My friend Pierce has written an amazing guest post, which explains his tics and what we got up to today:

My name is Pierce, I am 11 years old. The doctor told me I had Tourettes in 2008 but I have always made noises and had ‘firky fingers’ since I was little.

In October 2011 my Tourettes changed, my tics got dangerous – my head was jerking all over the place. I couldn’t ride my bike because it made me fall off and I head-butted a door. It made my head and neck hurt all the time. I also started having tic fits – I couldn’t talk or walk and just was on the floor. It made me very scared, frightened and worried. I have been in hospital 4 times since October. I still have to use a wheel chair sometimes. I am a happy boy and people tell me I have coped well. I even got an award from school at the end of term for being determined to come in to school.

Today I went out to London to a Tourettes group meeting to do Go-Karting and visit an adventure playground. Before I went I felt nervous and scared but after the long journey I realised it was all worth it. I met my Hero and people just like me, as well as the nice people who look after them. First of all we went Go-Karting. We took it in turns to go around the track in groups of about 6 – it was great fun. After that we went to the playground across the road. There was a bike track, a big rock, and all sorts of swings and fun things. I especially enjoyed the pedal Go-Karts that were in there.

We went to the pub for lunch and I played chess with a new friend. I shared some of my tics and learned about how other people cope with theirs. I even passed on one of my tics to Ruth!! I got to play a game of scrabble with Touretteshero, Poppy, my new friend and my Mum. Meeting Touretteshero was amazing because she sent me emails and a letter when my tics were being very annoying. I really enjoyed myself because I got to experience some full-on ticcing and it made me feel like I had known these people all of my life.

We spent the remainder of the day at the adventure playground. Over all I had a great day and got to meet many people who made me feel really comfortable. I really feel like I would like to go to another meeting and I hope everyone else had a great time like me.