Understanding

My first experience with Tourette's came long before I even began exhibiting tics. A buddy of mine and I went up to Washington DC (this was the first time I lived in VA, for those keeping track) to see a game downtown. I don't remember if it was hockey or basketball, but it was a DC pro sports team in 2002, which means they probably lost. But we were on the metro after the game heading home and my buddy and I were sitting in the metro seats closest to the door. We offered our seats to others but nobody accepted, so we sat in the crowded car. There was a boy about 10 years old with his mother standing closest to us. He was holding the pole in the middle of the car for support and just staring out the window with a blank stare. After a few minutes of this, out of the blue clear sky, this kid yells like he just saw a ghost! My buddy literally jumped into his seat, over the back of it and ran to the far end of the car, scared out of his mind. My heart was racing as I sat there terrified, wondering was was behind me out the window that scared him and was it going to kill me. The boy quickly calmed down and returned to his blank stare while I, and most of the rest of the train, wondered 'what the hell was that?!' His mother leaned in to me and said, "I'm sorry about that. He has tourette's syndrome." I replied, "oh, ok. No problem." Once I understood that there wasn't a ghost sitting next to me, I was fine. My buddy finally returned to his seat once his heart rate dropped below 200 beats a minute.

Understanding is something that I have found a lot of people have, but it's often times hidden under many other emotions that come out first. I have found in my experience that a lot of people see that I have some kind of tic and immediately assume that I can't do things. Even the U.S. military has a rule when you try to join that any kind of tics disqualify you from military service. It took me going to 3 recruiters before I found one willing to overlook my tics, but look what they got out of it!

A tall guy in a goofy hat without a smile. But they also got the goal oriented, hard worker that I am.

It's almost a natural reaction to let our reservations appear before understanding. Some people see a person with a disability, either physical or mental, and immediately think that the person is incapable of doing things on their own. While this may be true, there is also a good chance that the person has learned to adapt whatever it is that makes them 'different' and can quite possibly surprise you with what they can accomplish. One of my favorite baseball pitchers when I was a kid was Jim Abbott. He was an amazing college and professional athlete who was born with only one hand. I looked up to him for being one of the best at what he did professionally and for overcoming something that many people can't imagine being faced with.

Needless to say, understanding goes far beyond employing and befriending people with TS. There are good people out there in every walk of life. From the age old prejudice of skin color and ethnicity, to physical and mental impairments to level of wealth, having people who have and exhibit understanding is what makes people want to be better. After fighting so hard to join the Air Force, once I enlisted I worked hard to ensure they had no reason to doubt their letting me join. (This included hiding tics the best I could for long periods of time.) When I accepted the job as a firefighter, not one person in the hiring process or rookie school minded that I had it. (They had issues with me bringing a camera crew with television producers and sound guys unexpectedly, but who wouldn't?!) But I still had the drive to be the best I could in rookie school and now every day as a firefighter. People around the world who aren't afraid of someone who is 'different,' who don't immediately jump to conclusions about others and give people who are 'different' a fair chance, they are often times the people who find golden nuggets of friends and employees that others have passed over.