This evening a new vocal tic burst onto the scene and has carried on for several hours so far. The last time I remember a tic arriving in such a flurry was “hedgehog”, a few years ago. Any new vocal tics tend to creep in gradually, gently embedding themselves in my repertoire.…

It’s the end of 2010 and the end of my first year as a blogger. I’ve been looking back and thinking about the key moments in my transformation from Tourettes sufferer into Touretteshero. Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be a ‘Best of…’ review but I do want to reflect on some of the more significant developments of the year.…

Maybe I spoke too soon yesterday when I proudly announced that my mood had been assessed as normal. I’m not so sure that would have been today’s judgement. I’ve been feeling weepy on and off recently but not for any specific reasons that I can identify.…

This evening I looked after my friend Gurpreet’s son Owain. Gurpreet was working late so I picked Owain up from the childminder, took him home and hung out with him for a couple of hours. I was a bit worried about how I’d manage because although I look after kids all the time, there’s usually someone else around if I’m ticcing a lot and need help.…

I went to Birmingham early this morning to help out at Under the Arches, a launch event organised by some friends who’ve started an organisation called Access Events. They’re going to host creative events for people with and without disabilities.

Under the Arches was their first one-day festival.…

My “I’m a baby” tic has suddenly changed accent. It’s been northern up to now, maybe Sheffield. Now it’s more Essex. I’ve absolutely no idea why this has happened. It’s the small details that always remind me how strange living with Tourettes can be.

In addition to my “I’m a baby” tic, I also now regularly say, “I’m a parent of a parent of…

… a partridge.”
… a papaya.”
… a piss.”
… a tortoise.”
… a baby.”

Earlier on I was trying to have a conversation with Leftwing Idiot. I kept interrupting myself by saying, “I’m a baby”. I turned to him in frustration and said, “I’ve probably said that more times than anyone else in the world.…

I have a new regular tic which I’ve been saying all this week. It’s, “I’m a baby”. I say this in the same husky voice as my, “Bye, bye” tics but with the addition of a slight northern accent. I’m not normally very good at doing accents but I seem to do them better if they’re involuntary.…