Tourettetiquette

Today I want to talk about Tourette etiquette again. I guess you could also call it Tourettetiquette.  Today while at my Grandmothers funeral a close family member came up to Enzo and said, "I am so proud of you! I didn't even here you tic once! Were you not very stressed? I was dumbfounded, could not respond. Enzo explained that stress does not cause tics, but can cause them to worsen. Then we all got in the car and joked about it until we could all breathe again.

So let's go through what was said, why we were caught off guard. What I think they meant. And what would have been more acceptable. Tourette is a medical condition, of which the person has no control. You wouldn't be proud of someone for not sneezing when they had hay fever. But you could be proud of someone for doing awesome in school or rocking it at speech and debate. Just like we never say you were really good or had a really good tic day. Because then if you ticed a lot you would have a bad day, or be bad. But if you exchange the words good and bad with high and low, then it's not a reflection on the child. What should have been said was "Hey Enzo, have your tics changed? I didn't hear you tic at all." I hope we can all remember that all people, regardless of disability need to be treated with respect, and sometimes we need to think of wording, so not to say something offensive. 

*I was not going to post this, but in my Facebook timeline a memory popped up that a year ago today we were dealing with the Good/Bad comments. So just as a re-education please remember these rules when it comes to dealing with Tourette, or any disability.