Misunderstood

🧠Tourette Syndrome Awareness 🧠

Today, I want to talk about something often misunderstood: Tourette Syndrome.

Imagine being sent out of class, over and over again, because your body made a sound you couldn’t stop — a hiccup that wasn’t a hiccup. A tic that wasn’t a choice. And being told, "Get some water," like that could fix it.

Water doesn’t fix Tourette’s.

Shame doesn’t fix it.

Silence definitely doesn’t.

But listening might help.

Understanding might help. 

Kindness absolutely will help. 

I wrotea poem called “Misunderstood” to give voice to this experience — the judgment, the isolation, and the strength it takes just to exist in a world that doesn’t always get it.

If you have 2 minutes, read it.

If you have 5, share it.

If you’ve ever been misunderstood, this is for you too. ❤️

#TourettesAwareness #Neurodiversity #Misunderstood #ListenFirst #PoetryForChange

Misunderstood 

They said it was hiccups.

Just a twitch.

A cough.

A glitch.

Sent me out of class.

Again.

“Get some water,” they said.

Like water ever fixed this.

Tourette Syndrome

doesn’t drown in a glass.

Doesn’t wash away

with silence.

But they sent me anyway –

hallway echoing

like shame.

My voice

is not your neat little box.

It jumps.

It stutters.

It snaps.

It sings

its own

off-beat song.

You thought it was attitude.

Cheek.

Disruption.

Drama.

You thought I wanted attention.

But who wants

the wrong kind of eyes

on the back of their neck?

Who wants

the snigger?

The sigh?

The seat at the edge of the room?

What you call noise –

that’s my nervous system

sparking like live wire.

That’s my body

holding too much electricity.

And still being asked

to sit still.

Tic.

Twitch.

Word.

Jerk.

Blink.

Snort.

Shout.

(I didn’t choose it.)

Would you exile a sneeze?

Detain a cough?

Shame a heartbeat

for being irregular?

This —

this is just another rhythm.

Not wrong.

Just different.

So no,

water won’t help.

Detention won’t help.

Silence won’t help.

But listening?

That might.

Staying?

That might.

Saying

I see you

—I really see you—

that just might

save someone

- Aspen Greenwood