Coming up in March: Talking to my Senior Class about Tourette's and Presenting my Documentary to them

So I promised I'd blog about this, and I don't have much else to blog about today. I mentioned in a previous blog post that I was starting a new trimester today and that I thought I was actually going to feel better about ticcing in my new classes than I usually do. Not many people actually came to school today because it was senior skip day, and more than half of the senior class skipped, but I still think I felt better than I usually would have in my new classes. This I think is a result of two things.

#1, I posted my Tourette's documentary on my facebook page and most of my classmates can see it. Although all of them probably didn't sit down to watch it, I think a lot of people did actually see it on my facebook page and I have heard from some people in my class who watched it and the ones that I heard from told me that they really liked it! I'm getting more comfortable about posting things relating to Tourette's on my facebook page in general. I "liked" the National Tourette's Syndrome Association, posted my documentary on my facebook page, and posted a TSA PSA that I thought was really neat on my page yesterday with a comment underneath that said "for my TSA friends!" and then I tagged them!

#2, after I e-mailed my documentary to my college counselor, she e-mailed it to my class dean, and my class dean asked me if I would be willing to present the documentary to the senior class. Although I was a bit hesitant about this, I agreed, and will be presenting it to my entire grade probably sometime in March. So I figure its all or nothing pretty much. If I go up there and don't mention I have Tourette's it will seem like I'm hiding from it. "Oh I just...ummm....wanted to show you guys this documentary I made...and I made it just cause". No, that's just not my kind of style.

If I want to be open about this, and really put myself out there, I am going to do just that. If Marc Elliot can do it, then so can I. Anyway the idea that I am going to show the senior class my documentary, and tell them a bit about Tourette's and what it's like then there's really no reason to feel really embarrassed about ticcing. This is what I keep telling myself, and I think it's making me feel just a bit better.

On Friday, I will be talking to a class of middle school students about Tourette's and showing them pretty much my full documentary, so that will be some good practice! I have been watching Jen Zwilling's TSA presentation for some pointers on how to really give a TSA speech. If you are interested in that check it out! Jen founded the TSA Youth Ambassador Program and is really an inspiration!

VIDEO SHOWING JEN ZWILLING AS A TSA YOUTH AMBASSADOR TO A CLASS: http://www.tsa-usa.org/aPeople/Youth/YouthAm.htm

VIDEO SHOWING JEN ZWILLING AS THE WINNER OF A BRICK AWARD IN 2007: