I sit next to a person who keeps sniffing and setting me off. I feel really awkward having to sniff repetitively every time she sniffs. It's pretty embarrassing because although she may have some idea that I have TS, I haven't talked to her about it and I have no idea how much she knows about "being set off" and about how Tourette's works.

It's getting to the point where every time she sniffs, I feel the urge so strongly and try to hold back so much that it sets off multiple motor tics in addition to the sniffing that eventually happens even though I try to hold it back. I'm supposed to be in the lab for another two hours, but I don't know if I can take another two hours of this!!

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Presenting to your/your Child's Class About Tourette Syndrome

For those of you who have a child who is newly diagnosed or is thinking about presenting to his/her class about Tourette's for the first time, this is a good read for you! If your child's tics are noticeable to others, educating the class about it can only help! http://kidcompanions.com/tourette-syndrome-school-child-tics-tell-classmates/


I have done it both ways, choosing not to educate and choosing to educate and trust me, having my classmates know about my tics has made my life so much easier. My classmates have been nothing but accepting. After they know about my tics, they no longer think of me as the girl twitching and making noises randomly, they think of me as the girl who is smart, funny, brings up good discussion points about the reading, and oh yeah she happens to have Tourette's too :)