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Question 69: I was wondering if I should explain my Tourettes to my two fine arts instructors. One is dance, the other piano. Both classes channel my tics, and the few that do come out are not even noticeable to the few in the class that know I have TS. Both instructors are a bit hard to contact, so I was wondering do you think I should just let it go and not explain unless something comes up or do you think it would be more respectful to go though the difficulty of contacting even if I may not ever do a noticeable tic in front of them? I know it is my decision in the end but I would like an opinion for someone more experienced than I am. R.J., CA, USA

Hello R.J.:

Like you say, the choice is yours however as a rule of thumb I pretty much always tell people right away if I know I'm going to have prolonged contact with them. You never know what might "slip out", or even what they might be noticing and/or wondering about and/or making assumptions about that you don't even know you're doing. Plus if you're wondering if they know, or if they've seen something, it's an additional stress that can exacerbate symptoms more and even send a message that you are 'distancing' yourself (by being overly INhibited, or by choosing to not talk about something that, unbeknownst to you, they HAVE noticed). Etc., etc.

There are just too many ways that lack of information can cause problems -- I don't see a reason to even potentially set myself up and so instead just clear the air immediately. Then I can put my energies into more important things.

 

Hope this helps R.J.! Have a good night,
Dr. Dunc.

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