Hey guys, so I need your help/advice. I know a girl in my sorority who I am pretty sure has tics. I have yet to find anyone on campus with tics/Tourette’s, and I really really want to have someone on campus who I know with tics/Tourette’s, too, so that I don’t feel so alone on campus sometimes.
I’ve been agonizing for a while over how/if I should contact her about it, and I finally think I am ready to/know what to say. I don’t want to ask her if she has tics outright in case I am totally wrong on this one, but I have seen her repetitively tic many times, so I think I am right.
I wrote out a message that I want to send her on Facebook. What do you think? She has already shared with me that she recently got a diagnosis of something (she didn’t really specify in the moment, but she is very confident and open, so I feel like she would have been willing to if I asked). This is the message I would send her. What do you guys think?
I know this is a bit of a delayed reaction/ message, but I figured better late than never. When you asked me about my experience with disability services accommodations in the dining hall a little while ago, I felt like I wasn’t giving you very good answers since there were a lot of people around the table!
So I wanted to let you know that if you have any more questions, you can definitely ask me or if you just want to talk I am here, too. I know it can feel somewhat lonely to have a new diagnosis when you don’t know anyone else who has a similar diagnosis on campus or around you and sometimes you just want to talk to someone who knows what its like.
Of course, I don’t know your exact diagnosis and you don’t need to share that with me if it’s not something you’re comfortable talking about, but when I first got my diagnosis I feel like I really had no one to talk to who actually understood fully what it was like and I would have really appreciated if someone had reached out to me. We could have completely different diagnoses, but most of the time that doesn’t really matter and it’s just nice to know you aren’t alone in what you are going through
I’m pretty much very open about talking about my diagnoses since I’ve been diagnosed with Tourette’s Syndrome (a neurological disorder that causes me to have twitches, movements and sounds) for three years, OCD for four years, and sensory processing disorder and generalized anxiety disorder since I was very young.
Most of the time I really enjoy sharing my experiences with others and also hearing about other people’s experiences but I have yet to find anyone on campus! So if you ever want to talk/ ask me questions about disability services or talking to professors about your accommodations I would be more than happy to. I would also enjoy it, too, since I myself can feel somewhat lonely on campus not really knowing anyone else in my friend group or in aoii with a diagnosis/ Cornerstone accomodations:)
— Alpha
So what do you guys think?
That’s a good message. I think you handled it the right way. She definitely needs to know that you are there for her but that you are not going to interfere if she doesn’t want that.