Hello there! I will be using my pen name Ruthie for this blog. I’m currently 17 years old and I have Tourette’s Syndrome, OCD and anxiety. Although it was a long road to my official diagnosis of Tourette’s Syndrome, I have lived with the condition almost all of my life.
For a long time I was misunderstood, but now that I finally understand it myself, I wish to share my experience with others in hopes that my story can help those with Tourette’s to be understood.
My tics currently are pretty frequent and noticeable and can even be painful at times but I try not to let it get me down. Though my struggle I hope to help others understand the condition better.
NOTE: RuthieP runs her own blog, A Little Bit Different: A Life With Tourette’s Syndrome, and will be writing from time to time for Teens4TS. Here is a sample from her blog of just one thing she believes about herself and other people with TS:
Just wanted to share the vast and quite prominent link between Tourette’s and creativity. … People with Tourette’s more often than not have an unusually keen creative side. I think this is true with me as well, as I have been writing poetry and short stories since I was very young. My poetry has been published many times, and I have been to some very prominent creative writing programs in the U.S.
… (There is) a slam poetry piece done by a young man named Devin. He suggests that even though having TS is hard, it’s what gives him his gift with poetry and with words. Sometimes I, too, think this is true. Sometimes people ask me where I get my gift for poetry, and I would guess that it comes from having Tourette’s. Too much dopamine isn’t always a bad thing.
very niceeeeeeeeeeee