Kudos to the BBC for their documentary: Employable Me for bringing to light the plight of people living with Tourette syndrome (TS)!
Tourette syndrome is seriously stigmatized, which adds layers of difficulty when it comes to the workforce–whether you’re trying to get a job or keep it!
TS is a neurodevelopmental disorder that typically strikes children and lasts into adulthood. Sometimes, though, it’s transient and disappears. You can watch a quick clip of it here.
The documentary features four or five people who each have different types of tics, which is extremely insightful because it really hits home the difficulties that come of misunderstanding the condition.
Each and every day, millions of people go to job interviews and get turned down for a variety of reasons…
But for someone who has a nervous twitch of the shoulders, excessive grunting, hopping, swearing, and or blurting out inappropriate things, just to name a few, they’re usually extra screwed.
“Yeah, good luck with that,” the interviewer says, as they pat you on the back and show you the door.
EVERYONE DESERVES A DECENT JOB!
So when a forestry company gave a guy with TS a chance at a job, it began getting the attention that this cause deserves.
The TS tics that this 27-year-old guy from England suffers from are: touching his nose, making noises that sound like a cat meowing, and punching his legs – all randomly of course.
So you may ask, How can a guy who suffers from a random tic that causes him to punch his leg manage to hold a 30-pound chainsaw and do his job safely?!
He says that by focusing and having such a physically demanding job, that it suppresses his need to express the tic. Uh, I don’t know about the chainsaw for safety’s sake, but ya gotta have mad respect for his boss who hired him!
To read the article, click here and check out this guy’s fierce courage! He’s now studying to be a tree surgeon! Yahooooo!
