ThatDudeWithTics

Any pronouns

[thatdudewithtics]

Bit of an intro

Hello! My name is Syd! I have had both motor and vocal tics for about four years now. I am genderfluid and aroace, as well, and use it/its and neopronouns. I am also a minor.

I am apart of a median system, as well, so there may be the occasional post about that. I am front stuck, but other people who may make a post are Seth, Baby, Ichabod, and Catlynn (although she’s very unlikely)

Don’t really have any DNI but pls don’t interact if ur a nsfw blog or if ur just trying to get donations. I am a minor and cannot donate.

This is a safe space. You can always rant/vent in the asks about almost anything!

Feel free to send me asks!

[thatdudewithtics]

I just went through someone’s entire blog…sorry to that person for the spam :,) (crying while smiling) (/gen)

[catcheryips]

What actually is Tourettic OCD?

I've seen people using the tourettic OCD tag on posts that do not involve actual Tourettic OCD, so I thought I should make a post clearing up what it actually is.

Tourettic OCD (TOCD) is not recognized as it's own diagnosis in the DSM-5. It is considered a subtype of OCD, characterized by compulsions without the intrusive thoughts or anxiety. These anxietyless compulsions have been deemed "impulsions," to help differentiate them from regular OCD.

Impulsions are typically complex tic-like behaviors. Examples include: rubbing, tapping, counting, arranging, ordering, positioning, touching things in a specific way (ex: with a goal of symmetry or exactness), vocalizing phrases rather than simple sounds, or a multi-step sequence of movements (ex: several different hand movements in a row).

There is a lower tendency of impulsions related to checking, cleaning, and reassurance seeking.

OCD and chronic tic disorders are often comorbid conditions. Tics in TS, compulsions in OCD, and their preceding premonitory urges often overlap. Because of this, symptoms of TOCD must not equate to just having OCD and a comorbid tic disorder.

Onset of symptoms in TOCD typically happens at an early age, making it a predominantly pediatric diagnosis, with a higher rate in males.

Both TS and OCD involve a feeling of discomfort that precedes the behavior (tic or compulsion). In TS, the discomfort is physical or sensory (the premonitory urge), while in OCD, the discomfort is emotional and anxiety related (the obsession).

Patients with TOCD rarely experience obsessional thoughts. Their behaviors are instead driven by a sense of physical discomfort, similar to in tic disorders. This physical discomfort is often described as something feeling incomplete or "not right," and is what drives the person to act out the behaviors.

Despite the impulsions in TOCD not being driven by anxiety, the physical sensation can become anxiety provoking, if the behavior is not acted on.

Because they are not driven by anxiety, impulsions are not goal directed, like regular compulsions in OCD.

Patients with TOCD often repeat impulsions multiple times, until they feel "right," and the discomforting sensation goes away.

TOCD treatment is complex and symptoms are often treatment resistant. TOCD doesn't respond well to medications, so treatment mainly entails Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) therapy.

Cites:

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and chronic tic disorders (CTD) including Tourette Syndrome (TS) are often comorbid conditions. While so

When most people think of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), they envision repetitive behaviors like checking locks or excessive handwashi

[touretticlife]

The most accurate/informative post I’ve seen about tourettic-OCD

[sea-puppy]

One thing about tics that I rarely, if ever, see talked about, that I think is actually VERY important, is the way that tics often do not FEEL involuntary. When people are trying to describe tics to people questioning if they have them and need to get checked out, they usually describe them as "involuntary" or "totally involuntary."

But this leaves out so, so much. There's the premonitory urge, where you can feel it build up. There's also people who can suppress their tics, whether consciously or not. But when they are described as involuntary I think it makes people think of more like a muscle spasm—something truly, completely out of our control that no amount of will can influence. Then people go "Oh. Well. They're not like that, I must not have tics. I must just be faking it." And yes, of course we reassure people that you can't fake something on accident, but the point is that "involuntary" describes tics in a way that is technically correct but doesn't accurately convey the actual experience of having them. And I worry that it may push people away from seeking a diagnosis, and possibly just towards more intense self-hatred.

As kids, we're often told we just don't have enough discipline, or we're just acting out, or we have behavioral issues, or whatever. Some of my family members think I wasn't hit enough as a kid. Growing up, my tics were constantly called "bad habits" that my family thought could be broken. So many of us probably already suffer from imposter syndrome about it on some level just because of the brainworms the adults in our lives gave us.

I am clinically diagnosed with tourettes, and have been for a long time. And I still sometimes find myself going "Am I faking it? I've been able to control some of them very well, that doesn't seem right. What if no one else experiences tics like this and I have some weird, unknown mystery disorder that no one knows about?"

Tic disorders are like the "make you look and feel like a liar disorders" in my opinion lol. It feels fake. The fact that you can feel the tics coming and know which ones they are makes you FEEL like you can/should be able to control it. If you just try a little harder. If you just expend a little more energy. If you're just more disciplined. You were able to control that one tic one time, a little bit. Why can't you just do that? For all of them? Forever?

And I wish people described tics more true to how they feel, rather than using clinical language.

[touretticlife]

This!!!

This is also why I want to make a collab on YouTube for more in-depth information and things that needs to be talked about, while also sharing mine and others experiences. I also want to include a few people on one topic as everyone experiences them differently. I feel like TAA/TS documentaries is a bit copy and paste atm or have too many young cases, where most of them do not have a lot of research/been too recently diagnosed and often repeat the same things and often most of the time their tics are still being brushed off as co-morbidities, even by neurologists. Which is why I think it’s a bit sus how ADHD/OCD/ASD is a bit too high, (which will be explained later). The adults are often cases where they become severe and had to learn everything about it than mild and unnoticeable/bothersome tics, or are from older times.

TAA also suck with talking about tics it’s very weird and they’re very repetitive with their explanations. I’ve clicked on so many links that is supposed to explain about TS both quick and in-depth, all they could do was change how they said it.

Why isn’t there a tic list? Why isn’t there much info on the spectrum of premonitory urges? In their page of reading issues they only talked about physical tics haven’t mentioned mental tics, and there has been many tourettic people who works with them or are always at their events, like they are meant for us, there and rarely anything has changed, the only thing they’ve change so quick was to keep the idea that TS is rare or not real, and apparently poke fun of coprophenomena tics. It’s disappointing they’re pushing PANS/PANDAS and FND as a reason why premonitory urges are so flexible. We need to speak up more about this!!

PANS/PANDAS has already been debunked. FND is tricky atm. But feeling like you’re purposely ticcing especially with echophenomena tics, is a wild experience to go through, but it doesn’t mean it’s not real.

[thatdudewithtics]

Genuine question here: what do you mean by PANS/PANDAS has “already been debunked” and FND is “tricky atm”? I don’t know much about these disorders to begin with tbh and am still learning about Tourette’s (even after years of having it)

[yrfemmehusband]

Someone with tourettes: hi I have tourettes

The internet:

"DEFINITELY faking. I know what real ticks look like. My second cousin once removed has tourists and it doesnt look like that at all!"

"Do you turette during sex?"

"Do you have ticks when you sleep?"

"Omg ticks and roses part two"

"Why aren't you cursing"

"This doesnt look real because they laugh after their tournetes"

"I dont have tourette's but I have anxiety tics:("

"Why don't you have turrets in all your videos"

"I wish I had tournettes it looks so fun and I could curse people out"

"FAKE"

[touretticlife]

Tourette’s reminder

If you tic every once in a while you still have Tourette’s, even once a month, few times every few months or every few years. Even if you only have motor or vocal tics, even if you have one tic, you cannot downgrade from Tourette’s to chronic motor/vocal tic disorder. It’s normal for tourettic people to have just motor tics and then later develop vocal tics, just to later drop vocal or motor tics. Why? Because of fluctuations. We don’t know or understand fully why we tic or have specific tics, let alone why Tourette’s causes both motor and vocal symptoms and then suddenly only cause motor or vocal symptoms. There are also many cases where tourettic people only has vocal tics and then when they’re stressed or excited they develop motor tic symptoms temporarily, once the strong emotions or triggers were gone they went back to just vocal tics. We don’t know why that is. That’s just how tics fluctuates.

Tourette Spectrum Disorder should be a better name for these three tic disorders. TAA does not capture or advocate for diverse experiences like they should be.

[asexual-amanita]

Fun fact, someone having the same or similar tics as another person with Tourette’s doesn’t mean they’re faking.

There are actually three very logical explanations for why this happened.

1. Some tics are just genuinely common. Neck jerking or blinking for example, are extremely common tics that the majority of people with Tourette’s have experienced at some point.

2. Echolalia is another reason, and in a tic disorder context it’s when someone has a tic where they repeat sounds they’ve heard.

3. Tic swapping is similar to echolalia, but it’s when there are two people with tics, and one of them develops a tic they saw or heard from the other person with tics.

[ray-m00n]

“Hey Ray, can I cosplay someone who has Tourette’s?”

Since it was Halloween lately, and because this is something I’ve seen a lot of recently, I thought I’d make a post about this!

Who can and can’t cosplay a character that has Tourette’s?:

Well, let’s start with an important question. How are you doing it?

If you’re copying their mannerisms, including tics or stutters, then this cosplay isn’t respectful. My disabilities aren’t your cosplay, so please don’t imitate a disability if you don’t personally have tics or a stutter yourself (although if you do have those things, just exist as yourself, you don’t need to copy the character’s tics/stutters!). But if your cosplay is just a costume with props then go ahead if you’re being yourself in a costume or copying their personality but not their disability!

But Ray, why can’t I mimic a character’s Tourette’s/tics/speech impediment? Because I, and other people with those conditions, can’t turn our disabilities on and off at will! What you might have as a cosplay for a few hours for us is often a lifelong condition that we get bullied and discriminated against for simply existing as disabled people in society!

But how is this so harmful anyway? I’ve seen multiple times people cosplaying a disability inaccurately, when they visibly haven’t done any research on the disability at all. As well as this, even if you have done research, it is still disrespectful and oftentimes ableist that you see people’s disabilities as costumes! Obviously I’m not going to start screaming at every person who cosplays Tourette’s, however I do want people to know that it’s disrespectful and to be educated on it!

I won’t tell you what you can and can’t do regarding other disabilities as I don’t personally have mobility issues or scarring, so please listen to creators with those conditions if you want to cosplay characters with that! From what I’ve seen, many people in the disability community have the same sentiment to me, but please listen to other creators on this!

TLDR: My disability is not your cosplay! Cosplay the character’s outfit, not their disability.

(if any other disabled folk have anything to add please message me/pop it in the comments! And if anyone has anything questions or opinions they are unsure about, feel free to message me or post a comment!)

[wyrecthepolytherian]

No but this is really true and this needs to be a more popular post(more notes). I have tics (not Tourette’s), stutters, and a small speech impediment but it got better since I was a kid but it's still very much there, and it’s not something I can turn off. Seeing people treat things like this as costumes or ‘quirks’ is uncomfortable, especially when these are things people get mocked or discriminated against for in real life.

[ray-m00n]

yes! This! Exactly!

I also wish this post would have more notes, not for selfish reasons but because I wish people would understand this better!

[touretticlife]

People think it’s okay to mock disabilities because actors “get a pass”……

[exiledmemories]

little reminder that there is a difference to tics and tourettes — which is why thorough research is important

[touretticlife]

One is chronic the other is not, that’s the only difference. :)

In many research they do learn that chronic motor or vocal tics is just Tourette’s, some are trying to change it to Tourette Spectrum Disorder. Also in many research including chronic tics they tend to refer it to Tourette’s, because it’s chronic too.

They also learn that chronic motor tics tend to develop into vocal tics even temporarily- such as emotions or changes in environment, fluctuations, etc.

:)

[moebong]

reminder: pw severe Tourettes are not able bodied!

reminder: pw severe Tourettes are not able bodied!

reminder: pw severe Tourettes are not able bodied!

[touretticlife]

Tourette’s wanting to mimic something or do a tic, but doesn’t know what tic and/or how to satisfy the sensory/mental sensation (premonitory urges), so your body freaks out and goes into sensory overload.

[vixys-aac-hoard]

Can you make symbols for

“I am ticcing”

“I have a tic disorder”

“I don’t have Tourette’s syndrome”

Tourettes Syndrome

I don't have Tourettes Syndrome

TW! Depictions/Symbols Of Tics ⬇️ !

I am Ticcing

That was a Tic

I have a Tic disorder

Tic

[touretticlife]

This is cute ngl!!!

[tourettictrans]

if i tic a slur, i will apologize immediately. i've called my friends the f slur before and even if i know they're okay with it i immediately apologize. if i tell someone to fuck off or shut up, i apologize. even if we, people with tourette's, can't control what we say due to a neurological disability we all have, we can control how we react to it. and that should be apologizing, and if you don't know the people you've said it to: asking for forgiveness. if they don't give it to you, that's their choice.

i also think the misinformation people are spreading about tourette syndrome is not helping. you can't control what you tic, we should be allowed in public, you can't choose your tics, and tourette advocate john davidson is not faking it. spreading this misinfo is only going to fuel further ableism.

im not gonna post more on this tn because i wanna listen to what people of color with tourette's have to say first. if your curious i know @ killk1yoshi on instagram has already spoken up about her experiences as a black woman with tourette's surrounding this situation, and i suggest watching her video

[feldfrog]

[jackietastic]

Auuuggghhh I have Tourette’s and you just. Cannot convince people that your tics don’t reveal something about your psyche.

I’m so grateful I don’t have a slur as a tic. I did have an ex’s name as a tic like a decade after we dated and people were like “that means deep down you ~still love him~” and there was nothing I could say that could erase that smug, I-know-more-than-you “Your brain chose that word for a ~reason~“ attitude

Like, okay bitch, I also say “banana” so does that mean they’re secretly my favorite fruit? Fuck ooofffff

And at least with my ex’s name they were just convinced I was in denial. If you have a slur as a tic they just think you’re lying to get away with racism

And any tic you have, no matter how offensive or benign, people will be convinced you’re faking it for attention

I hate it I hate it I hate it

[tic-loud-tic-proud]

But aren't people with Caprolalia usually told by medical professionals not to apologize because it's involuntary? Then again, it's unlikely professionals had incidents that public in mind when telling patients that.

Hi, thanks for the ask! This is a tricky topic that a lot of people have been wondering about. It's very true that medical professionals aren't thinking about situations like this when they say that to individual patients.

I've been to dozens of doctors including neurologists, psychotherapists, psychiatrists, etc throughout my life for my TS and the impact it has on my social life. Never once have I been told that I shouldn't apologize to people that are hurt by my coprolalia tics, and I do apologize for them fairly frequently. Sometimes doctors (usually therapists) do tell people with TS not to apologize constantly for their tics, but this is for different reasons than ones associated with coprolalia.

The reason many Tourettic people find themselves constantly apologizing is because we are self-conscious and know our tics can be distracting and annoying. When medical professionals tell us to stop apologizing, it is for when tics are harmless to other people, like a blinking tic or twitching tic, where constant "sorry"s are pointless and damaging to the Tourettic persons' mental health.

For people that have coprolalia, this gets way more complicated. Slur tics are, by nature, always offensive and this always impacts the people who hear or are subject to the tics, even though they are involuntary.

When someone with coprolalia apologizes to someone who is hurt by their tics, they are not apologizing for having TS or for being disabled. They are acknowledging that these words are hurtful regardless of intent and apologizing for the distress it causes other people. Slurs are slurs because they have centuries of trauma and oppression behind them and it is reasonable and valid for people to be upset by them.

In the case of John Davidson's n-word tic at the BAFTA Awards, apologizing is the right thing to do. An apology wouldn't undo any of the advocacy he's been doing and continues to do for the TS community nor does it mean he's apologizing for existing as a disabled person. It would recognize the harm his tics caused and take accountability for it. Apologizing would give much-needed respect to Jordan and Lindo who were forced to continue to stand up on that stage and endure this humiliation.

The most important thing when it comes to TS is preventing issues like what happened at the BAFTA awards entirely. Most accommodations for tics and TS at events like this center around preventing and minimizing the impact of a person's tics on those around them, like priority seating and especially warning people specifically of the nature of a person's tics (not just "you may hear involuntary noises" but "these involuntary tics may be slurs and other words that are offensive"). The lack of coordination and planning on behalf of the organizers of the BAFTAs is appalling.

I think that the people who say Davidson doesn't need to apologize, even if they're trying to be well meaning to the TS community, are going down a slippery slope of disrespect towards people that are impacted by hearing these slurs (and other offensive tics that can be part of coprolalia). Having an attitude of "I don't owe anyone anything" benefits nobody.

Davidson needs to apologize properly (not just "I'm sorry if you were offended") and in no way would doing that harm the TS or disability community.

[dandy-boi-ftm]

I’m fucking tired and don’t look forward to whatever shit this causes for me because my autism and prosopagnosia gets me in enough trouble as it is.

This whole situation has been frustrating because so many official Tourette’s organizations respond with, “we ask for grace and understanding.” And yet, this has happened multiple times: a White man with Tourette’s gets in trouble over coprolalia or copropraxia in a situation where his tics negatively impact people who already face significant systemic barriers.

As a Filipino trans man with Autism, ADHD, Complex PTSD, and Tourette’s, diagnosed late in life, this is something that deeply frustrates me. Looking back, I rarely saw learning and developmental disorders diagnosed in People of Color. Many of us grew up with our tics unacknowledged, often framed as a moral failing or a lack of effort.

People of Color with Tourette’s often had to learn how to redirect or manage our tics early on, because simply explaining that we have Tourette’s does not afford us the same grace that White people with Tourette’s receive.

I think we need to understand the difference between intent and impact. A tic may not have intent behind it, but the impact can still be immediate and harmful; especially if it makes someone feel unsafe. We’re told about CBIT and medications to manage tics, but when someone with privilege has coprolalia or copropraxia, suddenly it becomes framed as completely uncontrollable and beyond discussion. If People of Color are not given the same freedom to tic as White people, maybe we need to reexamine whether tics that negatively impact others’ sense of safety should simply be allowed to continue without accountability or mitigation.

Growing up, most people I knew with tics experienced painful punishment that pushed us to hide or suppress them; often before we even understood they were neurological and beyond our control. I was used to seeing people step away or take breaks when their tics were affecting others.

When I became a 2024 Unsung Hero for the Tourette Association of America, it was the first time I was in a space full of people with tics who had grown up with the freedom to tic openly. I’ll be honest; I felt jealousy toward people whose Tourette’s caused them to throw or hit things without experiencing punishment. It took me months to stop the complex tics I unintentionally picked up at the gala. I was constantly apologizing for the tics I picked up, and it made me wonder whether the people I picked them up from ever apologize when their tics negatively impact others. I don’t know. But I worry that things may become even harder for minorities with Tourette’s.

And honestly… in the photos of Davidson, it looked like he was using chewelry. There are also tools like belt boxes or vocal dampeners that can help mitigate the impact of coprolalia. There are options for reducing harm.

[sea-puppy]

If you have coprolalia, I love you. I know the world treats people with coprolalia either as a joke, or a danger, or a bad person on a moral level, and people with coprolalia deserve so much better. Y'all are all great, and if people treat you like you're not, eat them they need to fix their hearts or die.

Coprolalia isn't exclusive to tic disorders, and this post isn't solely for those with tic disorders. If you have coprolalia, you're included in this :3

[sea-puppy]

I had no idea this would be so relevant immediately after posting, but I'm loving y'all extra hard now. I hope y'all look after yourselves and take some time to chill without social media in you need to 💔💕