Diagnosed in the 1970s by Dr. Shapiro with Daniel Ferron

If you're looking to be inspired, you're in for a treat with today's episode of our podcast. I had the privilege of speaking with Daniel Ferron, an extraordinary individual whose journey with Tourette Syndrome is nothing short of incredible. Daniel has navigated life's highs and lows with a condition that was scarcely understood when he was diagnosed in the 1970s. His story is a testament to the power of perseverance and the importance of support. Daniel Ferron is an entertainer, actor, and filmmaker.

Episode Highlights:
[01:20] - Daniel Ferron’s diagnosis in the 1970s by Tourette pioneer Dr. Arthur K. Shapiro.
[04:06] - Early treatment and studying with Daniel’s documentary.
[06:13] - Removed all treatment in his adolescence and had 10 years of tic remission.
[07:30] - Embracing Tourette Syndrome with humor.
[08:27] - When the tics returned.
[10:04] - Daniel’s experience with school in New Jersey.
[11:09] - Family support was paramount to his success.
[13:27] - Finding his calling in entertainment.
[15:45] - The advancement of Tourette advocacy leading to understanding.
[17:30] - Going to the movies and getting into the entertainment business.
[20:05] - Daniel’s documentary “My Life, My Story, My Tourette’s”.
[23:40] - Advice for the younger Tourette community.
[27:03] - Advice to disconnect.
[28:50] - Clarity and sense of self naturally improves as you age.

Links & Resources:
Daniel Ferron's Documentary: "My Life, My Story, My Tourette's"
New Jersey Center for Tourette Syndrome and Associated Disorders (NJCTS): https://njcts.org/

Remember, each story shared on this podcast brings light and understanding to the diverse experiences within the Tourette's community. Your journey is your own, and it's filled with potential and promise. If Daniel's story resonated with you, I encourage you to like, share, and leave a review to help us connect with more listeners.

Transcript

Daniel Ferron: 0:00

Some people I've never met anybody with Tourette's and it doesn't matter the age. The second you do, you click because you go, I don't have to explain myself why I'm going like this. So yeah, it's just to try to always be yourself. I feel like I've always been myself. Not easy to deal with Tourette's or not because the world has a lot of followers. It's so easy to go. I'm just going to do what they do. And follow instead of thinking for yourself, trying to be unique and individual, but you have to be and it's not easy. The majority of people with Tourette's, it will subside with us as we get older. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Michael Leopold: 0:41

Welcome to the apptech brought to you by The New Jersey Center for Tourette syndrome and associated disorders, empowering children and adults through education, advocacy and research by sharing the stories and experiences relevant to the TS community. Welcome back to the apptech Today I'm speaking with Daniel Ferran Daniel is an entertainer, actor and filmmaker. He grew up in New Jersey and was diagnosed with TMS in the mid 1970s. He's got an incredible story going through life with this condition at a time when there was so much less awareness of it. Daniel, I want to start at the beginning of your story. Can you walk us through those earliest years when your tics first began? Sure, Michael, how

Daniel Ferron: 1:25

are you tonight, buddy?

Michael Leopold: 1:26

doing really great. How about yourself?

Daniel Ferron: 1:28

All right, good. Thank you. Yeah, I was born in New Jersey in 1970. And diagnosed with Tourette's between 75 and 76 by a Dr. Arthur Shapiro, very few people knew anything about this though the name alone. The literally longevity of the name sounds intimidating and contagious. If you don't know what is. It's such a different ballgame than then then presently, because so many people know what it is. Yeah, I had the usual throat clearing the eye blinking the arms, verbal tics, physical tics can't even imagine like my my mom and dad were like, what's wrong? Obviously I didn't know. My grandmother, at the time was reading a magazine. And there was an article happened to be about Dr. Shapiro and his wife, Elaine, about Tourette's and describing some of the texts that we all are familiar with. And my grandmother said, look at this article, of course, we didn't have all the emails and everything was just a phone number. And there was an actual phone number for Dr. Shapiro's office. And my mother called it. It was like family circle or Women's Day magazine, Mrs. Shapiro answered. Imagine that today you can, you know, everything's you know, will, you know, leave a message or we'll call you back. My mother, from a woman to a woman from a mother to a mother is saying, I don't know what's wrong with my son. Just briefly reading the article about your you and your husband. And she said, we are actually late leaving for vacation today. My mother was hysterical. They postponed their vacation. And I, I they brought me in the next day to his office. Oh, it was that that one an angel. He was out of Mount Sinai in New York. And he had his separate office, I think at Nyack, New York. So we went to the office there. And I remember I was about five or six sitting in an office and he went in the other room with my parents. And unbeknownst to me watching me through a one way mirror, and he said, Your son has Tourette syndrome. It has a name, and it was like, Oh my god. Okay, now what do we do? This man was a godsend. I mean, he just in my mother was just he was his bedside manner. He was the angel with the answers. Even though he still didn't know much about it. He had already written a book about that thick. And nobody else knew what it was. I think my mother said I remember before she called she said, she didn't almost didn't bother. She said, This guy's has got to be this guy's got to be so busy. With people calling him. Well, again, look what happened. I mean, they postponed their vacation and got me diagnosed. We started with EKGs and EGS and blood tests and all kinds of poking and prodding. I was like his new guinea pig, but that's okay. Because it was we were gonna get somewhere hopefully. So

Michael Leopold: 4:18

he was he was trying to study and learn more about it through you too. With all these tests they were.

Daniel Ferron: 4:23

Okay, so we actually I have a documentary about my life with Tourette's and one of the gentlemen that we met while filming and he's a little older than I am, and he had Dr. Shapiro and he was a guinea pig as well. For any

Michael Leopold: 4:35

of our listeners who may not know Dr. Arthur Shapiro was a big pioneer in the 1950s 60s 70s and early Tourettes research and treatment based in New York, and really, he should be given so much credit for moving the needle getting more support, really taking Tourette and the way we treat it from from a psychoanalytic model mortis. have something more holistic looking at the person not blaming the patient or their their parents, everyone I've talked to who's met with him talks about how kind and hospitable he was and his wife do they say she would welcome you into their home they didn't make you dinner or they were just kind people. So your example about them canceling vacation to talk to you I read that is perfectly in line with everything I've heard about that family.

Daniel Ferron: 5:23

I feel so honored. Not only that I was diagnosed by him. I mean, I was young. But all that made my when I didn't really know what was going on. Because I was a kid, that it made my parents life easier. On top of being stressed with this is, again, like an angel going, it's going to be okay. There's light at the end of the tunnel, which was not well before that was like you

Michael Leopold: 5:45

didn't have a name for it. You don't know what's going on? Yeah, especially at that time in the 70s.

Daniel Ferron: 5:50

Oh, man, I was on meds trial meds for for six years, from six to 12. I always say somebody had to do it. Mike didn't have everything, nothing worked. Nothing. Again, I'm really honored at 53 that I was that I was that chosen person. Because it really made me the person I am today. And by the time I was about 12, and I'm developing and changing into puberty and all that, and she said take them off everything what's the worst that's gonna happen. And within the six months, I didn't it wasn't cured. But oh, my takes subsided so much to a point where I had, I went into the 10 years or remission. Wow. till about 19 or 20, doing less than I do now. With nothing, no meds. And that was my miracle. I remember when I was short, probably shortly before getting off the meds. Just tying my shoe one day, my arms I'm all over the place. I'm trying. And I just I was exhausted and I go oh my god, and I was by myself in my room. I go, am I ever going to be normal? Am I ever going to be able to ride a car and hold a job and have a conversation without being all over the place? And within a couple of years later I was not even and it was like so I there's not a day on cope that doesn't go by without going. Canada it could have been so much worse. This is why I called my documentary my life my story, my Tourette's because everybody's is individual affects us all differently. That was that I still continue to see him and but eventually stopped because I was wasn't cured. But his job was done with me. We kept in touch. And I moved on I went I went to I was fortunate to go to a school because I also had so I was diagnosed again back then we didn't have these big. We didn't have all these titles. Everything's a title. And I had Tourette syndrome and a mild learning disability. That was it. Majan today, it's like oh no ADHD, autism, Asperger's, the whole you know, whatever. I think we all have to some effect OCD ADHD, maybe not just diagnoseable. But in the I think we all it's a human trait. So onset d3, I love when I tell people this story in person. And they go are you on meds now? I go. I haven't been on meds since I was 12. Wow. They said my insanity is pure natural sense of humor, or that's my that's my medicated sometimes

Michael Leopold: 8:26

those go hand in hand. It's interesting, too. With this almost 10 year near complete remission you had, at what point? Did the tick start up again? And do you have any idea what it was that the brought the tics back? Good

Daniel Ferron: 8:38

question. So when you have Tourette's, even if it's subsided, we're always in motion. We're always moving. It's just a low frequency version of what I used to do. But it's nothing compared and to how horrific it was, was ruined controlling my life, and hasn't done that in years. I thank the dear Lord above. I've always been religious. We all go through that we all go through something unpleasant. And I went I'm glad I went through it and as a young young person, so he could build me for the rest of my life and live somewhat normal. Yeah, by the grace of God. So I grew up in Clifton, New Jersey, which is northern jersey. It's become a huge melting pot. I got my sister my older sister still lives there. So I go back for the holidays. I graduated high school in 1989 with the diploma from Clifton high school, but I was fortunate and all because of my mom. And again remember we didn't have the computers and the and the emails and what we take for granted today. I don't even know how she did it. She went to the Board of Education send my son needs special education of some sort to not be ridiculed and not be made fun of and just go and get my education and get out of dodge like a lot of people just want to do and see what happens because every day was a challenge. I think stress is the number one yeah, there's that mercy I said the word you when

Michael Leopold: 9:58

I started? I started ticking right is this Stress. Yeah. trigger word.

Daniel Ferron: 10:04

A lot of people, I graduated high school, learn how to dry out a car started working, and was so lucky to work who knew a couple of years before I've ever anybody would ever hire me. I was fortunate to go to a school more for like kids with learning disabilities or dysfunctional families. classrooms were smaller, and everybody had an issue. So nobody makes fun of everybody. It was wonderful. And I was there I remained there from probably about fifth grade all the way to high school, but I got the Clifton diploma, but I got to be myself amongst the other students that also some kids came out of the high school for a year or two to catch up with schoolwork and went back to the school it was different with everybody. But he fought like hell with the Board of Education in person meeting after meeting getting me in some kind of of a school that was the only one of its kind also in New Jersey. Got me bus there. It didn't cost anything. I mean, a lot of legwork. But you know what, man, it was worth it. For my mother's peace of mind. And mind. I

Michael Leopold: 11:07

remember you saying this last time we talked you really attributed a lot of your your growth and and just your journey, the way you were able to handle your tics so much of this you attributed to your mom and the support that she she gave you in the love warmth, that unconditional support. You're talking

Daniel Ferron: 11:23

about that? Yeah, again. So I have two older sisters. I'm the youngest of three, where there's three years in between us. And I'm 53 my father worked a lot and and he's been gone many years. But he left us off well, because he died young. So my mother raised two girls and myself. Me with a Tourette's. And again, it's a different boy, it's a different time because all this is so easy now Oh, Tourette's, okay, it makes me smile. Anytime I converse with somebody I just met. And very rare, by, like, it's literally 99.9% of people, at least have heard of it. Or say, Oh, I know what that is. I've heard of that. Or I've seen that on Oprah or so. And then on MTV, or I have a cousin that has, it's just a common word. And it's like, God had mercy blows my mind. Because you don't have to stress that and go, Oh, I have to explain myself to this person, you know. And people have their own problems today. They're not worrying about what you and I are doing with our text. It takes the weight off of us. And I gotta tell you, I know you're all younger than I at 63. Not every day, but whenever it like stuff like this, to be able to educate other people is still continuously healing. Every time I do something, I feel like I educated another person brought it out into the light from the darkness. I feel a little better. Like it's just as I get older, it's in that weird, but it's cool.

Michael Leopold: 12:51

It's therapeutic. No, I get the same result. I mean, it makes my tics worse when I talk about it or when I'm helping someone with it. But it's the right but overall like, that's the life I want to live like I feel I'm doing my part my contribution arm.

Daniel Ferron: 13:06

It's easier today because people know what it is. But for years, I couldn't like I didn't brag or anything. I just couldn't talk about it without checking. So I thought sorry, again, I can't discuss it. Because it was hard to describe to people if they don't, they don't get it. And it's, it's okay. So I worked in Jersey for many years I did retail, I think you have to have a sense of humor or Tourette's or not to work and

Michael Leopold: 13:32

probably a lot of things are

Daniel Ferron: 13:36

stressful. Yeah, has to you got to have the backbone. There's no job that I regret. I have many jobs. I worked for Bed Bath and Beyond for many years along like 10 plus years ago. And I enjoyed it. When it was at the time. It was stressful. But you got to work somewhere. And people again, too many people have their own issues to be worrying about what's going on with me. But people I've worked with no. And I would always like tell people I worked with I'd say, if you're looking for me to help a customer I said, all you got to do is listen, yell at your

Michael Leopold: 14:09

shoes. Yeah, doesn't take too long before you'll see a tick are here a tick or I said

Daniel Ferron: 14:14

and I used to laugh. I used to say I never want to hear any use say where's Danny? Because listen, I'm either in the bathroom, but give it a couple of seconds and they used to laugh. And they said you're absolutely right. I'd say just walk in and go oh, he's in Aisle Five or whatever. You

Michael Leopold: 14:29

can always track your whereabouts in the store. I haven't been able to have humor and laugh about it is so important. I mean, that's how we cope. Well. One of the ways we cope with this was something anything that that that can be a challenge. You got to be able to see light and humor in it. Yeah,

Daniel Ferron: 14:43

so I'm not saying I haven't been hurt before emotionally, but not compared to compared to some people. I was very lucky. I was sheltered and you know what that was okay. Because I was fine at home. I wasn't sheltered in like, oh my god, we can't take this guy out, though. What am I Dad was alive family functions that we do, we went into New York City in 82, or 80. To see Annie on Broadway. But if the show for any, I'm jealous, I wanted to see that one was wonderful. Later in life, I got into acting in the entertainment business. And I didn't appreciate it them because my father had a weed upside with me wherever theater was at, and my mother and my sister state. So my sister always say she goes, at the time, there was five of us, my mother, my father, my sisters, and five advocates in our house, think about that, and then never go to like that. She put it like that. She goes, we had five out of the kids in the house. They were three years older, we're off from each other, and probably mortified, and embarrassed, traumatized to win people, but friends would say to them, what's wrong with your brother? Because they didn't know. You can't, it's hard to explain why you get frustrated because it's hard to explain. until like, now, it's different because you can go on and go, it is one of those and everybody that will be like, there's people that have twitches and little tic disorders, because it's a crazy world and stress brings it out whatever. They don't necessarily have Tourette's, but so it's come so far.

Michael Leopold: 16:16

Yeah, largely because of the worldly contributions of people like you and that advocacy back then. I mean, that's why we were able to live in a world now where I can disclose that I have Tourette and people respond saying, Oh, I know about that. What are your tics? They knew they were tic. They know what that is like, that's we've come so far. I can only imagine the 70s 80s how different things were then.

Daniel Ferron: 16:38

So back in the day. Originally, I wanted to be a guitarist in a rock band. Yeah. My mother had she had taken lessons somebody had given her an electric guitar. My mom rocked for a couple of years. So she had this guitar. We had actual records back then it is, and I would dress up in front of a mirror. And I would kiss Bon Jovi whenever I lived through the 80s. So it was like, the time Yeah, sunglasses and wigs and hats and props. And it was just like, oh, this is this is cool. And it distracted my Tourette's. And I'm like, wow, this is like, this is awesome. This is better than medication. And I did that for years. Looking back, it just it just, I just did it. And I started getting into films, and news, movies and art and music. Again, all before computers all before the internet. I used to go to the movies a lot. Now this is interesting, because I would go to a matinee a lot because there was an almost nobody in the theater. But I guess I was so focused, I would take but it wasn't so distracting that they said you can't be in here, because they tried to leave me when I was older. And I said yes, I can. I said you want to see my work

Michael Leopold: 17:45

hard. Yeah. Current carrying to read or hear.

Daniel Ferron: 17:49

Like no. Doctor, I saw a movie called The Untouchable. Everyone's seen that. I have not seen that one. Oh, you got to see it. The Untouchable. Kevin Costner zero played Al Capone. It's based on a true of Ansah how they legitimately put him in jail for tax evasion. With all the murdering he did. They said I want to act and I want to get into character I wanted from the inside out costumes and makeup, wigs and hair and mustaches, whatever. I later became self taught special effects makeup artists as well. So I wear many hats. Literally get into I do a lot of impersonations, which I will do for you in a little bit. Oh, yeah. But I remember going to see the untouchables for $5, because that's all it was. And I used to go to the movies a lot. Because for five bucks, and I'm like, I want this is what I want to do. I'm not thinking about the Tourette's. I'm like, I need to entertain, okay, I need to make the laugh or cry or whatever I need. And it was because it was like oxygen, I needed it. So as I got older, and again, all before this magazines and library and research, renting VHS tapes and hitting the rewind button back and forth and memorize the script, the lines, writing it down, which was great. I love it. I missed that. This all was morphing in. So what would be my life, who knows. I'm glad I was able to do it all without internet without the cell phones and computers. And then I used to work in a music store at the mall in Jersey and I had a good friend of mine and you still have boyfriends. And we would go every religiously every Sunday we'd go to the mat nights at the movies and sometimes see two or three films. I'd get a big ass we get the big bucket of popcorn and the big gallon soda. Now I can't handle like my bladder can handle that but and we would talk movies we'd go to a diner and we would talk about the movie and this was it was just again when I look back at it was all puzzle pieces of my life that were to one day fit. I got my education without the extra bs of being bullied or whatever just being overwhelmed by the normal kids, the kids that were whatever and yet gotten the diploma from there so it was like was all legit through the board education shouldn't but my mother thought or maybe not realizing at that moment, not until years later. And I was like my god, mom, she just was she was my angel. That's incredible

Michael Leopold: 20:09

to hear that. And I know you made a documentary, my life, my story, my Tourette's, what inspired you to put that together?

Daniel Ferron: 20:17

I remember thinking, that's creative, I want to do something different. I want to do something. And I thought, I can hear my mother going, don't ever feel sorry for yourself. I still wanted to sit around and twiddle my thumbs. I mean, my God, I so I'm a creative person I have to do and work. And you know, I got together with this guy and his his classmates to do like their thesis, for whatever reason, something happened, but it wasn't meant to be. So I have is I have the idea that instead of saying, I'm going to use my Tourette's, to take advantage of a situation, I'm going to use it to show other people that you can do anything you want. And say I have Tourette's if I can work, and talk and make movies and be creative, so Can others. So as an inspiration, I thought now I'm going to use it but in a good way. So it floated around for like 10 years. I mean, because that didn't work out until I finally met a guy who was now a friend of mine. He was a friend of a friend who was a videographer and really had done nothing major weddings and what have you. And we got together, got like 989 years ago already can't believe it. And it was like you I've never had something and align the stars align for three and a half years of this journey, while making this film while taking care of my mother. While my friend got married while we worked and did life and the doors blew open. It was like we would work for a month filming things. And then a month would go by and we were preparing for the next thing. And God would just miss this world when door closing door open door closing door opening door. We talked now he goes never could do it now. It would never work right now. It was time. It was like it was crazy. And he did all everything tech, directed it. And it filmed it produced it a whole gamut. You saw it right. You said you saw it?

Michael Leopold: 22:13

Yeah, I did. I looked it over before this. Yeah, I was watching it really good. Well put together.

Daniel Ferron: 22:18

Do you think it would? Yeah. Yeah, it was a labor of love. But I said I want I want the world to know about. You get older and you go. My thing was always for exposure. Because when you have Tourette's and you've lost a lot, you have nothing slips. When you had something that has taken over your life and a younger memory younger and it's hard. My quote on Facebook is everything after Tourette's has kicked in like the smaller things that might otherwise traumatized as I go, Oh, that's nothing Whatever. At the time we did here in PA we a lot of screenings, and it got a lot of exposure and newspaper and locally here. I reached out to the news stations and got a lot of press for it was wondrous. Because I get it you got to make your own. Andy Kaufman, you know, Andy Kaufman was, yeah, Andy Kaufman. And I learned this, watching Jim Carrey play in which was brilliant. And man on the moon is he created his own and again, before the before the internet, he wrecked his own habit, he would go somewhere knowing he was going to get kicked out, or do some stupid prank that would be involved. But there's no such thing as bad media, or bad exposure. You're

Michael Leopold: 23:29

drawing attention to something. Yeah, they can be done strategically. Yeah, that'd

Daniel Ferron: 23:33

be your impress. So I love that. And as you can see, I like to talk a lot. But I said, I say to people, I know I go, we don't get far in life by keeping our mouth shut. I said, I have the gift of gab. But it's gotten very far in my life. We're touching

Michael Leopold: 23:48

on some interesting points here. And as we wrap things up, I often like to ask my guests what advice they have for people with TLS. And I think I want to dedicate enough time to this because I think you'd have an awful lot to share on on this topic. And I'm thinking especially with some of our listeners are young, they're in school, they're going through some of the difficult years of puberty their tics may be flaring, co occurring conditions are spiking. And it feels like this is all this is the life they know is just things are tough and tics are really rough. The challenges with OCD anxiety, what advice would you give to that person?

Daniel Ferron: 24:24

I can identify in many ways. So I'm 53. I have a niece and nephews. But a lot of people I know are young. I mean, I volunteer religiously every year which I love at a summer camp. I'm in with NJ CPS as well as the TA and then pass it which is the Pennsylvania Tourette Syndrome Alliance. Awesome. Again, they're all great. They're all wonderful and do their lives in this community. And so I go every year, I always say I'm like the power and the kid because I can I can talk to the parent about when I was a child and then the kids can identify We all get. That's what's great about being, especially around younger people with Tourette's, because some people, I've never met anybody with Tourette's and it doesn't matter the age. The second you do, you click because you go, I don't have to explain myself why I'm going like this. So yeah, it's just to try to always be yourself. I feel like I've always been myself, not easy to do Tourette's or not, because the world is a lot of followers. It's so easy to go, I'm just gonna do what they do. And follow instead of thinking for yourself, trying to be unique and individual, but you have to be and it's not easy. The majority of people with Tourette's, it will subside with us as we get older. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. We're both sitting here ticking, but it's not destructive. It's not horrific. We've learned to deal with it. And they can to do your thing. Just be yourself, whether you want to be up here, or you want to fly a little low under the radar. But there's so many more opportunities, a lot that we didn't have that I didn't have as a kid. So, go for the gold. If you're gonna go out for something, do it right. Do it the old, go big or go home. st Damn. And I have Tourette's and you know, that's it. You're gonna you know, here I am. Love me or don't love you, but and then the hell with you. If not,

Michael Leopold: 26:19

Oh, that's right. You either accept me or you don't.

Daniel Ferron: 26:22

Then you call me. I tell every everybody I need. I've never turned somebody down. I'd be people who go oh my god, I was telling my nephew or my cousin whose kid asterisk. I said, have them reach out to me. I'll talk to him. The parent that kid whatever. I said, my social media is is like a friend an open door. I said if I can help somebody ease their mind or a parent, and I always do so the people that know me know, know that he said, I always like, I don't know, these people I said, But you know, I said because it starts here at home when the community and because it's unique and different. Let's do a podcast part show. Because for another time, because we got so much I gotta go on for hours is

Michael Leopold: 27:02

always so much. I know, I know. We could go just continue all night here with it. But it's wonderful stuff. Love, love what you're saying and what we're discussing here. Any other thoughts or anything on your mind, you'd love for our listeners to hear? Here's

Daniel Ferron: 27:14

a challenge for the young people and other people as well. Even if it's five or 10 minutes a day, shut everything. It doesn't help with the Tourette's, this. All this the computer, we're all connected 24 hours. Again, I remember a time when before having these my sisters and I always say you'd make plans on the house phone to meet your friends at the mall or out with bikes. And you were out all day running and playing and whatever hanging out. And there's so much you know, health issues with young people, you have to get out and you got to just get off this or a little bit. Have a conversation in person or on the regular just on the phone. It's just that's it. It's just you got to work on everybody has to like don't worry what everybody else is doing work. Focus on you, whoever you are sent and just be yourself. To be honest with yourself in your life the best you can. We all make mistakes, no one's perfect. We're all going to continue to make them as part of life. And but embrace them and go okay, what can I always say I want to get a shirt that says life. Take what you need and leave the rest. No, you got to shut it off. Not easy. accept

Michael Leopold: 28:26

yourself for who you are. And then build that life where you can be that person that you are, embrace it.

Daniel Ferron: 28:33

And I think we all people who have Tourette's. Once you can do that and go, it's not going to go away. It's not it's not. But it will subside, you will see as you get older, and it's going to you're going to be fine. You're going to graduate high school and decide what you're going to do.

Michael Leopold: 28:51

I go the two I so I'm 30 right now I can say even age 30 Compared to when I was a teenager, I have so much more clarity now about my life and about my Tourette and like things just they make a little more sense who I am as a person I mean your your your frontal prefrontal lobe is developing all of that before our cortex like it it's true I started noticing in my mid to late 20s Just my sense of self seem to sort of stabilize or become more more formed. It's hard to explain and I could not have articulated this to my my 16 year old self when I was taking and things were a really did come with time things just naturally kind of biologically just started to work their way out the way that you know, and I became that person that I was going to be so yeah, I a lot of what you're saying embrace who you are and filter out the rest. Because you're gonna find yourself and that's the that's what you need to embrace.

Daniel Ferron: 29:49

Yeah, not wonderful. And you'll find what you're just saying it gets even better. I like my 20s and 30s my 40s and 50s. It's like it just comes with time Being back in the race with the to like now and doing all these things which, again I had, I was years without doing anything, but I feel so much better other than trying to lose some weight. I feel better and can let go of life and things we can't control now better than I could when I was younger. And I'm not as depressed and I'm just, it's like, oh, I can breathe. And I can just go I don't care. Yeah, just built. Yeah. Love.

Michael Leopold: 30:25

That is great. Great note here. Turn things on. I love that. Yeah,

Daniel Ferron: 30:30

Daniel Ferran. I'm on Facebook, Instagram. Reach out to me. Message me ASI on the podcast. And we can talk phone number of texts, email. And I'm always open. When I get people like yourself who I need permission. Give somebody my phone number just say hey, I mentioned you give them my email or whatever. And I'm always always gone in here to listen because I've been there. Yeah,

Michael Leopold: 30:55

give give Daniel a call. You can call him Danny or Daniel, he goes by. And also the New Jersey Center for Trent. So no is a resource as well. If you're looking for a provider, a doctor, physician therapist or mentor, someone to speak to your your classmates, your teacher, any kind of referral source there. Don't hesitate to reach out to NJ CTS and we can connect you with someone as well. But Daniel, it's been lovely having you on the podcast here. Thank you so much for your time. I really appreciated this,

Daniel Ferron: 31:27

Michael. It's been a pleasure. I'm glad that we got chance to finally do this, but me too. It was a good

Michael Leopold: 31:31

one. To all of our listeners. Thank you for listening and tune in again in two weeks. Thanks, buddy. Thank you for listening to the uptick, brought to you by The New Jersey Center for Tourette syndrome and Associated Disorders empowering you to stretch the boundaries to live your best life. The NJ center for Tourette syndrome and Associated Disorders NJ CTS, its directors and employees assume no responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, objectivity, or usefulness of the information presented on this podcast. We do not endorse any recommendation or opinion made by any guest nor do we advocate any treatment