When I started this blog ten years ago, it was the first time since leaving school that I’d written in any significant way. Up until then I’d always thought of myself as someone who struggled with writing, and it wasn’t something I’d ever felt would give me confidence or joy.

It turns out I was wrong!

Writing about Tourettes has had a more positive impact than I could ever have imagined. It’s helped me navigate some really tricky times, and over and over again it’s helped me understand myself better.

Crucially it’s also given me an opportunity to speak out about things that concern me and raise issues that might otherwise go unspoken. Over the course of a decade of writing my experiences and perspectives have changed. I’m more confident, proud and radical than I was when I first started writing. I’m older now and a wheelchair user too, both of which have changed how people respond to my tics.

Guest posts have always helped diversify the blog’s perspectives and we’ve had nearly forty incredible contributions to date. As our blog enters its second decade, I’m keen to make sure we keep giving other people with lived experience of tics the opportunity to write.

So we’ve commissioned Serena, who we first collaborated with during Remixing The Globe, to write a series of posts that reflect her experience of life with tics.

Tomorrow will be Serena’s first post. In it she’ll tell us about her journey with Tourettes and what we can expect from her series of posts. We’ll be sharing a new one on the last Friday of each month. I’m really excited to read her pieces and to share them with you.