Here’s my friend Joe back with some really good news – I’ll let him tell you all about it.

Guess who’s back again? Rodney’s back, tell a friend!

Hi, it’s me, Joe (Ticcer Rodney) – remember my post about the tic-nic? I asked Touretteshero if I could write a quick post about my last two weeks. They’ve been so busy all I’ve done is work and sleep!

That’s right – work! I got a new job as an apprentice IT Support Assistant at a big business in my city and so far it’s been great. Let me explain a bit – I love IT, literally the only thing I enjoyed in school and college!

Why I wanted to write this post is to talk about a topic which can be a bit touchy at times, as I’ve found when I’ve spoken to other ticcers and parents of ticcers. The topic is ‘work’ and it seems to pop up often, with people describing negative experiences with work, or with getting a job.

I always try and stress the more positive sides of Tourettes, rather than the negatives. Even so, I’ve always worried about about finding a job that my Tourettes can cope with, and that can cope with my Tourettes. So here goes, about my first week!

I had my interview, during which I was nervous, ticcy and fast, but it went well, I think. The day I heard I had the apprenticeship I instantly ticced like mad! What, they really want this barking, twitching, middle-finger-shoving machine?

The next day, I signed more boring paperwork stuff and I started the Monday after (so fast, right?). The atmosphere was relaxed and the day started with lots of stuff for me to do. I found out that somebody who I work opposite had a friend at school who had Tourettes, so I feel much more relaxed knowing someone understands completely. Nobody seems to bat an eyelid or even ask the usual questions like, “Do you swear?”

I get to tic as much as I like on my breaks because I can get away from the main street and go somewhere quiet. This helps me supress a bit in the office, particularly if someone’s going to make a phone call. My first week went so fast! Making cups of tea, tweeting, typing things up on social media, setting up a couple of computers, creating banners, eating too many biscuits, meeting new people and being comfortable again. I even moved some fish from one building to another in plastic folders – two goldfish!

Anyway, I just wanted to write a quick post, and I hope you read it as it’s intended – positive, and showing that Tourettes doesn’t have to hold you back. It’s not going to stop you, it’ll just make you more determined to do better.

Oh, and after ticcing “My screw’s a magic screw” all last night, I made it magic today.

Ticcer out!