Camp Twin Lakes XII

Before Camp Twin Lakes, I hadn't met anybody else with Tourette Syndrome. Today I met over a hundred.

Check in for Camp Twitch and Shout was today, and it was an incredible experience. For one, my tics went absolutely crazy, I was yelling and even had some very definite coprolalia going. It was really cool, because I could see so many kids who were nervous about coming to camp for the first time. I would let out a big "HUP!," they would look at me and their eyes would get really wide and their mouths open, in awe at the guy who was like them and walking around doing important-looking stuff! It's a good feeling that my Tourette's could provide so much comfort for the kids!

Specific story time: I went to meet the cabin I would be hanging out with for the week (which incidentally Jimmy is a counselor for) and we played a game of Apples to Apples. There was one kid - we'll call him Holden - with significant vocal tics, but most of the kids had physical ones. Holden seemed to have some other comorbidities, perhaps some ADD and maybe some Asperger's, I couldn't quite tell. When we were on our way to the dining hall, Holden walked next to me. Out of the blue he declared "you're cool." After denying his claim and telling him that in fact he was the cool one, he said very matter-of-factly "I have Tourette's, just like you." It was one of the awesomest things I've heard, because it sounded like it could have been the first time he was able to take pride in his disorder - and he did it by comparing himself to me. I can already tell I'm gonna cry when they leave!