In Camden earlier a passing man shouted:

“Tourettes! You have Tourettes! Good luck.”

This evening a colleague and I took a group of six young people we work with to an event at the local Town Hall. As we walked there I warned them that other adults or young people who didn’t know me might look at me or laugh because of the noises I make.…

When I’m out and about on my own, strangers tend to react differently to me from when I’m with friends, but this is not because of any change in me or my tics. When the unusual noises and movements I make are interspersed with clearly normal conversations, other people are less likely to be afraid of me because they can see and hear that I’m not mad and that I’ll know if they’re laughing or talking about me.…

I’m going to share thirty minutes of my day through the reactions I’ve encountered along the way.

3.00pm: I popped to the shops during my lunch break to pick up some plasters to protect the my knuckles from the wear and tear they’re currently suffering from the tic that means that I bang my chest.…

Joanna Lumley was at the checkout next to me in Sainsbury’s this afternoon:

“Shit, shit, shit,” – shriek, squeal – “Shit, dog, dog food,” – finger in the air – squeal.

Her response, or lack of, has done nothing to dent my impression of her as a sound human being.

I went out to a club to celebrate my friend Harry’s birthday tonight. Although clubbing can be a nerve-wracking experience, I was very impressed by the professionalism of the bouncer who smiled and then ignored me when I said:

“Pass the purple rain,” and “Viagra wrecked your soul.”

At lunchtime while I queued to buy a sandwich in a supermarket I saw a crowd of teenage boys gathered around the window with a mobile phone pressed against the glass – they were clearly filming me. The same thing has happened several times before.…

I’ve spent the day squawking around on my own. Like most people I appreciate a bit of time to myself. However, being by myself does make the randomness of the things I say even more apparent. I was so pleased by the return of Fat Sister that I greeted her by saying:

“You have a kilogram of sperm in your mouth.”…

My ongoing Tourettes Syndrome public relations campaign continues.

This morning I offered my seat to an elderly man, picked up a woman’s spilt shopping and cooed/squeaked over a newborn baby. I often feel the need to make an extra effort to make my actions speak louder than my words and to demonstrate that, despite my flapping arms and odd language, I’m not rude.…

It’s Fat Sister’s birthday so we went out for a mid-week drink. We’ll celebrate properly at the weekend. I met a couple of Fat Sister’s medical colleagues for the first time and one of them kept looking at me strangely. Fat Sister clocked this and said “Shit, sorry, didn’t I mention my sister has Tourettes?”…