Have you ever been talked down to after sharing your diagnosis?
This one cuts deeper than people realise.
It often doesn’t look obvious. It’s the slower tone. The over-explaining. The decisions made for you. The subtle shift in how people treat you once they know you’re neurodivergent.
Difference can be mistaken for incompetence.
Processing differently gets confused with not understanding at all.
Living with Tourette’s, ADHD or Autism doesn’t make us less intelligent. It just means our brains work in their own way. And having to constantly prove that can be exhausting.
You don’t owe anyone performance to validate your intelligence.
đź’¬ Have you ever felt underestimated after opening up?
#dislabeled #tourettessyndrome #neurodiversity #differentnotless #endthestigma #mentalhealthmatters #neurodivergentvoices
Hi, I’m Aidy Smith, and I’m the only global TV presenter with Tourette’s.
I also live with ADHD, which means my brain tends to run a little differently from most.
For a long time, Tourette’s was surrounded by stigma and misunderstanding. Not many people were openly talking about what life with tics actually looks like.
So I decided to change that.
This page is where I share the reality of living with Tourette’s and ADHD. The honest moments, the learning, and the conversations that help people understand neurodiversity a little better.
If you’re new here, welcome to our gorgeous community. I’m really glad you found this space.
Stick around and be part of the conversation.
#dislabeled #tourettessyndrome #neurodiversity #neurodivergentvoices #differentnotless endthestigma
The easiest way to explain Tourette’s
It’s not random, attention-seeking, or something to “fix.”
It’s neurological.
Tics can be physical, vocal, or sensory.
They change over time, often increase with stress or excitement, and ease with rest and acceptance.
What’s hardest isn’t the tics.
It’s the staring, the jokes, and being told to act “normal.”
Understanding Tourette’s starts with compassion, not correction.
💬 What’s one thing you wish more people understood?
#dislabeled #tourettessyndrome #neurodiversity #differentnotless #endthestigma #mentalhealthmatters #neurodivergentvoices
Tourette's is widely recognised and poorly understood, and that gap tends to do a lot of damage.
At its core, it's a neurological condition that affects how the brain sends signals to the body. That's why tics happen. They're not deliberate. They're not a behaviour problem. They're definitely not "bad habits" that someone could just stop if they tried hard enough.
Tics can be movements or sounds, they change over time, and a lot of people with Tourette's also live with other neurodivergent conditions like ADHD or OCD. So it's rarely just one thing in isolation.
The biggest barrier for most people with Tourette's isn't the condition itself. It's the misunderstanding that surrounds it. That's the bit that makes daily life harder than it needs to be.
The more we talk about it properly, the more that changes. Save this one if it's useful, or pass it on to someone who might need it.
Is there anything else you want people to know about Tourette's?
#dislabeled #tourettessyndrome #neurodiversity #neurodivergentvoices #differentnotless #endthestigma
Tourette's Awareness Month starts today, and honestly, I never quite know where to begin with this one.
There's the stuff people notice straight away, the visible, easier-to-name bits that most people are actually picturing when they think of Tourette's. And yes, that's part of it. But it's never been the whole story.
A lot of what makes Tourette's what it is sits somewhere less obvious. The things that don't show up clearly on the surface, that don't get talked about much, partly because they're harder to explain and partly because they don't fit neatly into the version most people already have in their heads. I think that's exactly why it gets misunderstood as often as it does.
So this month, I want to open things up a bit. Share more of what it actually feels like from the inside, day to day, not just the headlines. And hopefully shift how a few more people see it.
I'd love to know where you're starting from. What do you actually know about Tourette's, and what shaped that?
#dislabeled #tourettesawareness #tourettessyndrome #neurodiversity
What do I like about Tourette's?
The Energy!
Don't get me wrong, there are days where it feels completely overwhelming, like it’s just bouncing around with no real direction, but on other days when you put that energy into something you genuinely enjoy it shifts into something completely different.
Focus gets sharper, ideas start flowing, and you almost forget about everything else because you’re just fully in it.
There’s a lot of focus on what Tourette's can take away, which is fair, but there are also times where its energy can give something back.
What helps you channel your energy?
#dislabeled #neurodiversity #differentnotless #neurodivergentvoices #endthestigma #mentalhealthmatters
Something that doesn’t really get talked about nearly enough is the physical toll Tourette’s can take.
From the outside, a lot of tics can look quite small, which is probably why people don’t always realise how much they can take out of you over time.
When your body is repeating movements over and over and certain muscles just don’t get a break… it builds up more than you’d expect, and there are days where it’s not just tiring, it actually hurts.
Reducing Tourette's down to “just tics”, misses out the tension, fatigue, and genuine physical pain it also causes.
And the tricky bit? It's often invisible to everyone else.
I'm curious... has anyone else had tics that have caused real physical pain?
#dislabeled #neurodiversity #mentalhealthmatters #differentnotless #endthestigma
This is one that still comes up all the time…
Mention Tourette’s and the first thing most people jump to is swearing, which makes sense in a way because that’s what tends to get shown the most, so it becomes the version people expect.
The reality is a bit different though.
Most people with Tourette’s don’t have coprolalia at all, and even when it is part of someone’s experience, it’s not something that’s chosen or controlled, it just happens.
It’s only one type of tic, not the whole picture.
When everything gets reduced down to that one version, a lot of the reality gets missed and that’s usually where a lot of the misunderstanding comes from.
Did you always think Tourette’s meant swearing before learning more?
#dislabeled #neurodiversity #mentalhealthmatters #differentnotless #endthestigma
So here’s something that still catches people off guard quite a lot…
The way Tourette’s is actually diagnosed.
It sits a bit differently to a lot of other neurodivergent conditions, because it’s classed as neurological rather than neurodevelopmental, which usually means you end up seeing a neurologist rather than going down the route you would for other neurodivergent conditions.
It’s one of those small details that doesn’t always get talked about, but it does make a difference in how people understand what Tourette’s actually is.
It feels like once you know that, it starts to make a bit more sense.
Did you know there was a difference in how Tourette’s is diagnosed?
#dislabeled #tourettessyndrome #neurodiversity #neurodivergentvoices #differentnotless #endthestigma
Growing up with Tourette’s can be a really heavy burden, and I don’t think that always gets fully understood.
There are days where even getting out of bed feels like a lot, before you’ve even stepped outside and dealt with everything else that comes with it.
It’s not just the tics either. It’s the bullying, the stares and the comments that slowly chip away at how you see yourself over time. That's definitely the part that stays with you the longest.
After a while, your confidence and self-worth take a hit, and you’re left trying to figure out how to rebuild yourself while still managing everything else.
Then add in the exhaustion, the physical strain, everything your body is dealing with on a daily basis, and it becomes a lot to carry, especially at a young age.
It’s a side of Tourette’s that people don’t always see.
What was the hardest part for you/ your loved one growing up?
#dislabeled #neurodiversity #mentalhealthmatters #differentnotless
This is something I get asked quite a lot, and it’s always interesting to see how people understand it.
There’s this idea that Tourette’s just suddenly appears later in life, when in reality, it’s often been there long before anyone actually notices it.
Sometimes it’s really subtle, other times it’s masked without even realising and in some cases, it just didn’t have a name yet, which makes it even harder to recognise what’s actually going on.
That doesn’t mean it suddenly started later though, it usually just means it hadn't been picked up or understood yet.
How old were you/your loved one when you first noticed your/their tics?
#dislabeled #neurodiversity #mentalhealthmatters #differentnotless #endthestigma #bekindalways #neurodivergentvoices
People ask me what Tourette’s feels like quite a lot, and it’s always an interesting one to answer.
Most of the time the focus is on the movements or the sounds, which makes sense, because that’s what people see.
What doesn’t get talked about as much is the physical side of it.
Tics can put a real strain on your body over time. The repetition, the tension and the constant overuse of certain muscles builds up more than people realise.
There are days where it’s just uncomfortable, and others where it can actually tip into proper pain, especially when you've had a relentless tic day.
It’s not always visible either, which is probably why it gets overlooked so often.
But for a lot of people, it’s a very real part of living with Tourette’s.
Has anyone else experienced this?
#dislabeled #tourettessyndrome #neurodiversity #neurodivergentvoices #differentnotless #endthestigma
