How I Overcame Tourette Syndrome
By Doug Fath,
Growing up I was stubborn, and I often got
N's and U's (Unsatisfactory) in conduct in
school...
I would drive my parents crazy as they
tried to figure out why their son was
acting this way....
Then, in the 2nd grade, I was diagnosed
with Tourette Syndrome.
People often associate TS with people
shouting out obscenities and curses...
...This can be one result of TS but it is
not the norm.
For those of you who don't know, TS is a
neurological disorder that is characterized
by motor ticks and vocal ticks...
By vocal tick, I mean a noise I would make.
For example, when I was younger I would
whistle on my wrist until it made the right
feeling on my wrist...
You can only imagine how disturbing that is
in the middle of the classroom!
A motor tick could be me blinking my eyes or
shrugging my shoulders...
There were other ticks too, but I have been
very fortunate as I don't have a severe case,
and never had to be on medication.
Once I got diagnosed my family and teachers
had a reason or explanation on why I behaved
the way I did...
They believed that TS is why I misbehaved and
was having the difficulties I was having...
They even spoke about giving me certain
considerations because of my "disability".
Up until that point I never really thought
about why I was misbehaving, but I didn't
believe that it was because of TS.
After being diagnosed in the 2nd grade,
I decided that TS was NEVER going to get in
the way of anything I wanted to do...
...No matter what.
Soon after, my behavior turned around and
I started getting S's and E's (Excellent) in
conduct...
Of course, I still had my ticks, and had
to explain TS to my teachers...
...but I stopped being stubborn and misbehaving,
because I knew that would get in the way of me
getting good grades, which is what I wanted to
achieve at that time...
The point I want to make here is that when
I was diagnosed with TS, I had a legitimate
excuse to misbehave and continue what I was
doing...
...I had the sympathy of my parents and
teachers, and they believed that was the
reason for my conduct...
But, I believed that it had nothing to do
with how I behaved, and I believed that it
would never get in the way of what I wanted
to do...
...And since then, I have never let TS get
in the way of anything I wanted.
TS is a part of my life every day, but does
not hinder what I am committed to.
This story reminds me of one of my favorite
quotes by Heny Ford...
"Whether you think you can or think you can't,
your're right."
wherever you are in your life right now...
don't let what other people say move you away
from your dreams...
...and what you believe is possible for yourself.
Take advantage of this opportunity, in this
moment... to alter your beliefs and now believe
that you can have whatever you want...
Think that you can do whatever it is you want
to do...
Because you can.