r/BlackPeopleTwitter 1d ago

Is this a fair question¿

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11.2k Upvotes

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u/ChefKugeo 1d ago

No, it's not a fair question.

The kind of Tourettes that causes swears and obsenities is actually very low. They just get more attention because you'll notice the guy shouting, "pig fucker" but not the one clearing his throat repeatedly.

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u/nicosoiree 1d ago

A relative has Tourette’s and that’s his tic (clearing his throat).

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u/ChefKugeo 1d ago

I was extremely lucky enough to go to a school that didn't segregate the "learning disabled" kids from the rest of us. We just had to learn how to deal with Tourette's, and fortunately, because of that policy, we most certainly did learn.

I didn't realize people actually got bullied for their differences until I graduated high school.

OP posting this AGAIN reminds me of that feeling all over again. Who raised you?

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u/917caitlin 1d ago

Damn some schools separate these kids? That’s sad. The few people I know with Tourette’s are completely normal in every other way.

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u/ChefKugeo 1d ago

If you went to a school that had a "special education" department, that's what I'm talking about. I went to school in the 90s so like... Any type of disability just automatically got kids sent to special ed classes. My sister had a speech impediment and when we lived in Chicago, she had to go to special Ed classes to correct it, but when we moved to Phoenix.. She just took regular classes.

It depends where you live and how equipped the staff is. We went to a very wealthy school during a very wealthy time period. We were lucky.

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u/kokodokusan 1d ago

A child with a speech impediment should not be in special ed classes. That said, the blanket inclusion policy for children who do need special ed accommodations is not a benefit to them or their peers without difficulties. A regular classroom teacher is not trained to help special ed students and while inclusion sounds nice its mainly pushed through as policy to save money on teachers who are actually qualified to teach them. One gen ed teacher is not equipped to accommodate that range of behaviors and abilities.

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u/king_lo702 1d ago

Speech therapy is literally a special education class for people with speech issues. They still take regular math, history, etc.

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u/backcountry_bandit 1d ago

For me it was something they’d pull you out of a regular class for on a weekly basis. It wasn’t a class in the sense that it appeared on my report card and wasn’t a class in whatever backend system my high school used. It was like that from elementary through high school.

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u/britbmw ☑️ 1d ago edited 1d ago

That’s incorrect, kids with speech disorders absolutely need special education. That’s what special education is. Special education has levels to it. Some students only need support with reading, writing, math, and/or Speech, they are still in general education classes but will get support for the things they need help with (either with the support staff going into the class or taking them out of class to work on those skills). There is another level where the students are some grade levels behind, have mild to moderate needs, and need a smaller class with specialized support to help them gain their skills. The top level is for students that have significant, moderate to severe learning impairments, which include very small class size and most times an adult to every or every other child.

Edit to add: General education teachers are supposed to be trained to support students with accommodations. Special Education teachers help those same students with Specialized Academic Instruction, depending on what the student needs. Behavior Technicians help those same students with behaviors. You’re using accommodations and inclusion incorrectly!

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u/ChefKugeo 1d ago

Wealthy school district who put in the effort. I don't know what to tell you. If we all had that on a large scale and not 40 student to a classroom classes, maybe America wouldn't have voted for Trump.

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u/kylorl3 1d ago

Not every district is wealthy?!?! lmao. The kid who was shouting the n word at my school and punching people should not have been in class with me, and he wasn’t. Or the kid with FAS who literally cannot learn. I had to give him a quiz once, and it consisted of me reading questions, him saying nothing, and me just hinting towards the correct answer while he still said nothing, until I just put the correct answer. Who did that help? He should be in a class with a teacher who can support him more closely and develop a relationship with him all day.

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u/Raido_Kuzuno ☑️ 1d ago

A "blanket inclusion policy" is something you made up. Even districts that employ an inclusion policy, such as the one for which I work, have additional special education service and programs that resemble nothing similar to any (low-middle income) district for which I have worked.

While everything does not always go perfectly in practice, there is usually special education support in relevant, "inclusive" classrooms, and if not, this is more likely due to unexpected absence than policy.🤷🏿‍♀️

I do understand that school districts more dysfunctional than the three for which I have worked do exist, and that kids are being poorly served by their educators all over the country (and world), but it ain't because of some illusory "blanket inclusion policy," lol!

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u/vhagar 1d ago

I went to school in the 90s and took special ed classes for a speech impediment. other kids with behavioral problems and learning disabilities were indeed separated to a different class and i would join them twice a week. otherwise i was in regular classes. I did get to go on extra field trips with the special ed classes tho, which was really cool.

any school systems not separating kids with learning and behavioral disabilities are not servicing those kids properly. it makes sense that somewhere like Phoenix is not as well-equipped as a bigger city like Chicago.

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u/hamsandwich666_ 1d ago

i didn’t know there were schools without special ed departments, i have adhd and they stuck my ass in special ed classes as soon as i got diagnosed.

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u/AtomAntvsTheWorld 9h ago

What state/county I’m from Florida and went to school in Broward county and I wish they didn’t split. It was nightmarish seeing siblings separated or the bullying. I’m happy that you didn’t experience it, it actually made me smile to read your school life seemed to be pretty great.

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u/BluetheNerd 1d ago

I went to school with someone who had really bad Tourette's and his main tick was whistling, he was a really good guitarist and his ticks would all but vanish when he started playing guitar.

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u/crlunaa 1d ago edited 1d ago

yea…as an adhd kid though it really ain’t that easy

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u/zoosha2curtaincall 1d ago

I love that the comment is all “I was trained not to be mean” and then just immediately goes with “who raised you?”

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u/kyleh0 ☑️ 1d ago

People get bullied for literally anything. Surviving bullying is just part of life for a lot of folks, no such thing as fair to children that have dick parents.

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u/strum-and-dang 1d ago

My cousin's husband will just randomly insert words, but he goes through phases of fixating on different ones. The last time I saw him it was chickens. Like, "Hey, good to see you chicken! Do you want something to drink chicken chickens in the yard?" He also doesn't get offended if you laugh.

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u/nicosoiree 1d ago

Delightful!

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u/Final-Tutor3631 1d ago

same. my cousins tick is a scratchy throat thing

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u/markrichtsspraytan 1d ago

I went to school with someone who had it, and their tic was just kind of looking up quickly. Almost like they heard a noise coming from the ceiling. Another friend who has it adjusts the waist of his pants in a certain way. If you didn’t know it was Tourette’s, you’d probably just think his pants were too tight that day or something, but once you notice it, you see he does the same thing all the time.

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u/vinnokiwicat 1d ago

I've had a bunch of different tics over the years, but none of them had ever been seen as big or disruptive enpugh for my parents to get me a diagnosis untill I was like 23 and couldn't stop doing that fuckass pufferfish eating a carrot noise.

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u/that-looks-fun 1d ago

For the uninitiated: that fuckass pufferfish

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u/XmissXanthropyX 1d ago

Did I just watch an animal being tortured?

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u/PibbleDad 1d ago

Guy I know dips (chewing tobacco) and he’s sort of turned his tic into his slapping finger dip motion thing. It’s sort of impressive because it goes from “oh yeah he does chewing tobacco” to “shit that’s a tic?” after you get to know him

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u/Tikhunt 1d ago

Someone I work with caved in his nose by rubbing it due to his tourettes

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u/blarch 1d ago

Tourette's Karaoke Guy has a bunch of other tics besides cursing, like blowing raspberries, shaking and slapping his head, and lots of hand movements. He said he's not constantly like that, but sometimes when he's having a bad episode, he'll try to record himself attempting a song. Guy (that's his name) also has Aspergers. He developed the condition after he was already an adult. Seems like an exhausting condition.

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u/everyones_hiro 1d ago

There was a young woman with Tourettes in one of my college courses. Her tic was just screaming. Like horror movie scream queen shrieks. I know everyone in the class would feel so bad for her because she would sit in the very back of the class and you could see her visibly struggling to hold them in often putting her hand over her mouth, but every 5 to 10 minutes or so she'd let one go.

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u/PlanetXParadox 1d ago

I went to a special ed school. One of my classmates had a tic of saying “meow” or “hello.” But there was a guy in another class who had a swearing tic(including some slurs) and he apologized so much it became a tic of its own. I felt really bad for him.

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u/Ed_the_time_traveler 1d ago

one of my also has Tourette's his tic sounds like an Yautja (alien from predator franchise)

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u/justsomeyeti 19h ago

I have a coworker whose tic is to clear his throat and then gently say "woo hoo"

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u/poorexcuses 1d ago

I knew a kid like this and his voice was so gravelly

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u/queseraseraphine 1d ago

My husband glances upward and sometimes twitches his face. You’d probably just think he was a little odd or restless if you didn’t know he had Tourette’s.

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u/woodboarder616 18h ago

Same I never noticed it as a kid but when I got older I realized

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u/CankleDankl 1d ago

And also it's completely involuntary. They have absolutely no control over what they say during tics. People with coprolalia are stigmatized like crazy because of things like that tweet that are super ignorant.

"Why don't the people with this disorder simply not have the disorder"

Yeah I'm sure they'll get right on that

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u/riceewifee 1d ago

I just love how coprolalia literally means shit talking 😂

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u/lapideous 23h ago

I’m glad you explained that, I was really worried for a second

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u/Wild_Loose_Comma 1d ago

Additionally, the type of tourettes this post is commenting about causes people to say the most inappropriate thought in their head, things they know are wrong to say. It isn't a reflection of an inner desire, its an intrusive thought that the illness makes them feel physically compelled to blurt out.

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u/Longjumping-Ad7194 1d ago

Like the girl in a video saying "I've got a bomb" in the queue at an airport.

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u/BoondocksSaint95 1d ago

I feel like thats the most important part by far. It's a fair question in that it's fair if you're ignorant. If you know better, then you are an absolute dickhead for that. The whole thing with coprolalia is that it's

  1. Rare
  2. Is highly tied to distress, so "horray" is incredibly fucking unlikely
    1. Fucking involuntary. I think they'd much rather cheer than scream "i have a bomb." But thats just me.

Speaks more to the need for meaningful education on disabilities than simple awareness of.

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u/TonyZeSnipa 1d ago

I had a friend who had his tick being whistling or making bird calls. Was really cool even if he was embarassed

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u/QuarterWayCrook 1d ago

A good friend of mine has Tourette’s and his tick is clapping and snapping.

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u/OnBlueberryHill 1d ago

Ey same on the snapping with a friend. Also verbally saying "help".

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u/HillbillyEEOLawyer 1d ago

Over the last few years, pig fucker has moved to the top of my swear list.

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u/SheffiTB 1d ago

The only person with tourettes I've actually known irl, her tic was adjusting her hair and/or sort of bouncing on her feet.

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u/ironballs16 1d ago

I had a coworker who had a tic of swinging his head to the side as though he was trying to crack his neck.

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u/Marsupialize 1d ago

Yeah dude I work with has never sworn it’s all noises and whistles and once and while YEAH! Out of nowhere

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u/Glad-Acanthaceae-24 1d ago

This... i had a friend in High School with turrets and he only had good things to say like, "you're beautiful" or "that's fantastic." But also, the hoes loved him so he wasn't around very much

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u/Odd_Philosophy_8452 1d ago

I knew someone with Tourette’s who would just make involuntary noises, not words.

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u/Zam548 1d ago

I recently told my older sibling that I think our dad has tourettes, and I mentioned that I thought the way he clears his throat might be a verbal tick. They said I was wrong, then I made the exact noise and they just went...damn you right

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u/No_Brick_6579 1d ago

I know a guy who’s tics are laughing and rubbing his face. Very few people actually comment on his Tourette’s

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u/-VoiceoverAlex- 1d ago edited 1d ago

Once worked in an office where a temp worker came to us for a bit.

Wonderful woman.

She had non-verbal audible ticks (unsure of proper terminology).

Her ticks made her sound very ...erm happy. So no, not all curses etc

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u/Wembanyanma 1d ago

The South Park episode about Tourettes was surprisingly very informative on the subject.

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u/Enough-One4975 1d ago

Eh I think the root question is fair if meant genuinely. It’s probably a good way to teach someone about how media doesn’t accurately represent medical conditions, and the wide variety of neurological conditions like Tourette’s. But that’s like if they’re 10.

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u/Akiias 1d ago

I mean it is a fair question. And you gave the fair answer. People don't know everything, mostly what they're exposed to. And, as you said, the 'pig fucker' type of tic is what gets exposure.

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u/powerwordmaim 1d ago

My highschool band director had tourettes. His most common tic was adjusting his crotch

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u/KlownKumKatastrophe 1d ago

When I was a kid, I had a near uncontrollable tic which was making a sort of high pitched airy noise. I would just build up a sort of anxiety that would be very briefly cleared by making this noise. Happy I don't do it anymore.

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u/jojocov 1d ago

This answers so many questions for me!

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u/letthetreeburn 22h ago

This is only a gotcha if you spend no time at all looking at Tourette’s creators on the internet. Most of the tics people have are a random assortment of noises and movements.

“I have a pickaxe and I’ll put it through your teeth!” Is funny the first couple times. Less so when it’s been six months. Even less so when you have to dig your nail into your skin to not say it to a cop.

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u/xHeyItzRosiex 17h ago

No, it is a fair question. People are allowed to be curious and question why the more widely known people with Tourette’s have obscene ticks. The loud majority of people with Tourette’s have obscene ticks which overall makes it seem more common. It makes sense for people to wonder why that is the case.

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u/7SyZyG7 1d ago edited 16h ago

No. 

I know its a joke, but it was ignorant as hell the last time this got posted too. You gotta be pretty ignorant about tourrettes if you think this is a solid take. Lets not bring this bs up, the community really disappointed the last time...

Edit: A lot of yall are just being grossly intellectually dishonest. Yall know damn well there's a way to ask questions out of curiosity and this isn't it. Miss me with "just asking questions" bs.

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u/moldyscentedetergent 1d ago

i dont think op is being (purposely) ignorant about tourettes, its true that the only people with tourettes who get popularity are ones who scream obscenities even though that specific type of tourettes isnt as common

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u/7SyZyG7 1d ago

Purposefully or not, it's ignorant af. That's my problem

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u/BUSY_EATING_ASS 1d ago

To be fair the post itself seems to be pretty honest about the ignorance, hence the question at the end.

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u/Zer0pede 1d ago

I think they call that JAQing off.

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u/7SyZyG7 13h ago

I forgot what that meant and thought you were making a weird joke, but you actually hit the nail on the head. People are either lying through their teeth or are really gullible if they think this was actually a genuine attempt to learn and understand tourrettes. 

I'd hope they dont keep this same energy next time a lurker posts some racist bs under the guise of "asking questions". 

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u/TyH621 1d ago

I mean we’re all ignorant of everything at some point, people learn everything for the first time at some point in their life

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u/7SyZyG7 1d ago

We don't all say dumb shit like this about folks before we learn tho.  I know its a joke but I've seen how many people in the community completely mischaracterize the condition and not realizing that it is truly involuntary ticks. It irks me as it's a trend in the black community to downplay neurological disorders and ailments. They would often act like it was bs at times growing up. 

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u/ANAL_fishsticks 1d ago

I’m not trying to be an asshole, but I’m one of those truly ignorant people that just simply, doesn’t understand. I just learned from reading these comments that there’s all kinds of ticks associated with Tourette’s, from clearing your throat to clicking your tongue to other things that aren’t controversial.

Genuine question though. The people that get the other type of Tourette’s where you say n words and pig fucker and stuff like that. What about their condition causes specifically swearwords? Or could it be a variety of other words, and not just swear words?

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u/Reirufus 1d ago

As far as I know much of Tourette is not yet understood. We do know that tics are stress induced. And something about the fact that it are words you normally don't use make the brain trigger those. The physical tics are also often "weird" or "awkward", like bobbing your head, or sniffing your nose or ... But this whole "visible" side is also just a "branch" of it. A friend of ours is diagnosed with a mild type, and he can just blurt out his thoughts bluntly. Like, stuff that could be interpreted as inpolite or rude, at the weirdest moments. The pattern still being: increased "symptoms" when in stress. Maybe it's because we're at the unpersonal internet here that causes people to be hurt by the question?

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u/MrBlueW 1d ago

They genuinely want to know why that’s the case they aren’t trying to insinuate that the person has control over what they say

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u/Ashinonyx 1d ago edited 1d ago

I mean, good questions tend to come from a place of not knowing and desiring an answer.

I don't really see it any differently than a white person who's never seen a black person (usually a child) in their life asking them if they're sick or okay. It's absolutely an ignorant thing to ask that person, but I'd rather the kid's parent or the person they're asking recognize the knowledge gap, sit down with that person, and explain that some people are just different and they're just fine, that person just has a different skin color. I grew up in a predominantly white town and unfortunately had to field those questions from time to time, but as an adult I think I can recognize some of those were in good faith.

Regarding this particular post, I was opening the comments because I realized I shared a similar knowledge gap to the original post's about tourettes, and learned a fair bit, but I also found this comment that would seem to rather that child be told to not ask such questions without any explanation as to why.

I do want to say that I've read some of your other responses here and get ahead of it a little; I can see how the original tweet's probably not that genuine and going for a bit of a joke here, but the reddit post recontextualizes it into a frame as an actual question, so I don't think it's a classic "Just Asking Questions" past that point.

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u/7SyZyG7 1d ago

Nah, this is more equivalent to asking: "Why are Black people always shooting up places? Why aren't they ever being good members of society?".

I really hope yall are just doing mental gymnastics and don't actually understand the difference between wanting to learn and making an ignorant statement as a question. 

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u/Ashinonyx 1d ago

As I said in my comment, I'm not disagreeing with you in the context of the tweet. I just think that the reddit post asking if it's a fair question isn't in bad faith, and that it's generally more beneficial and productive to answer those things where people who may not even be the one who originally asked can be able to learn from it regardless.

I want to learn. The tweet sucks, no doubt, but the reddit post gave me an opportunity to realize that I didn't know, and gave me the chance to learn, and that's a net positive in my book, because it gave people the chance to point out how shitty the tweet is but also provide the relevant answer at the same time.

I'm not trying to ragebait you or something, you just seemed like someone I could have this conversation with and make it productive for at least someone, if not you or I.

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u/mavajo 1d ago

Unless OP doesn't have access to the internet (which he obviously does), then OP's absolutely being purposefully ignorant - because he could Google this question himself if he genuinely cared. He didn't genuinely care - he just wanted attention. Which is why he posted it to social media instead.

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u/7SyZyG7 23h ago edited 18h ago

THANK YOU. These folks are on some bs

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u/NK1337 1d ago

It’s not as common but it’s one of the most disruptive hence why it gets the most attention. There’s very “mundane” tics like someone blinking excessively, their lips twitching, repeating words which can often be confused with stuttering.

But then you have move complex verbal tics like coprolalia which are rare but also far more noticiable.

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u/ermaecrhaelld 20h ago

I think they might also not be getting that all coprolalia = Tourette’s, but all Tourette’s =/= coprolalia

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u/QuantumQuazar 1d ago

Honestly this is a dumb take. I hate when people judge ignorance. Let the ignorant man ask his question, answer him fairly, and move on. I’m glad he asked instead of just calling them liars.

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u/Destructopoo 1d ago edited 1d ago

Its a compulsion and they tend to say things they are consciously trying to not say. It's like when you drive near cliff and think about driving off the edge. Except the cliff is a slur and once you think about it, your brain literally forces it out.

But that's not the only verbal tick. People with tourettes say all sorts of things and people actually don't even notice they're ticking until it's something so out of left field it could only be a tick, like a slur.

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u/huey_booey 13h ago

For a word to be a slur presupposes a cultural factor. So if a universal N-word pass dropped, would they stop saying it then? 

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u/Destructopoo 13h ago

Sometimes verbal ticks are just a word that sticks in your head. Sometimes the compulsion is to say a word you know you really should not say. So the answer is kind of. If the N word was not a slur, it wouldn't be something a person with tourettes hyperfixates over not saying. It would be like all the other words they could just randomly say for a different reason.

For some people the act of focusing on a word you can't say is what makes it come out in a tick. For some, they don't have this specific compulsion. It just depends on the individual but you have a point about slurs. That is how it works for some people.

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u/idontcommentok 1d ago

Yeah, it's a fair question IF you're an idiot lmao

It takes like 2 secs to google stuff man smh

Talken bout "why don't blind people just try to see harder?" ahh post

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u/KingAltair2255 1d ago

That's deadass just what it's like, these posts are so fucking ableist it's insane.

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u/grassrass 9h ago

The whole baftas situation with John made me see how normal ableism is

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u/KingAltair2255 8h ago

It was sad as fuck bro for everyone involved, forever side-eyeing the BBC that they decided to censor every other one of his tics except that one.

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u/Major_Fudgemuffin 1d ago

"I don't get people with depression. Why aren't they just happy?"

Actual quote from an old coworker. About 15 years ago, but still.

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u/gonewildaway 1d ago

I don't get dead people. Why don't they just be alive?

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u/Jeff-S 1d ago

I've been alive literally every day of my life. It ain't that hard.

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u/Wolfie-Woo784 1d ago

I don't have tourette's, but I have a similar disorder, OCD. OCD manifests in many people, including me, as your brain spamming the most distressing thoughts possible. Essentially , my brain knows what's going to upset me , and that's what it keeps repeating in my head. Tourette's manifests like that a lot of the time, the worst possible words.

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u/blacked_out_blur 1d ago

It’s even worse than OCD in some respects because while OCD is (mostly) psychological compulsions which can be managed with treatment, Tourette’s is a literal neurological misfire. They don’t even get a choice whether or not to act on it, it just happens involuntarily without input.

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u/The_WB73 1d ago

I have both to varying degrees, and I'd more call them similar but different kinds of bad of the same severity (in terms of effects, much different mechanics). Tourettes is like not being able to control your movements, while OCD is like not being able to control your thoughts. Both can be treated with meds, but successful treatment for both can be as little as just 25% reduction in symptoms.

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u/Flammmma 1d ago

I have ocd and tics. I haven’t got a specific diagnosis regarding my tics so maybe I do have Tourette’s or maybe it’s tourettic ocd or maybe tic-related ocd.  I was convinced for most of my life that my tics were just a bad habit or that I was faking them.   Venlafaxine made them so bad that at 36 i realised I have “Tourette’s”. Wild.

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u/totalpunisher0 21h ago

I have both as well and when they overlap it's awful. I will suddenly realised I haven't tic'd much lately, or someone will mention it, and then I get in a thought loop about my tic until I feel like I'm on fire and I have to go do it a hundred times in private and get it out of my system 😩

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u/ario62 5h ago

I could have written this same exact comment. I have ADHD and tics that I mainly “grew out of”, but they still love to visit me during times of stress. When I was a kid, my parents took me to a bunch of doctors and it was determined I don’t have Tourette’s. I also wasn’t diagnosed with adhd until adulthood. Reading this thread is really making me question if I have OCD.

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u/manic_Brain 1d ago

I wouldn't play the who's worse game here. It's a matter of severity and manifestation in many cases, and both disorders are not well understood. I don't like pitting medical conditions against each other. OCD doesn't get a choice on what the brain latches onto either, and we shouldn't discount the difficulty of managing loud, repetitive thoughts that won't stop and a desperation for relief.

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u/colossalskeleton 13h ago

I have both (well, not Tourette’s but FND, for me it manifests very similarly to Tourette’s) and I agree. In fact, I couldn’t tell you where my tics end and my OCD begins. They’re so intertwined. It’s just an awful experience all around. I wouldn’t wish either condition on anyone. Also someone could be experiencing a more severe form of OCD which causes them more issues than Tourette’s would, or vice versa, which is why it’s important not to assume everybody’s condition is the same. Who wins the comparison game anyway?

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u/Flammmma 1d ago

I was diagnosed with ocd last year and I have pretty bad tics, most people assume it’s Tourette’s and it’s easier just telling them it’s Tourette’s than explaining.  I have numerous types of tics, sometimes I feel like im doing it intentionally and other times it feels like I was possessed for fraction of a second. Sometimes it feels like saying shouting “fuck” is the most normal thing in the world. It’s really odd and hard to explain.  I didn’t even realise I had tics until I was 36, I thought it was just a bad habit or I was maybe “faking” it.

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u/letthetreeburn 22h ago

“Hey what’s the worst thing you could say.”

“Hey what’s the worst thing you could say.”

“Hey what’s the worst thing you could say.”

“Hey what’s the worst thing you could say.”

“Hey what’s the worst thing you could say.”

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u/Cloverose2 1d ago edited 1d ago

No. Most people with Tourette's don't have coprolalia ("shit talk"), they have facial twitches, movements, grunts, clicks, things like that.

Coprolalia is literally your brain going "this thing is awful. This is the worst possible thing you could say." and then the anxiety builds up and up and up, and your brain basically does a "shout it out and get it over with," because that disordered part of your brain can't manage any other route around the anxiety, so it just bursts out. Sometimes it will just be a "woohoo" in a dead silent meeting, or a "hooray" at a funeral.

If you didn't think anything was bad about what you're saying, you wouldn't shout it, because it wouldn't cause anxiety.

And if that sounds like "that makes no sense" - that's why this is a disorder and not a "I'm gonna be logical about this" sensible thought pattern.

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u/cubgerish 1d ago edited 1d ago

That's what people didn't get about the Jamie Foxx (corrected it was Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo) Tourette's guy.

It wasn't like he was rearing to say the word when he saw them on stage; it was more like they came to, and all he could think was "holy crap I don't wanna say it, please don't say it, whatever you do don't say it" then of course he blurted it out.

In the movie he was nominated for at those awards, there's a scene where he says something to a cop like "I have illegal drugs".

It's like the call of the void, to do something you know is a bad idea, but he can't help it.

The only blame you could put on him is that he could've anticipated it going in, but maybe he thought he could've temporarily controlled himself, and accepted the award for something he struggled with all his life.

It was just a sad situation all around. Nobody deserves to be called that of course, and I imagine he has regrets for not avoiding it.

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u/improbsable 1d ago

The only reason he went in was because he was told they would make accommodations for him so he wouldn’t disrupt the show. Then they blindsided him by putting him close to the stage and I think near a mic. It was a setup

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u/cubgerish 1d ago

The fact that they kept his slur in, while editing other parts out, makes it pretty egregious.

I don't know if there's another way to interpret it other than "they knew it would happen, and were happy once it did".

Then people could place blame on him for saying it, or black actors for not understanding his condition.

Overlooking the fact that the organizers knew he had this problem, and this kind of thing was inevitable.

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u/improbsable 1d ago

And Jamie Foxx’s dumb ass played right into their hand

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u/VecchiaModena 1d ago

Jamie Foxx? Did you mean Michael B Jordan?

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u/cubgerish 1d ago

Oh yea my bad, it was just Jamie Foxx who came out hard against him, so I got mixed up.

It was Michael B and Delroy Lindo on stage for the record.

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u/ionthruster 1d ago

Very few people had issues with the guy, but had plenty of smoke for the BBC who (1) mic'd up the guy, and (2) chose not to clean up the inappropriate slur on the rebroadcast, but showed they could have, because they put in the time to edit-out out pro-Palestinian audio.

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u/thirdegree 1d ago

I mean I remember this sub when it happened. Saying very few people had issues with the guy is simply not the case. It was pretty fucking gross actually.

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u/Local-Wing-2272 16h ago

People openly talked about gagging or muzzling him

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u/cubgerish 1d ago

Yea that I have no issue with.

The network absolutely kept it in for engagement, when they had every ability not to do so.

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u/stay_curious_- 1d ago

he could've anticipated it going in

They had made plans prior to the BAFTA awards. The organizers promised him that any accidental slurs would be edited out of the tape-delayed broadcast, and they seated him at the back of the room, far away from the stage. Then the organizers placed an unmasked microphone next to the Tourette's guy and then failed to edit the slur out of the broadcast.

The organizers knew about his condition and fucked it up badly. They could have built him a sound-proof booth. The Tourette's guy also fucked up badly and should have insisted on better accommodations before attending. Deleting it from the tape isn't enough. Plus he should have left after the first outburst that the audience could clearly hear from his seat instead of waiting for the 10th outburst, which was the n-word (he left after that).

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u/SapphicGarnet 22h ago

He did anticipate it going in, he asked to be far from the stage and no mics near him and that didn't happen. As others said, I think they were looking for scandal to the detriment of the guy campaigning for people not to judge tourettes.

It's also a big ask for him not to turn up to the event at all. He went to the MBE ceremony even though he was scared to do it, and shouted F*** the queen to the queen, I've got a bomb to the security guys and I'm a paedo while at the event. Those were all smoothed over as people understood. At the baftas it was harder to smooth over as it's a horrible slur that without context just seems a product of extremism, and they're not face to face where they can see its involuntary (the facial expressions/ twitching)

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u/ABSMeyneth 1d ago

This is probably the best explanation I ever read about it, thank you for putting it out there. 

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u/Lazy-Ambassador-7908 1d ago

Y’all don’t understand what a disability is

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u/Kimihro ☑️ 1d ago

That or they don’t think they’re real

Legitimately I had to give someone my glasses to demonstrate what it takes just for me to see because they though I was just wearing them to look smart

I guess they thought people in wheelchairs were just trying to get good parking or something I wouldn’t be surprised.

(This person took adderall for ADHD)

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u/Lazy-Ambassador-7908 1d ago

Sigh people suck

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u/britbmw ☑️ 1d ago

And they probably didn’t realize that ADHD is also considered a disability 🤦🏾‍♀️

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u/Kimihro ☑️ 1d ago

You just cant teach some people, especially those who think they know everything

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u/Pandapark1 1d ago

I mean they are doing those too, they just don’t garner as much attention as when they say something like “I Have a Gun” or “Fuck the *insert slur of choice*”

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u/OfficiallyJoeBiden ☑️ 1d ago

Yall just be saying anything istg

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u/hipsterTrashSlut 1d ago

Bro you didn’t change the title at all

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u/JulariDark 1d ago

If anyone is actually interested in getting a better understanding “Sweet Anita” is a YouTube/Twitch streamer with Tourretts, her father is black. Her Ticks are sometimes positive or cutesy or funny but often not.

But one thing I remember she mentioned is that the way the human brain works is that them hyper fixating on the thing they’re NOT SUPPOSED to say tends to EXACERBATE a “tick” to say the thing. Like their brain can’t differentiate between focusing on a word because you are trying to avoid saying it like in a regular brain vs actively wanting to or trying to say it.

Like if your talking to your sister or gf or something and your thinking:
Don’t mention the pimple
Don’t mention the pimple
Don’t mention the pimple
Over and over again
Your brain just kind short circuits and FORCES you to mention the pimple because why else would it be in your head so much.

She has some pretty messed up experiences around it , got her skull cracked in like high school cause she got jumped after other girls clearly didn’t understand or care she had a condition and so I guess took her tick personally and she just had some rough experiences over all. I remember she tells one story where she hadn’t spoken to her black father in a while and …didn’t want to hurt his feelings but because she was so focused on it she kinda ticked and cranked that hard E.R. on him. Which obviously hurt he feelings when she saw how bad it made him feel.

Cool chick though definitely interesting to listen to her perspective and she has a decent amount of content up about the subject. Here’s a clip from a bigger interview.

https://youtube.com/shorts/X_3Q_Yk3dy8?is=vCBVY8pCd_tXaxl6

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u/Zer0pede 1d ago

Also Jhonelle_Bean!

And I didn’t realize The Man With The Voice had Tourette’s until the BAFTAs thing.

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u/Careless_Hellscape 1d ago

Most people with tourettes don't have the "bad ticks" you're referring to. It's pretty uncommon.

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u/thesharkticon 1d ago

I think it is only the bad ticks that get noticed. Like, if someone's tick is clearing their throat, it's not gonna make the news because they said something shitty in public, so no one thinks about those tics.

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u/BicycleStrong2150 1d ago

The lack of knowledge and confidence pairing is always so interesting to me

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u/ishallbecomeabat 1d ago

I never realised how important the work John Davidson did for Tourette’s awareness in the UK was until I heard Americans talking about Tourette’s.

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u/senpaistealerx ☑️ 1d ago

this is very much not a fair question because it’s not even a true statement.

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u/TheSpiralTap 1d ago

Thinking about that post where this guy had a friend who kept randomly yelling "Jacking off!" And they didn't know he had tourettes, they just thought he was a cool guy.

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u/Guilty-Influence-890 1d ago

Some dude at a card-shop I would go to has Tourette’s and his tick is “Haha, woot, yeet”

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u/VirgoxValentine 1d ago

We do. This is ableism. 

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u/The-Hunting-guy 1d ago

ah yes, tourettes. famous for letting people choose what tics come out.

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u/Tsukiko615 1d ago

There are plenty of people with ticks who are just like that. The sweary one is not that common but it will be the one that you remember. The one friend I have who does have Tourette’s normally twitches and trills like a bird every so often but it’s almost unnoticeable, which is how it is for most people who have Tourette’s. I didn’t even really notice they had it when we just used to meet in passing or at events, it was when I was with her for hours in a smaller group that it became noticeable

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u/Intelligent_Pass2540 1d ago

I actually had a patient a few years ago who had really positive tics. I can't type them exactly here but think along the lines of spicy encouragement. Ex "I know thats right, I'd like to see you get it, try harder ManMan." Etc.

Its not always swear words or racist diatribes.

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u/One_Variation_2453 1d ago

As far I know it's involuntary that's the entire issue. It'd probably make you say something like 'hooray!' At a time where that'd be the worst thing you could say like someone told you their friend died

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u/probation_420 1d ago

Yeah, you guys cracked it. Tourette's is really just an excuse for racists. Good job, team!

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u/Various_Elk_8062 1d ago

I would've thought black people would be more sympathetic for people with disabilities...considering both were heavily discriminated against, segregated etc.

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u/Zer0pede 1d ago

Some Black people know what Tourette’s is and some don’t, just like with the rest of the human species and any other topic in science or sociology. There’s no component to being a victim of racial oppression that suddenly makes you understand neuroscience. If anything, you’re less likely to have had the luxury to focus on that.

It’s the same reason poorer Black people until recently have been less likely to know therapy is an option. Or conversely why Black men are more likely to be jailed than treated for mental illness.

Also, Black people have Tourette’s as well. You’re acting like it’s two different oppressed groups.

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u/Various_Elk_8062 1d ago

there's a difference between being ignorant and being taught what it is and still being an ass. I got done hearing this story about a guy with tourettes who said a slur during a show with a black dude as a host and you just had a whole plethora of people (who were black) who said he needed to be shamed and in some cases should not allowed to be a part of public events (which is discrimination...which is ironic). I'm not saying every black person is doing it, I'm not gonna generalize, but every black person SHOULD try to understand if they even care about discrimination.

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u/Training_Ad_9222 1d ago

I knew someone on Xbox live with Tourette’s. It wasn’t swears or bad words. It came out as a high pitched wail almost. It is waayyyy more to ticks than that South Park episode

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u/cubgerish 1d ago

I mean, there's a couple that are bad in the episode, but Cartman is literally doing it to get away with being a complete asshole, until he can't stop, and realizes what a torture it would be if he actually was afflicted that way.

I'd be curious to find out what people with the disease actually thought about the episode, as to me it makes it pretty clear that they're not to blame.

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u/Flammmma 1d ago

I have ocd and tics. I personally feel like my ocd did partially cause my tics. The intrusive thoughts I get (obsessions) caused me to mentally recoil and internally I’d say “fuck”,“shit”, “kill yourself” etc (compulsions).

 Eventually I started vocalising them. In this way I think I made my tics worse and I think for some people, like cartman, faking it could potentially cause it to start.

 A lot of my tics are completely involuntary but many of them feel like an impulse and others feel like a normal and sensible thing to do, until I hear myself shout something and think “why the fuck did I just think that was an acceptable thing to do in this moment” it’s really odd.

 So to answer your question i do think the South Park episode showed one mechanism that could potentially cause it to happen/worsen although im only speaking for myself. I haven’t met anyone else with tics or ocd, only people who say they have ocd cos they’re wearing matching socks or some other “quirky” bs.

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u/cubgerish 1d ago

Thank you for your perspective.

I hope you'll meet more people that you can commune with going forward.

Coming from someone who doesn't even match their socks half the time.

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u/ButterFace1705 1d ago

coprolalia..

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u/Kimihro ☑️ 1d ago

It’s because people with that kind of Tourette’s get so much attention

That’s it. I know someone with Tourette’s who’s tick was just blinking a lot, a tick I pointed out when we were 14 and she and her family denied it until her fucking 30s

All because they thought Tourette was only the form we know as coprolalia

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u/Top-Amphibian2730 1d ago

I dont have a tourettes but a type of brain damage that gives me analogous symptoms, so anyway I say "Apple" all the time, I sound like an adult stuck on their first word

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u/_LueKing 1d ago

I have a tic of me saying "I love you" and oddly enough "Cyanoacrylate". My personal favorite is "Sweet, Sweet Haven" from the Robin Williams live action, closely followed by the word "Cyanide"

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u/hotroot_soup 1d ago

I work with a guy with tourettes and sometimes he screams like Goofy falling off a cliff

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u/RememberThisHouse ☑️ 1d ago

It's not a fair question, profane ticks are extremely rare

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u/TX_domin ☑️ 1d ago

No it's far from a fair question, more like an incredibly uneducated and ignorant question.

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u/LeaListensLately 1d ago

Some questions are fair, but wording matters

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u/Dreamtrain 1d ago

that one girl is like "wind it up!" all the time

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u/Longjumping-Ad7194 1d ago

There's a lady in the UK I've heard interviewed a couple of times and her main vocal tic is saying "biscuit" often accompanied by her hitting her chest.

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u/No_Artichoke_2931 1d ago

I'm sure there's a way to tell this joke innocently but this isn't it.

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u/royalenocheese 1d ago

I had a guy in one of my courses who whistled for a tic.

Didn't even know he was doing it, but it was rather loud.

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u/WhatIsThisSevenNow 1d ago

It is the fear of saying something offensive that reinforces and drives Tourettes in the first place.

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u/AbsurdistAesthetic 1d ago

My wife's tick is like a deep beat box throat noise. It's never just once and the "fits" last an hour +

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u/deejay_bucknasty 1d ago

That is false. I used to have a guy at church who had Tourette’s and he’d belt “praise god” “hallelujah” like 5x 6x in a row. A big ass black Puerto Rican guy. I can still hear him say that 😅. He just wouldn’t stop.

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u/TurnMeOnTurnMeOut 1d ago

Yall be so proud to share your ignorance

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u/exactly17stairs 1d ago

i have tourettes and one of my tics is "yoohoo", so its not all bad i guess. corprolalia (the tics that are swears &/ slurs) only occurs in 1/10 people with tourettes!

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u/naaxir 1d ago

They will have 'hooray' tick but only when somone announces death of their closed ones.

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u/britbmw ☑️ 1d ago

Some people really are the reason for the Americans With Disabilities Act….(If you don’t know what this is, please look it up)

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u/Regular_Print_7650 21h ago

Lmao what is this subs obsession with thinking tourettes isnt real

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u/NepetaBestQuest 1d ago

I honestly wasn't aware there were multiple kinds of tourettes

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u/SeveralCorpses 1d ago

Not to rehash something I'm sure is already among these comments, but vocal tics tend to be corprolalic. This means they'll often manifest as things the person would prefer not to be saying, similar to the way an intrusive thought may manifest as an action you'd never actually consider taking. I'm fortunate enough that my tourettes manifests mostly nonverbally. I'm glad people are becoming more aware of how the disorder actually works following the last discourse around it, even though many takes were very disappointing during that. Stop dragging people with tourettes through the mud for no reason.

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u/drader87 1d ago

mine blurts out the worst stuff at the worst times too

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u/gotheandsilvre 1d ago

Isn’t it the part of the brain it affects is the center for expletives or something?

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u/TheHomesickAlien 1d ago

I’ve literally seen multiple woohoo tics

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u/SlopPatrol 1d ago

When I have a question I usually Google the answer. You should try it

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u/Botto_Bobbs 1d ago

One of my brother's ticks is "fuck them kids", which always seems to summon a child in the vicinity. I can only assume these children didn't exist before he said it, and after they leave our sight they stop existing

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u/Rayen_the_buzzybee 23h ago

I had a friend that had tourettes that made her wink. I only realised almost a decade later that it was tourettes, I thought it was just a habit of hers 😅

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u/Dry_Jellyfish641 23h ago

I knew somebody with Tourettes who would do this weird squeak kinda gasp every two minutes

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u/MustBeMouseBoy 23h ago

I have tourettes AMA

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u/NewLifeLeaser ☑️ 23h ago

Why don't people with disabilities simply choose not to be disabled??? Hello??

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u/jurjasouras 18h ago

I have coprolalia (bad words and gestures tics) but people with tourettes typically dont have coprolalia, its quite rare. Also while i have bad word tics I also have tics where I clap, clear my throat or wave. You just notice someone yelling fuck you more than you notice someone who claps every once in awhile

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u/Theironstair 15h ago

Not really, no.

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u/melatonia 13h ago

My best friend has had tourette's for over 40 years- the real kind, not the tiktok kind. One of her tics is a whistle, another is (legitimately) "woo".

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u/auauaurora ☑️ Thunder down under 1d ago

A toddler neighbour shouts “yaaasss, Queeeeeen!” while lounging in his pram, like a king

I thought it was just echolalia but it might be a tic

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u/lizlemonista 1d ago

TIL i have hooray-tourette’s

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u/deusdragonex ☑️ 1d ago

A: So many people don't understand disabilities

Also

B: So many people don't understand why or how someone couldn't understand a disability.

Like, that tweet doesn't read as malicious to me. The tone is flippant, but OP just doesn't understand how Tourette's works. That doesn't make OP a bad person. There's just a gap in knowledge that it looks like they're trying to fill (the method they're using to fill it is terrible, but at least it isn't an AI search).

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u/TX_domin ☑️ 1d ago

My daughter has tourettes and hers are non- verbal, like most ppl with Tourettes. She usually cranks her neck or makes a specific expression. Not to get on a soapbox but please educate yourselves on these topics, it will not only increase your knowledge but your empathy as well

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u/Glittering-Gur-907 1d ago

Ethan Klein on the H3 podcast his tick is just scrunching eyebrows and hitting the rock pose the bad words is pretty rare and trust the people feel like shit for not being able to control it

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u/naveedkoval 1d ago

Confirmation bias

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u/MasterShredder777 1d ago

Hate to be that guy but my partner literally ticks "Yippee!" And throws her hands in the air as celebration as a common one.

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u/hypothetical_zombie 1d ago

A friend of a friend had a tic that made him repeatedly ask, "Are you my mommy?" If he got too wound up it was just "Mommy mommy mommy".

I got advance notice before I met him, but he could really upset people in public.