Over the last few weeks students, past, present and future have been protesting about the proposed increase in tuition fees and the abolition of the Education Maintenance Allowance. In the last few days the presence of disabled protesters at these demonstrations has been widely debated in the media.…

This afternoon I had a hospital appointment to see if Botox injections might help prevent my neck tics causing lasting damage. The doctor said they could help for simple tics like jerking my head back or blinking, but they wouldn’t be useful for tics that involved multiple muscle groups.…

I went for a drink with Laura this evening and while I was ordering our drinks a man at the bar said, “You’re lucky to have Tourettes – it means you get to say whatever you want.” I pointed out that it actually means the opposite: I don’t get to choose a lot of what I say.…

A few moments ago, as I was walking home from the station, a man on the other side of the street pointed at me and shouted “Demon possession!”

Advent Outburst #12
“I’ve got a 50% chance of being a Christmas tree.”

I’ve mentioned a number of times before how I’m not very good at keeping secrets, and how this often means I tell people what they’re getting as gifts long before it’s time to give them.

Today the problem’s got even worse because Poppy’s told me what she’s got Leftwing Idiot for Christmas.…

I was travelling back on the Tube with Annie after we’d been to buy some fabric for the Superhero party next week. While we were chatting I’d noticed the man opposite smiling at me a number of times. Shortly after Annie got out he struck up a conversation with me.…

I’ve just watched a great new video from Guy Francis, a singer with Tourettes. He did a duet with Becky, a woman who also tics, singing The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl’s ‘Fairy Tale of New York.’ It’s a funny and inspiring video – their voices are amazing and the song is peppered with tics.…

My friend Keir has made a brilliant tic-inspired video with his mate Chris. They chose a selection of my tics and made a short clip for each. The result is very funny and in parts strangely beautiful.

When I was on the train to Manchester last Saturday several people tweeted about being in a carriage with me.…

Leftwing Idiot and I tried out a local restaurant this evening. It’s only just started opening in the evenings and it was quiet and echoey. We both had soup, which is not a Tourettes-friendly food and I struggled to keep mine on the spoon.…

This morning radio presenter Jim Naughtie mispronounced the culture secretary Jeremy Hunt’s name and as a result said ‘Cunt’ live on air. Predictably this has caused an uproar and it’s reminded me of an amazing George Carlin video I watched a while ago.…