Living with neurological disorders can be full of challenges for both children and adults. The good news is that life with these disorders can still be filled with joy and adventure. It just takes some creative thinking and flexibility to get there, and that’s what I’m here to help with! Visit me on my own site, brittanyfichterwrites.com, if you want to know more!
Tourette Syndrome, despite all the information we’ve gained in the last 15 years, is still a hard topic to find information on. Unfortunately, the media has chosen to pick out the parts of the disorder that it deems funny, and the rest of the information seems tucked away in textbooks on dusty corners of doctors’ desks.
Well, no more. Here is the third of 10 questions that touch on topics I’ve talked about with parents of children (and individuals) with Tourettes multiple times. You want a quick, easy answer to share with someone who doesn’t understand? Hopefully, I’ll have it right here as part of this series!
In case you missed them, here are links to the first two parts:
Also, if you want more information about a certain topic, I’ve linked related posts underneath each answer. My related posts will have more sources that you can look up on the topic if you so desire.
Can’t You Just Stop?
Imagine you have a told, the kind where you have that really annoying little cough, the kind that happens every 30 seconds. Now remember what it feels like to try and stop that cough. You might be able to suppress is for an minute, maybe two. But eventually, you’ll have to cough, and when you do, you’re going to have a coughing fit.
That’s exactly what it feels like to suppress ticcing. If I think about it, I can often suppress my tics (The length of time depends on how strong the tics are that day.), but when I’m done, I’m going to pay for it afterward, often when I get home or back in the car. So when people tell children with tics, “Can’t you just stop?!” there’s a good chance they probably can’t.
For more information, see: Tourettes Isn’t Always Obvious: The Hidden Struggle
