Tourette's Awareness Month 2023 - #ItsWhatMakesMeTic
During Tourette's Awareness month, 15th May to 15th June, we want to destigmatise Tourette Syndrome, showing the general public what the reality of TS looks like, dispelling some of the myths that surround it.
For this years campaign, #ItsWhatMakesMeTic, we will be sharing real life content as it happens. The content will be told by our 5 ambassadors in real time, entirely from their viewpoint. They will explore what TS is, what it isn’t and will talk about coping mechanisms and things that can help with daily life. We hope that these videos will be an amazing educational resource for those looking to learn more.
Why do we need a campaign?
Whilst the majority of people have heard of Tourette Syndrome, many do not really understand what it entails, most thinking that it is comedic and rare and that shouting out obscenities is a criteria for diagnosis – all of which are untrue.
We believe this is due to the lack of awareness around the condition. It is still one of the least known neurodiverse conditions. The media often portrays TS as the swearing condition and the true realities of what it's like to live with the condition are rarely shown. If we were to educate more, be that in schools, workplaces and general advertising, we would hopefully eradicate a lot of the misconceptions around TS.
Click here to follow our #ItsWhatMakesMeTic campaign
How do we aim to help?
During Tourette's Awareness Month, 15th May to 15th June, we will be running a campaign our #ItsWhatMakesMeTic campaign that aims to destigmatise Tourette's with both educating and advertising. The campaign will show the general public what the reality of Tourette's looks like, dispelling some of the myths that surround it.
The campaign is called #ItsWhatMakesMeTic and with your help, the TS community, we hope to really get the message out there.
Last year as part of Tourette's Awareness Month we called on you to be a Tourette's Awareness Partner, we asked you to reach out to your contacts, be that in education, health, media or the corporate world and ask for their support, and we were blown away by your support. This year we want to grow our list of TA Tourette's Awareness Month Partners.
So how can you become a TA Tourette's Awareness Month Partner?
A TA Tourette's Awareness Month Partner is anyone who is agreeing to support Tourette's Awareness month, being involved as much or as little as they like. During Tourette's Awareness month, we want people to:
Share any #ItsWhatMakesMeTic content
During awareness month we will have lots of content from our ambassadors which we ask you to share across all platforms to help us reach as many people as possible.
Take part in #MoveForTourettes
Join our annual fundraising campaign to support TS Awareness Month. You decide your own challenge, to be completed any time between 15 May - 15 June, and earn yourself a medal, certificate and unique wristband.
Put up a poster
We are asking people to put a poster up in their workplace, place of leisure or school. If you are willing to do this, please fill out the following form, stating how many posters you would like and also your delivery address and we will send them out to you.
Share our poster digitally
We would like our poster displayed digitally on digital billboards, TV screens in restaurants and places of leisure and on everyones social media. Download the poster in digital format here.
Share our awareness video
We would like our awareness video to be seen by as many people as possible, so we are encouraging as many people as possible to share it. View our Tourette's Awareness video here
Use our social media pack
We are asking people to use our email footer banner on their personal and work emails, add our social media cover photos to their social accounts and use our virtual backgrounds when on zoom and teams calls. You can download our social media pack here.
Hold an awareness lesson on Tourette Syndrome within school
We have ready made lesson plans to make the teachers job that little bit easier. The lesson plans contain presentations, videos and worksheets, relevant to all ages. You can download the KS1 lesson plan here, the KS2 lesson plan here and the KS3 / 4 lesson plan here.
Hold an awareness day
We want as many schools and businesses as possible to hold an awareness day. Awareness days are all about educating the audience on Tourette Syndrome. Anyone agreeing to take part in an awareness day will be sent an educational pack containing leaflets, balloons, posters in paper and digital format and our social media pack.
Please fill out the following form if you want to hold an awareness day, stating if you are a school or business, giving your postal address and we will send over all the relevant information. A great idea is getting everyone to wear a green item to mark the occasion, asking for a £1 donation. If you could hold a collection on your awareness day, we would be extremely grateful.
We encourage everyone taking part in an awareness day to take photographs and share them with us, so we can celebrate everyone coming together to support TS.
Turn it Green
We want the UK to turn Green on the 7th June to mark Tourette's Awreness Day and would encourage you to reach out to your local buildings and bridges to get them involved. Please take a look at our Flickr album to see some buildings that took part last year Awareness Month 2022 | Flickr
