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Our TS Champions get busy!
Posted on 31 March 2023 by Pippa McClounan
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Find out what our TS Champions have been up to.
Since their appointment as TS Champions at the end of 2022, our amazing young ambassadors have started the new year with enthusiasm and vigour, getting to work by spreading awareness in their communities and advocating for those with TS.
This month, Lola O'keefe delivered a presentation to the 9th Chelsea cubs aged 8 to 10.5 years old.
Lola said ‘They all did the donut challenge which 6 children managed to complete without licking their lips! They really enjoyed listening to my stories about what it’s like living with Tourette’s. We did the presentation on a projector so they all could follow and read it’.
Well done Lola for educating a whole new group of young people about what living with TS is really like!
In March, Lily Maguire wrote a blog for the TA website, talking about her experience at school and managing in the classroom with tics.
Lily says 'I think though, one of the best parts for me about having Tourette’s is how creative I am. Art is my favourite lesson as I love to draw and when I’m so concentrated and invested in something, I don’t tic as much. I’ve found this is the same for many students, doing a subject they enjoy they tic less mainly due to the lack of stress and pressure'.
Thank you for sharing your story with us Lily!
In January, Lily Richards wrote a blog for the TA website and held a fundraising event at her school, where she sold cakes with the TA logo on and put posters around the building to promote the event. Lily was really pleased how well the bake sale went and she also spread awareness for Tourette syndrome in her school.
Well done Lily! Those cakes look amazing!
Wilamena Dyer gave a fantastic presentation to over 100 junior school pupils and a few staff members at Wells Cathedral Junior School.
Wilamena said 'It was well received and I felt that the students were engaged. They felt comfortable to ask many questions that showed they were genuinely interested in learning more. The school had asked me to connect it with kindness, so I adapted my presentation to follow this theme'.
Well done Wilamena for presenting to such a large audience!
In January, 14 year old Saphia Baktout shared her holiday experience with us, and how a negative can be turned in to a positive in her blog article for the Tourettes Action website.
Saphia told us 'I think the best experience that has come from me having TS is going to TEENfest which is a Tourettes camp for teenagers run by Tourettes Action. I’d never met anyone else with TS in real life before and I was so nervous at first because it was a new group of people, but in the end it was the most comfortable I’ve ever felt'.
It was great to read your story Saphia! Thank you for sharing it with us.
College student Maisie Speight wrote a blog for the TA website and talks about her journey through the education system.
Maisie says 'I have now started college studying animals and I have been there for over two months. My friends were talking about my Tourette's and they said there was no need to suppress because they had someone who had Tourette's there before and they were “ desensitized ” from the tics. This was a huge relief for me so I decided to stop suppressing, this was one of the best decisions of my life because it felt so nice to be accepted for who I am'.
Thank you for telling us your story Maisie!
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