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Jon Kemp

Hi, my name is Jon

I started tic-ing when I was about ten (I am 38 now) I used to do all sorts of strange and bizarre movements but as I got older it became mostly twitches in my face, I suppose it makes me look pretty odd to many people.

I am very lucky because no one has ever teased me about my tics – sounds crazy doesn’t it? None of my friends have ever even mentioned it to me – I’m sure that other people, people who were not my friends might have made fun of me but I didn’t notice. The point is that I just got on with being me – I ignored my twitches and so did my friends – and I have many friends.

I sometimes thought that T.S. might interfere with the things I wanted to do – but it never has. I think that tics come from having a crazy amount of nervous and creative energy and that it just has to come out somewhere – like a hot spring geyser bursting out of the ground (and most people think those are really cool – right?)

In fact I know that my friends think I’m pretty cool too, people like the energy and spark that you and I have, it is an attractive feature.

I used to feel that I was different from everyone else – I’ve still never met anyone else who twitches (yes, really!) – but now I realise that it’s because I am different!

I used to think that everyone was pretty much like me (but without the tics) – but now I know I’m mostly wrong. Most people have nowhere near the amount of energy and drive that you and I have. For example, I can play all sorts of musical instruments, I’ve travelled the world, I’ve been an actor, a singer, played in bands, run my own business, put up and taken down buildings, worked as an architect, jumped out of aeroplanes, climbed mountains – I’ve done loads of really great stuff.

You probably have lots of abilities and lots of stuff you want to do too.

Most people haven’t done loads of stuff – most people have done surprisingly little.

Tics are annoying and worrying too – and sometimes they are very tiring and I wish they would go away – but doctors told me they would go away when I was 11 and they never did so I guess I’ll just have to live with them – and so will you.

I’m not friends with my tics, they are very hard to control, but they have not stopped me doing anything I wanted to do, I have a beautiful wife, three children, and I’m an airline pilot, so tics haven’t done me any harm really have they?

So just try to be you, and harness the energy that makes you tic because that’s the energy that makes you tick.

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