Beneath the Stripes - Invitation to Vancouver

Beneath the Stripes:

Tourette's Syndrome from the Tiger’s View

by Darin M. Bush

Invitation to Vancouver

If you have never been to the annual TSFC international conference, you absolutely must go. Not compulsively, but absolutely, at least every other year. Skip more than one in a row and the ADHD folks have to start over. “Hi. Have we met? Really? Well, nice to meet you again.” With or without ADHD, I think seeing and meeting TS+ people is the most important function of the conference.

The best self-esteem booster for someone with TS+ is to normalize, i.e.: fit in, if only for a short time. The international conference is the best place to do this. People gather from all over to meet other TS+ folks. We share and learn, cry and laugh, and spend an entire weekend comfortable with people with TS+, and with ourselves.

So comfortable, in fact, when folks are poking fun at us, we know it comes from friendship and not fear. I love coming home with my bag packed full of new Tourette humor. “Knock, knock.” “Who’s there?” “OCD.” “OCD who?” “Knock, knock.” And so on… Humor is another great way to rebuild self esteem and take the edge off of living with TS+. Recognition is another “Top 10” self esteem energizer. Any kind of positive regard helps us through the ticcy days. My personal favorite is awards. Wouldn’t it be great if everyone who attended got an award? Volunteers should get two.

The TSFC does a fabulous job handing out recognition. I want to give you an example, but I might change some details to provide anonymity. (That’s a lie – if I change something, it is because I can’t remember it correctly. Oh, well.) Also, I will not use my example’s real name; I will call her Bessica Scrivem instead. When I first met Bessica, at a workshop in Toronto, she was a feisty, opinionated teenager who still wanted to make sure everyone knew she was upset about having TS+. I got volunteered to gather the teenagers for a private group chat. “You parents! Out!” We talked about how TS+ - sorry - sucked. I guess she had never seen Tourette through the eyes of someone else who had it. The group chat seemed to have a life-altering impact on Bessica. She started a TS+ peer group of her own, and I believe it is still up and running.

Her success with the peer group brings us back to the TSFC giving out awards. At the 2003 conference in London, Ontario, Bessica received an award recognizing the changes she has made in her life, and the impact she has had on others with TS+. I look forward to being in Vancouver for the 2004 conference. I hope to see Bessica, to sit down with her and talk about how our lives with TS+ are unfolding, to meet her again if you will. I know that lots of people who are reading this deserve similar recognition. To that I say: come to Vancouver, pull up a chair, and tell us your story.

Questions? Comments? Award me with an email at the Tourette Tiger

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