Sometimes I wonder if I come across as being intolerant. I definitely have a moody streak, but I’m an extremely tolerant person. One of my first posts was about riding the bus. This bus ride was less than pleasant because the guy across from me kept playing with himself. I hope I didn’t sound judgmental. I am pretty sure he had Tourette’s.
The reason I thought of this today is because I was searching for something and ended up on youtube, where I then stumbled across videos created by people with Tourette’s Syndrome and other, related disorders. I spent some time watching a few videos (don’t tell my boss!).
I’m really fascinated by various neurological disorders, partly because they seem to run in my family. A few years ago, my son was being evaluated by a psychiatrist. My son has tics, but they are pretty mild and not noticeable to the untrained eye. I’ve pointed them out to his teachers so they can better identify when he is getting stressed out.
I’ve visited many a psychiatrist in my lifetime and no one has ever noticed or said anything about me having any tics (although people have asked me about my “rapid eye blinking” over the years). This doctor, as he was evaluating my son, nonchalantly referred to my facial tic. Apparently he didn’t realize no one had ever told me this before, or he wouldn’t have mentioned it so casually.
But, I really wasn’t offended. Now I had an answer. The next time I went to visit my family, I studied my parents’ facial expressions. Sure enough, my dad makes a lot of “faces” when he talks. I’ve always done this. I’ve always made lots of “faces.” People think it’s funny. I play it off. Now I had a name for it.
Posted by Cindy Thomas 