Acceptance of Neurodiversity

I love it when Paula shows up around new people. Especially if they are people that I've already met and they haven't gotten to meet Paula right away. It always ends up being a great story. Take for example the meeting of Bryce. We have a few mutual friends and are occasionally seen in the same social circle. So we had been at a few social gatherings, but yesterday was the first time we had really talked to each other. After a good 20 or 30 minutes of chatting, Paula decided to show up. Our mutual friend, Rachel, acknowledged Paula and there was a bit of back and forth for a bit.

Bryce had looked confused when Paula first showed up, so I backtracked and asked him if he knew what was going on. He might have heard about Paula, my reputation does have a tendency to precede me, Paula does like social gatherings, so she might have gone off in another setting and been talked about, even if I wasn't present for that.

Once it was acknowledged that he had no idea what was going on, I explained, "So I have Tourette Syndrome..." I didn't get much farther than that, because his face lit up with a large smile and said, "YES!" At this point, I just started laughing, that is not a typical reaction when admitting to having a neurological disorder. And while I may have the same joyful exclamation (as does Paula), it's not often that it is shared by someone on the first meeting of Paula.

It turns out that he has another friend with Tourette Syndrome. I don't know much about this friend, but I am grateful that he is the kind who would make it something to be excited about. Times are a-changing. Little by little and story by story, Tourette Syndrome is coming to be more known and more accepted. While there is still a long way to go in the direction of neurodiversity and acceptance, this one small moment warmed my heart and gave me encouragement. It's good to know I'm not alone in this cause.

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