Tourettes Makes You Tic

From my introductory blog post you will all be aware that my youngest brother Josh is one of my greatest inspirations.

These family snaps show some of our more obvious differences; I would hope everyone could determine that I am indeed a girl and he's a boy, I'm 22 years of age and Josh is an altogether more youthful 14, and, unlike myself (who can just about manage 'Chopsticks' on the Piano), Josh is a very talented musician for his age, having little-to-no training and holding the ability to read, write and perform music to an exceptional level.

Something which you cannot tell from these photos, is that Joshua has Tourette's; I would use the words 'suffers from' however at times he's one of the happiest boys I know, so I tend to veer away from that word, feeling it a bit unfair describing someone as a 'sufferer' when they perservere with whatever life throws at them and try to look on the bright side of life.

A quick scientific overview describes Tourette syndrome (TS) as "a neurological disorder characterized by repetitive, stereotyped, involuntary movements and vocalizations called tics;" to put this in simple terms, the individual can have 'tic attacks' either physically or vocally. 

The media has played both a detrimental and powerful role in the advertisement (so to speak) of this disorder; in parts television programmes have sensationalised Tourette syndrome. Pete Bennetts' entry to Big Brother (series 5) was thought by some as exploiting the disorder, showing an individual whose phonic attacks consisted mainly of swearing, fuelling the common misconception that all those with TS swear; in fact less than 20% of individuals' with the disorder swear and rightfully so, are not fond of this sterotype.

Recently however, I was excited to see the Channel 4 production of 'The Undateables;' I will no doubt talk about this show at a later date, however in short, I think it was an exceptional production. I believe this show gave those who may not be viewed as our stereotypical "normal", the opportunity to show the world that they are indeed individuals; yes, they may have disorders and "disabilities" which make them different to the rest of us, but in essence this only but shown each individual as positively unique.

I have recently been speaking to Luke who appeared on the show; I loved watching Luke and seeing how he deals with his Tourettes. As Josh is only 14, I always wonder if the disorder will 'knock' his confidence, however I was astounded by how Luke was at one with his Tourette's and through this the Channel 4 viewers seen him as an individual, not someone with a disability. This in essence is the way I wish everyone in the world would treat those with Tourette's; not as someone who is disabled by the fact that they may make involuntary noises but as someone who, on a daily basis deals with so much more than we could ever imagine. There is a side to TS which the majority of us won't see; the anxiety, motor attacks (which Josh and some others wth the syndrome have), and dealing with constant stares from members of the public. Now is the time when everyone needs to find the person behind the Tourette's, hopefully seeing some photos of my lovely brother shows their is always a person behind the disability.

I thought it was a given that I should do this blog post as it will undoubtedly be something which I will talk about on a pretty frequent basis; I have always wanted Joshua to start his own blog, but not having the confidence to do so, I find this the perfect opportunity for me to talk about living with Tourette's and share my thoughts with all of you! If anyone wants to get in touch regarding TS; if a family member has it, you do yourself or you're meerly interested, please leave a post :)