A year ago, a WUSA9 News reporter named Nikki Burdine of Dumfries, Virginia shared her personal story with the world.
She revealed that she has Tourette’s syndrome. In her news story, she explained that it is a neurological disorder characterized by tics. Tics are uncontrolled vocalizations or movements. This condition can last a lifetime, but tics can improve during the late teens to early adulthood. For Nikki, she learned how to better control her tics through therapy and medication.
Soon after Nikki spoke about her experience, she became friends with a local boy named Conor Canonico. One of their conversations was about how every person is unique and has that thing that makes them different from everyone else.
For both of them, that thing or quirk, as they call it, is Tourette’s syndrome.
His classmates at school did not understand why he did weird things, so they bullied him for having tics. They would tell him to his face that he was annoying and tell him to stop acting strange. Soon, Conor’s mother reached out to Nikki after seeing her talk about having the condition on television.
Conor went to the news station to create a video explaining what Tourette’s Syndrome is with Nikki. They made their Public Service Announcement so kids can learn about the condition. The kids watched the video and then were able to ask questions.
In the video, they show some examples of tics. Watch their video here.
