We looked up the National Tourette Syndrome Society and found they had local state chapters. We found out there was one close to where we live and looked into when they met. It was the middle of summer now, and it looked like the next event was a summer picnic, so we planned on attending.
My husband was a little less enthusiastic. Well, he didn't think it was a bad idea, but it just made him a little nervous going into a big group situation where he didn't know any of the people. And then there was the question of whether or not we should actually take Thumper or not.
I mean, yes, he was the one with Tourette's, but there was this fear we had that if he saw other people with Tourette's and they had other kinds of tics that were a little more extreme, then what if he somehow started copying their tics? OK, yes, that sounds really dumb, but what if? I mean, what if some other kids is coughing all the time, and instead of his gulping or throat clearing, it turned into coughing because the idea was suggested to him? Or what if some other kid spit? Or what about the swearing? I know I had read it wasn't all that common, but what if? Thumper's tics weren't a huge deal, but what if somehow he "learned" other tics? Can you even do that?
Obviously, we still had a lot to learn, but we decided to take Thumper with us, and had our older son watch our other kids so it was just the 3 of us. That way, if there was any crazy wildness going on, we wouldn't have all our kids watching. We didn't know anything, and after all, we had just read that crazy book that had us feeling that people with Tourette's went crazy and tried to kill themselves.
So, here we were arriving at the picnic. It was a "bring your own dinner" kind of event, so I brought some food and we went to find a place to sit at a group of picnic tables under a pavilion. We sat and began eating, but really we were looking all around trying to see what these other people with Tourette's were like. Except we couldn't find them.
We were looking from family to family waiting to hear the swearing or shouting or hopping or anything, and we didn't see it. There was just one little girl that seemed to cough an awful lot, and I figured that was a tic, but it wasn't a huge deal. We walked around looking for signs of people jerking or twitching, but really these were normal people. Doesn't that sound awful to say! I am ashamed at myself that I was thinking anything less of people with Tourette Syndrome. I mean these were just regular ordinary people that had some tics.
After a while of interacting, I began to notice how one girl would jerk her head to the side or bend when she walked, or how a man would make some different facial grimaces. They had a few people speak about how Tourette's affected them, and it was interesting. A young woman spoke and I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary with her. A young man spoke who cleared his throat over and over just like Thumper. But you know, these were nice, good people, and having Tourette's didn't change who they were or make me feel they were any less of a person.
Thumper ran around having a great time. It was interesting that a boy most of the time so shy in a large crowd was somehow very outgoing in this group. He played and had fun the whole evening. We signed up to get more information and emails sent to us for upcoming events. Apparently, they held monthly support group meetings that we could go to. So we left that day, but we learned a great deal. We learned that people with Tourette's aren't like they portray in the movies or on tv. They aren't crazy, and they aren't a joke. They are regular people, maybe just with a bit of uniqueness. They don't pity themselves or each other, but they accept each other and with that have a greater acceptance for all mankind.
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