Hi, I am Amanda I am currently studying the performing arts and elementary education.
My sister, Emily, has Tourette’s Syndrome. She is the most caring, passionate, strong, loving, and determined person I have ever met. She does not let her tics define her but she allows them to help her shape herself into the lovely human she is and is continuously becoming.
I know that the transition from getting diagnosed with a tic disorder to then getting officially diagnosed with Tourette’s Syndrome has been tricky on Emily but it has also been tricky on the people surrounding her.
Change is never easy. Not for anyone.
I grew up with Emily. I watched her flourish and grow into this amazing person I get to call my genetic best friend for life. For most of Emily’s life she was on that incline up to improvement and becoming a better her. When Emily got diagnosed with TS that put a quick halt to that incline. She had to adapt. She had to learn. She had to grow at an extremely fast pace. As a “tweenager” you are already learning so much about who you are and then adding on a whole extra part of your identity, can really be difficult to balance.
Watching Emily struggle was so difficult for me and I bet it was difficult on everyone else who loved her and cared about her. When the height of this adjustment was happening to Emily, I was in college. I was away. I wasn’t with her everyday or sleeping in the room next to her. My main source of communication was FaceTime. I wanted to hug her every night but I just could not. This was not easy but I had to make do just like Emily was doing.
It is never easy to watch someone you love involuntarily hurt themself or say and do things they would never want to do. You just wish you could step into their shoes and feel the pain or hurt for them even for one day. You wish you could be the one to deal with the bullies. You wish you could be the one to deal with the side eyes and glaring looks in the grocery store. You wish but it won’t come true. I have wished many, many times and here I am. I just try my best to pick up every phone call, give all the hugs, listen to her talk, support her, and offer my advice to the best of my ability.
I have learned so much about myself through watching Emily. Not many people can say they have grown as a human by watching their younger sibling but I truly and honestly can.