Tourette's is a highly misunderstood and complex disorder. It's neurological, meaning it all happens in the brain. It causes tics, which are involuntary movements or sounds. Tics are a result of signals misfiring in the brain. Basically, when you want to move your arm, your brain sends a signal telling your arm to move. My brain accidentally sends a variety of these signals when I don't want it to. There are also different types of tics. Motor tics are movements, like head jerking or hitting something. Vocal tics are sounds like whistling or other noises, and words or sentences. Vocal tics can be one-worded or an entire phrase. They can make us burst out into song or fake laugh. There are also paralysis tics that cause a part of the body to just stop working. This usually happens, for me, in my spine. Depending on if I'm leaning more forward or backward, I'll fall that way. I can use my working parts to brace myself but my spine is stuck. It'll start working again in 20-40 seconds. And remember, this is only for me. Everyone's tics are different. If your foot has ever been asleep to the point where you can't lift it, that's what it's like. Sometimes my knees give out and I fall to the floor. There are tics where my hand or arm will get "stuck" in a position and I can't move it until my brain says I can. There are also different kinds of vocal tics. Coprolalia is what Tourette's is most known for, which are swearing/obscene tics. It only affects 1 in every 10 people with TS, despite the media making Tourette's seem like we only ever swear as a tic. There's also echolalia, which is a "copying" tic. We repeat the words someone else says as a tic. 

Two people with tics/TS can get each other's tics. It's like we're contagious to each other. You see this a lot with social media. If a popular creator has tics, a lot of the people watching who also have tics will get theirs. Also, someone else can easily trigger other people's tics. Saying certain words can make us tic more. But unless it's intentional, it's not their fault. Literally, anything can trigger tics. We also don't tic the things we're thinking, it's more of our tics saying exactly what we shouldn't say. There are repetitive tics and situational tics. The repetitive ones are on a constant loop. They can come from nowhere and stick around for months. Situational tics are more of an in-the-moment thing. Like if I see a bald man, my tics might call them 'baldy.' These are usually a one-time thing. 

I have breath-holding tics, tics that get destructive or violent, tics that yell. Destructive tics throw things, break things, or rip things. My violent tics include hitting the wall or counter, or myself. I also have a biting tic where I'll bite my finger hard and can't let go. Your brain has built-in security, meaning you can't hurt yourself past a certain point. It won't let you bite through your skin. However, when I'm ticcing, my brain can't tell me to stop. I've gotten marks and bruises from hitting myself or something else, I've broken glass objects. 

There are things that can calm people's tics. There's no cure for Tourette's but there are treatments to make it less severe. Some medicines can help, THC is a big one. The daily things to help (me at least) include music, animals, singing, and aromatherapy. If I'm focused on something, like when I'm at work, my tics usually calm down. How would all of this affect me at Hogwarts? Well, people make fun of me and mock me. I don't care too much about this because these people are just ignorant. It's okay to laugh because I understand that some of my tics are funny. But there's a difference between laughing at my tics and just making fun of me. I've ticced spells, just not when holding a wand. If I tic a spell with my wand in my hand, the willpower and concentration aren't there, so usually very little happens. This can go wrong though. There are certain spells that I tic that I haven't even learned. Sometimes this leads to backfired spells. The worst that can happen is a small explosion. My tics get me hurt a lot, so I'm used to it.

The last thing I want to mention is none of what I stated is for sympathy. This is purely for educating the people that want to know more about tics or Tourette's. I don't want you to feel bad. So what are the things you can do to help a friend with tics? Limit the things that can harm them in your surroundings. Have an area where they can sit with soft objects like a bed or couch. Don't hug them unless they say you can. We know you want to, but sometimes we need to let our tics out and we don't want to hurt you. You can put your hand in between their hand and an object they're hitting. Some people are okay with you interacting with their tics, others are not. Please ask before possibly making someone's tics worse. And finally, remember tics are involuntary. If you get annoyed with someone's tics, imagine how we feel. You only have to listen to them for a short amount of time and we have to live with them. Be kind.