We’re a year into a global pandemic and it’s disrupted most people’s lives significantly. It’s been a period of sustained uncertainty, with the way our society works repeatedly and abruptly changing.

While this will have been tricky for most people there are some specific new challenges for people with tics, as guest blogger Serena touched on at the end of last year.…

Today is International Wheelchair Day – to me this is like Valentine’s Day, but for wheelchair users and their chairs. 

It’s almost ten years since my tics began having a significant impact on my mobility. I’d had an unusual walk for a long time but over the course of 2011 my mobility went from being unpredictable but functional to dangerous and extremely hard work.…

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of introducing our new Practical Intervention Fund, and in case that wasn’t exciting enough, I now have another brilliant opportunity to tell you about.

This one’s called the Young Artists Development Programme, and it’ll aim to do exactly what it says on the tin: help to develop young artists and their practice.…

It’s been almost a month since Katie joined the Touretteshero team as our new Solidarity Worker. She’s working on some exciting projects that we hope will provide better support and creative opportunities for children, young people and adults in our communities.…

This year it will be a decade since I started experiencing daily tic attacks – these are episodes of intense tics that look seizure-like and need similar management.

During these episodes I nearly always lose communicative speech. This means I can’t choose the words I say, but I still have vocal tics, which range from simple repetitive noises to complicated sentences.…

Leftwing Idiot loves Kombucha. I do not.

Kombucha is a non-alcoholic fermented drink that’s popular in North America, which is where he discovered it. It’s been growing in popularity in the UK too, although it’s still quite niche and very expensive!…

Monkey’s made himself very much at home here on the spaceship. He’s been here for over a year now and has developed close relationships with the whole team. He goes to Erik for play time and Leftwing Idiot for tummy rubs – he’s worked out that Trina will cave in first at dinner time and will let Claire carry him about.…

This evening I got a call from my brother-in-law King Russell and my three-and-a-half-year-old niece Bean, who had an urgent question for me:

“Do you need help choosing what to put in your bath?”

My instant reply, ‘Of course!’.

This is one of a few small new routines we’ve created to stay connected over the last year.…

The last year’s been a difficult one for everyone – but it’s presented some particular challenges for disabled people. Here at Touretteshero, the COVID-19 pandemic’s meant we’ve been focusing on providing direct support for our communities, in particular disabled Londoners, and also people with Tourettes and associated conditions across the UK.…

In London we’ve been back in lockdown since just before Christmas – not that it’s made much difference to me because I’ve been shielding since last March!

The latest lockdown, combined with Brexit, has meant some of my essentials have once again been in short supply.…