91av

How does your 罢辞耻谤别迟迟别鈥檚 manifest itself?
Hedgehog. Biscuit. Well, biscuit, like everybody with 罢辞耻谤别迟迟别鈥檚, biscuit, I have multiple motor tics, and at least one vocal tic. Biscuit. Hedgehog. Biscuit. Anything that I鈥檝e ever known or experienced has the potential to become a tic. Biscuit. So very unusual ideas, biscuit, often get thrown together by my neurology and they create unusual new concepts. Biscuit. Hedgehog. Cats.

Would you mind if we replicated your last answer verbatim, tics and all?
I鈥檓 happy to do that, yes.

Do your vocal tics ever surprise you?
The biggest misconception people have about 罢辞耻谤别迟迟别鈥檚 is that it鈥檚 the 鈥渟wearing disease鈥�. In fact, only 10 per cent of people with 罢辞耻谤别迟迟别鈥檚 have obscene tics. I am one of that 10 per cent, but even so I rarely swear. I say 鈥渂iscuit鈥�, 鈥渉edgehog鈥� and 鈥淚 love cats鈥� a lot at the moment. I actually don鈥檛 have any strong feelings about cats, but now I profess my love for them every few minutes. My vocal tics do often surprise or shock me. Not because they鈥檙e rude, but because they can be funny or surreal.

How did you learn to embrace that creativity?
A friend once described my 罢辞耻谤别迟迟别鈥檚 as a 鈥渃razy language-generating machine鈥� and encouraged me to do something creative with it. That led to the foundation of , an organisation centred on my superhero persona. It鈥檚 about recognising that 罢辞耻谤别迟迟别鈥檚 gives me the power to access a spontaneous creativity that other people perhaps can鈥檛 do in the same way. As an organisation we use humour and creativity to get people to think about and celebrate differences.

What can thinking differently about 罢辞耻谤别迟迟别鈥檚 achieve?
We鈥檙e used to considering only negative connotations but there is an incredible disability culture thriving in lots of areas of life including arts and sports. But Touretteshero isn鈥檛 just about encouraging people with 罢辞耻谤别迟迟别鈥檚 or getting people to think differently about it. It鈥檚 about getting everybody to engage with the condition and to use tics as a creative catalyst: whether that鈥檚 for new artwork and music, or for research partnerships and scientific exploration.

What motivated the stage show that you鈥檙e involved with, Backstage in Biscuit Land?
This had its roots in some difficult experiences I鈥檝e had at theatres and live performances. I was once asked to move to a sound booth when other people threatened to leave because of the noise I was making. That was incredibly humiliating but it eventually motivated me to look for the one seat in the house I wouldn鈥檛 be asked to leave.

Creating the show was an interesting challenge, because I鈥檓 neurologically incapable of staying on script. So it doesn鈥檛 matter how much I want to try to say or do something in exactly the same way each time, 罢辞耻谤别迟迟别鈥檚 means that I鈥檓 never going to achieve that. But I think it makes for a more interesting show.

(Image: Courtesy of Jess Thom)

This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淲elcome to biscuit land鈥�