Once Upon A Tic

Posted Mon 18th May 2020 at 12:21 by Ione Georgakis

Share

My name is Ione Georgakis, I am a student of Occupational Therapy, and I have Tourette syndrome. 

This month I was fortunate enough to participate in an online programme offered by COHERE, focusing on Diversity and Social Inclusion, hosted by Rotterdam University. This was an international interdisciplinary student program run over 4 weeks. Due to the current Covid-19 crisis it was offered digitally rather than through their annual student conference. 

The programme afforded an opportunity to work with students from across the globe, to collaborate on ideas around social inclusion and vulnerable groups within societies. Our final group project lead us to create a story narrative surrounding an individual who could be considered vulnerable in our society and idenify both the challenges and facilitators to their wellbeing. Having lived experience with both the barriers Tourettes can pose to ones educational development, and an appreciation of the support networks that reduce these, our group decided to focus on this topic.

We wrote and illustrated a story following the journey of a young girl, Alice transitioning from primary to secondary school, looking at some of the difficulties she faced in this journey and the support she received to make the process more manageable. In our story Alice and her mother used Tourettes Action resources to educate both her teachers and peers on her condition to help improve her time in school. 

I was proud to have the opportunity to collaborate with international future health care providers, raise awareness about Tourette Syndrome and help to myth bust some common misconceptions about the condition.  

You can download the presentation here

Return to blog