The moment I\u2019m writing this, it\u2019s exactly two weeks until I\u2019m on that stage, holding my speech at the European Tourette Syndrome Conference in Athens, Greece! And that makes me SO nervous! It\u2019s coming really close now, and I\u2019m looking forward to it even more, but the nerves are starting to come as well! (And so are the tics and the chaos in my head.)<\/p>\n
This past weekend, I wrote my second speech, which is more important to me than my first one (on co-morbidity), because this one is about my opinion, my voice. In this speech, I\u2019ll talk about my view on therapy and treatment. but from a different viewing point — how to live with Tourette I think this factor is very often overlooked during therapy because we all focus on the symptoms. So hopefully I\u2019ll inspire the people there to add this to their therapy or treatment.<\/p>\n
Besides that, I\u2019ll speak about positive aspects of Tourette and following your dreams. I\u2019ll end with a sentence that\u2019s been in my head since I knew I might go to Athens. It, at least for me, is an amazing ending, I can\u2019t wait for you to hear it!<\/p>\n
I really can\u2019t explain it better than this without giving you the entire speech, so you\u2019ll just have to wait to (hopefully) see it on YouTube! I\u2019m trying to find a good camera, and I\u2019ll ask my sister to video it so that I can put it on YouTube. A lot of people have told me they really wanted to see it, so hopefully, this way, I\u2019ll even reach a bigger audience.<\/p>\n
Also this weekend, I fixed the wardrobe issue. I\u2019ve got everything I will wear, I just have to figure out which outfit I\u2019ll be wearing which day!<\/p>\n
Tomorrow I\u2019ll have the final meeting with the therapists about the role plays and the other things I\u2019ll be doing. And then it\u2019s just practice, practice, practice! The hardest part is the pronunciation of some English words as “neurologist” and “behavioral therapy” (these are actually in one sentence!). Behavioral is almost impossible to the point that I wrote it down phonetically (bieheevjural), and I\u2019m going to put it on my card like that as well!<\/p>\n
That\u2019s right, I\u2019m making cards, so I\u2019ll have something to remember my speech while I\u2019m up there.<\/p>\n
And finally, let\u2019s not forget I\u2019ll be in Athens! Being a huge history geek, I want to see a lot of the old ruins and buildings. I bought a travelers book about it and I was very happy to learn that almost everything is very close together. We\u2019ll have one-and-a-half day (plus the nights, after the conference) to see Athens, and I actually think we\u2019re going to pull it off!<\/p>\n
I really can\u2019t wait until it starts!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The moment I\u2019m writing this, it\u2019s exactly two weeks until I\u2019m on that stage, holding my speech at the European Tourette Syndrome Conference in Athens, Greece! And that makes me SO nervous! It\u2019s coming really close now, and I\u2019m looking… Continue Reading