To
go back to the beginning of the "Telling People About Your Difference"
section, click
here
To
see letters from kids who heard about other kids' differences, click
here
To
read what kids think about others finding out about their differences,
click
here
To
see actual presentations, poems, and essays that kids have done about
their differences click
here
Talking
to both kids and adults about Tourette Syndrome in Vancouver, British
Columbia (June 2000).
When
I was a kid, I didn't want ANYONE to know
that I had Tourette -- I was afraid that NO ONE
would want to hang around me then, that people would tease me EVEN
MORE once they found out. I used to have nightmares I called
"scream-dreams" where I would get called
crazy and get locked up when people found out about my "Big
Secret"!!
Then some people DID
find out I had Tourette....and they STILL
wanted to be my friends ANYWAY! I was really
surprised, and started to wonder if maybe ALL
those people at my school might still want to be my friends if THEY
knew that I had Tourette TOO....
Guess what? A lot of
them DID!! Some people were still mean
and teased me, but hardly ANY! And with
all my NEW FRIENDS sticking up for me,
that didn't bug me much at ALL. There were
MORE people on my side than I thought there
would be. I felt so much better INSIDE too
-- I wasn't all stressed out holding in my tics anymore, and I knew
that I didn't have to be scared that people would think I was a freak
anymore. They already KNEW that I had TS,
and didn't CARE!! I was so much more relaxed
I even found that my symptoms weren't as bad. It was GREAT!!
I felt so HAPPY and RELIEVED!
Y'know, sometimes people
KNOW that you are a little weird, but they
don't know WHY. They might think you WANT
to be weird, or LIKE being weird, as if
that was just who you ARE! When people
think you are just "weird", they don't know what to say to you. Then
they just don't want to talk to you.
When you tell them
WHY you do weird things, and they find
out that there is a NAME for the thing
that makes you weird, it makes other people feel better about talking
to you. Telling people that you don't MEAN
to be weird helps people understand you better, and suddenly they LIKE
you! Even those who decide they STILL don't
like you have a hard time teasing you now, because the people that think
you're pretty awesome now think those TEASERS
look like the idiots now!! WOO-HOO!!
Now I go into schools
all the time and talk to kids about Tourette and OTHER
differences too -- sometimes kids are a little NERVOUS
about this because they are like I was: they still think that people
won't like them anymore if they find out. But NOW
WE KNOW BETTER!
But
why listen to what some goofy adult thinks?? Read on!
I've
got some great letters from some KIDS WHO HAVE
HEARD ME TALK about differences in OTHER
kids!! See what they thought about it here!!
If
you want to read what some KIDS WITH DIFFERENCES
think about their classmates finding out they have Tourette, click
here!!
Ok,
so you're convinced to say something in your class now..........but
WHAT???! See ACTUAL
PRESENTATIONS (poems, essays, speeches) that kids have done
by clicking here!!
Well
now YOU'RE all set to go with the right
attitude and a good presentation, but does your
TEACHER STILL NEED TO BELIEVE that this is a good idea? Download
and print HANDOUTS for your teacher about
the importance of telling people about your difference by clicking
here and reading "The Big Secret"
Part I and Part II!!
