Creative

The Lonely Reality of Avoiding Being Alone

22^nd September 2023

A digital image by Jess Thom, black title text reads – Visualising Care, six months of care related labour. The image below is made of colourful dots each with a black outline, these are grouped by six type of labour. The biggest quantities are at the top of the image, on the left are 276 blue dots showing care communication and on the right 136 green dots show cover. Below these are four smaller groupings of dots, yellow for care admin, red for disruption, black for support gaps and the smallest number of 30 dots is purple representing relationship strain.

As someone who requires skilled support 24 hours a day I’m never really on my own – but if I am it’s because I’ve failed. Failed, that is, to meet my most basic need, the continuous presence of someone who can keep me safe, someone who can administer emergency medication if necessary, who can prevent friction burns from my repetitive movements, or who can turn me over so I can breathe.…

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The Joy of the Journey

4^th September 2023

A photo with Jess Thom, a white wheelchair-using woman at the centre. She's dressed in a red and blue flight-suit and a face mask. Jess is joyfully encased inside a giant bubble. The word "TELEPORT" is prominently displayed in the background. The photo has a playful tone and is part of a space-themed installation titled "Journey To A Better World.

I’m tired, in a deep kind of way. On its own this might not seem noteworthy because I experience fatigue and energy-related barriers every day. But this tiredness is different because although my body is physically drained, my mind, heart and spirit are energised in new and joyful ways.…

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Burnt Out In Biscuit Land Tour Reflections

11^th July 2023

A digital drawing made up of a nine circles in a grid formation three circles by three circles. The circle at the centre contains a drawing of the blue and white Touretteshero van. The eight circles around the edge each have landmarks from the different towns visited on the tour these are: Wigan, Bradford, Bridlington, Stoke on Trent, Peterborough, Torquay, Gloucester and margate. The drawing is colourful and in a blocky, graphic style.

We got back yesterday after almost three months of touring our new show Burnt Out In Biscuit Land (BOBL). When we set out for the first stop back in April I had no idea how audiences would respond to the show.…

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“Oh Biscuits!”

18^th June 2023

A photo a Lego Bee-Bublance, an ambulance for bees. The view looks down on the creation made out of yellow, white & blue bricks. There are two bays for tired bees and a feed platform that holds a small plastic spoon containing sugar water

I was looking after my niece Bean and nephew Sausage earlier today. While Sausage had a nap, Bean focused on making a Bee-bulance – an ambulance for bees. They’d arrived late at the castle for a play date in part because Bean had stopped twice to administer first aid to bees.…

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Return of the PIF

9^th May 2023

I can’t believe it’s been two years since we launched our Practical Intervention Fund, which provides small items related to wellbeing and relaxation to deaf, disabled and neurodivergent people of all ages. We’ve run two rounds of the fund so far, with each receiving lots of interest.…

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I Pledge Allegiance

6^th May 2023

A digital drawing by Jess Thom of one of her involuntary tics in response to reading about pledging allegiance to the King. The tic is written at the bottom of the image and reads: “I Pledge Allegiance to the roots of rebellion, to the leaves of love and to drainpipes in a storm.” The drawing illustrates this tic. At the top of the image ominous grey storm clouds pelt rain into a network of interconnected drain pipes. Below this is a hundreds of tiny hearts bunch together like blossom some blowing loose around the image – others forming a colourful riot of tiny hearts. Beneath this a base of protest placards give way to a colourful mass of roots stretching out towards the bottom of the image. The elements are arranged to vaguely reflect the shape of a crown.

We’re back in London after the first week of touring Burnt Out In Biscuit Land. We came back through central London which is already heaving with flags for the coronation next week.

I read an article about the pledge of allegiance that will form part of the coronation ceremony.…

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Crip Culture, Prepper Culture

4^th March 2023

The poster for Burnt Out In Biscuitland by Touretteshero the main image is three people stare directly at the camera and are each wearing different coloured, knitted balaclavas where only their eyes and mouths are exposed. They are all wearing black stab vests with the words ‘NO DNR’ stencilled onto the vests in white paint. Charmaine is on the left of the image. She is wearing a knitted green balaclava and blue knitted snood. Chopin is on the right of the image. She is wearing a red and orange knitted balaclava. She is tugging the top of the stab vest with her left hand. Jess is in the centre of the image between Charmain and Chopin and is staring straight at the camera. She is wearing a blue and pink knitted balaclava. Poster text reads "We Refuse To Give Up Our Joy" and "Coming Soon" The partner logos run across the bottom of the image

Preppers are people who plan for emergencies in practical ways. Exactly what they’re preparing for varies but can include natural disasters, economic crisis, civil unrest, or a zombie apocalypse.

Prepper culture focuses on self-reliance, making detailed plans, stockpiling essentials, and doing everything possible to support survival in a catastrophic breakdown of society.…

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To Turkey With Love

7^th February 2023

An Istanbul city scape drawn by hand on an ipad. The image is roughly square at the top the horizon is the sea with an industrial ship floating on calm water and a submarine breaking the surface. Beneath this are the elegant shapes of mosques and a royal palace. At the centre of the image is a large hotel and several other tall buildings, their many windows a patchwork of different colours. Nestled amongst the tall buildings are older ones including a former brewery that is now an arts centre with colourful light glowing within. A network of streets jut off at steep angles to represent Istanbul’s hills. The drawing is colourful and detailed like the city.

Since last Tuesday we’ve been in Istanbul. I’d been mentally writing this post all week, excited to share one of the few bits of international work we’ve done since the start of the pandemic. But this won’t be the blog post I was planning because just hours after we left, Turkey and Syria were hit by a huge earthquake which has caused massive loss of life and left many more homeless.…

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A Year of Imagining

31^st December 2022

Over the last couple of weeks, the Touretteshero Team has been resting and relaxing, the Christmas holidays being the only time each year that we all stop together. This has given me a chance to think about everything we’ve done together this year.…

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Biscuitlanding

18^th November 2022

A colourful digital drawing in a bold graphic style by Jess Thom of an assortment of biscuits such as pink party rings, custard creams, jammie dodgers and chocolate bourbons sitting under a lamp-post. Coloured squiggles and confetti are dotted throughout a golden sunset. The words BISCUITLAND are written in black text below the lamp-post.

“Biscuit” has been one of my regular tics for many years. I don’t know exactly when it started, but by early 2011 I was very biscuity! I once worked out that I tic “biscuit” about 16,000 times a day, so unsurprisingly it’s a word that lots of people strongly associate with me.…

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Creative

The Lonely Reality of Avoiding Being Alone

The Joy of the Journey

Burnt Out In Biscuit Land Tour Reflections

“Oh Biscuits!”

Return of the PIF

I Pledge Allegiance

Crip Culture, Prepper Culture

To Turkey With Love

A Year of Imagining

Biscuitlanding

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