Living Loudly with Tourette: Emily Fleischman’s Journey of Advocacy, Nursing, and Owning Her Story

In this episode, I sit down with someone I’ve known and admired for years—Emily Fleischman. Emily is a nurse at Mount Sinai West in New York City and a longtime advocate within the Tourette Syndrome community. From her early days as a Youth Ambassador with NJCTS to publishing a children’s book about her experience with TS, Emily’s story is one of courage, transformation, and advocacy.

We dive into what it was like being diagnosed with Tourette and OCD as a child, how that affected her family dynamics, and the coping strategies she picked up along the way. Emily opens up about everything from therapy and medical massages to what helped—and didn’t help—her manage her tics over the years. We  have a conversation packed with insights for parents, professionals, and anyone walking the TS journey. 

Emily Fleischman, RN is a New Jersey native and NYC based nurse. Having grown up with TS and OCD, she brings personal and professional insights to our discussion, which centered around her story, including her diagnosis, family, tic management, and tips/advice for those with TS.

Episode Highlights:

[0:34] Getting to know Emily and her connection to NJCTS.
[1:54] Emily’s early diagnosis and the challenges that followed.
[4:00] Family dynamics and what it was like for her brother.
[7:05] Struggling in school, holding in tics, and reaching a breaking point.
[9:50] Becoming a Youth Ambassador and finding her voice through advocacy.
[11:39] Writing a children’s book about Tourette to reach younger audiences.
[13:50] Nursing career journey and the role empathy plays in her work.
[15:15] Educating hospital staff about Tourette from the inside out.
[16:01] Why nursing was the perfect fit—and how it supports her lifestyle.
[18:26] CBT, reward systems, and tools that helped as a kid.
[21:15] How adulthood has changed her relationship with tics and OCD.
[22:13] Emily breaks down ABA therapy and how it connects to her own experience.
[25:54] Practical parenting tips: more time in the morning, identifying triggers.
[26:40] Communication tips for loved ones when it comes to pointing out tics.
[28:06] Why meditation and yoga didn’t help—but massages did.
[29:34] Talking openly with kids about their diagnosis.
[31:27] Emily’s advice for those newly diagnosed with TS.

Links & Resources:

Emily’s children’s book: Emily’s Tic – Available on Amazon

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 this episode resonated with you, I encourage you to like, share, and leave a review to help us connect with more listeners.

Transcript

Emily Fleischman: 0:00

Also like, for some reason, a lot of studies and therapists were always like yoga meditation. That's the thing that will help, that never helps me, and it even to this day when people recommend I've like, tried it at least every few months, I'll try yoga class. I cannot stand it. Focusing on my breathing makes my tics so much worse. And I'm not the first person with Tourette syndrome to feel that way. I've met so many people like that.

Michael Leopold: 0:34

Welcome to the uptick 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. Hello and welcome back to the uptick. I am here today with Emily Fleischman, who is a Mount Sinai West hospital nurse. She grew up in New Jersey and was involved with njcts in some of its earlier years, and this is an episode devoted to sharing Emily's story growing up with Ts and her experiences with New Jersey Center for Tourette syndrome, and tips and advice that she has that she's learned professionally as a nurse, as well as just in her own personal experience as as someone with the condition. Emily, how are you today?

Emily Fleischman: 1:27

I'm doing great. I'm so honored to be here. Thank you for reaching out to me. Michael, so

Michael Leopold: 1:32

excited to have you on the uptick. I man, there's so much we could talk about. I've known you for years, since I think 2016 I think it was my first year at the Academy when I was a coach. And I know you've also been involved with njcts for a while. Maybe we start at the beginning. I'd love to hear a little bit about your your story, your diagnosis and how all of that began.

Emily Fleischman: 1:55

Yeah, so when I was six years old, I don't totally remember all of it. It's very much a blur. I was diagnosed with OCD and Tourette Syndrome. My mom noticed some eye blinking, shoulder shrugging and noises I would make. At first, she brought me to the pediatrician, and they had me go to a neurologist. They're like she had, definitely has Tourette's Syndrome, the ticks and OCD developed through, increased through my early childhood years. I had tics where I would have to say things where I would be like, I love you. Mom, I love you. Mom, I love you. Mom, it was very, very bizarre.

Michael Leopold: 2:34

I had the, did we talk about this? I not to interrupt, but I had that exact same tick I had. I had an I love you tick that I said to my parents and my grandparents. Yeah, I absolutely had that as well.

Emily Fleischman: 2:44

I think it's also, like the the neuroscience degree in me also sort of wants to relate it to the OCD, almost, because I had OCD where I would be, like, if I don't touch this picture, then my brother's gonna die that for some reason that was, it was so textbook my OCD. So I think it sort of went over to my Tourettes in that. That's why I had the I love yous and, yeah, I also want to touch on one more thing. I think it's important to touch on siblings. Yes, I think it was really hard for my brother my Tourettes. He felt a lot of shame around it also. And there was a period of time where I was getting so much more attention from my parents because of my tics, like they were trying to figure out what, what is this new diagnosis? We I had doctor's appointments like multiple times a week, and I think it was really hard for my brother where he wasn't getting as much attention, and he also was very embarrassed about my tics and, like, we were just kids, like, we didn't know. And I, like, don't really have any advice on that, because I don't know what could have been done better, but I think it's just like a sidebar note that, like, parents need to remember, like, something

Michael Leopold: 4:00

to be mindful of. I'm so, so glad you brought that up, Emily, because that that's something. I mean, I kind of saw this in my family of three siblings, and we've kind of had our own our own stuff, but two of the three also have to have ticks. But it's very natural, I guess, for for when you have a family with multiple kids, and one of them has something like Tourette or condition like that, it's natural for them to be getting more attention. They're the one being driven to doctor's appointments. They're the parents are working with them more kind of one on one, and bringing in tutors or friends help, like whatever they need. And I think it's, you know, that is the way it is, like I we had actually asked this question to two psychologists, you know, Jeremy Lichtman? Or yeah, you definitely do. I asked him this question, and him, I actually had him and his dad on a podcast episode, like, a year ago, and one of our earlier ones, and they were, I was asking them, like, what do you do in this situation, like, how do you make that other kid in the family that doesn't have ticks? How do they how do you make them feel special to. And not feel, you know? And I was kind of coming at it from this idea of, like, oh, you need to treat all your kids equally and give them all the same amount of time and make them all feel equally special. And they challenge that, they push back on that. We're like, no, like, if one kid's got more that needs to be worked on, then they're going to get more time. And that that is, you know, it shouldn't be equal. It should be you meet each kid where they're at and give them the resources and time and attention they need. Now, what Jeremy's dad said that I really this is, you know, something that really stuck with me was, I guess, Jeremy sister, their dad decided to have, like, I think it was like a day a week, like an evening where that was they'd like, go get ice cream, he and his him and his daughter, and that was, like, his time to bond with her, like, no like, intentionally carving out some time, not that they didn't see each other other times throughout the week, but just intentionally carving out that time that was between him and the non Tourette kid to make sure that she felt valued and was developing a relationship with her father as well, and all of that. And I thought that made a lot of sense. It was like, we're not saying that you have to treat your kids like equal amount of time and attention, but you're saying that you don't want them to feel neglected, and you do have to give them that acknowledgement and, like, do something that works for, you know, for your family, it

Emily Fleischman: 6:12

was a big diagnosis. It like, rocked the family. It was a big deal.

Michael Leopold: 6:16

Yeah, it is, it is, and it can change family dynamics. And you know, why is Emily eating breakfast, not in the dining room? I don't know. How do you handle those things? That's all stuff that the family would would talk about and and handle it. But being being the second or third to be diagnosed can also have its challenges, but, but I think, you know, the first is tough, because every the family's still figuring it out and then explaining it, and then you find out, like, your younger sibling has ticks too and but theirs are different. They have different co occurring conditions, so you don't notice it at first. And I don't know a lot of things that can happen, but great point, though. Love that point about, like, make, how do we balance that? And it's really a matter of, I think, of just kind of meeting each kid where they're at and making sure that they each feel appreciated, not necessarily in the same way, but that they each feel appreciated. Firstly,

Emily Fleischman: 7:05

thank God for my mom, like I love her so much. I'm so happy to have her my corner. I saw incredible doctors that changed my life. I learned great CBT techniques were how to control my OCD intourettes, I was medicated since a young age, and I was able to control, in a sense, my tics and my OCD in school, but I wouldn't learn anything in school, I would sit there and all day just not pay attention to the teacher, and I'd be like, Don't say something. Don't say something. Don't tick, don't have an OCD urge, I would get up to go to the bathroom multiple times an hour so I could flush the toilet and tick while the toilet was flushing so no one heard there was so much shame around it. But then I would come home and I'd explode from holding ticks in all day. I'd be a mess. And then I'd have tutors come and re teach me what I missed in school. It was just not an okay way to live, and it wasn't a way to possibly function as a human being. Then freshman year of high school, I decided I wanted to come clean. I was sick and tired of being ashamed of my tics. I was tired of not having a social life because I would cancel sleepovers or hanging out with friends because I didn't want anyone to know about it. I was like, I have threats. I have OCD. I can't control it. It's a neurological condition. It's a disorder, a disease, just like diabetes. And I came clean. We even told teachers about it. I was sick of like, math tests being taken away from me because I would be have I had such a bad erasing tick where I would not be able to complete it, and I wouldn't complete my tasks in time, and teachers would drag my paper away, and there would be, like, pencil lines on it, because I'd be like, just let me finish. Please, please, please. So then I decided to get involved in the Tourette Syndrome Association. Freshman year, I was the New Jersey youth ambassador. It was in the very early years. I was so inspired by the Jennifer Zwilling. I saw a video on her. I'm like, she's so cool. She's so normal. Wait, like other people who are like, cool and pretty and have a functioning life and go to college, have to reds, and a lot of my shame went away. I went to DC, and it was just so cool. I remember sitting in a circle with all of these other people with Tourette's. I'm like, wow, there's other people like me. My mom was just like, moved to tears. She's like, met other parents with people with Tourette's, and I learned how to do the Youth Ambassador education program for bringing it into schools in a hospital. Universities. And then on day three, we went to Congress and met with Congressman, and I actually spoke at congressional lunch. I was the speaker about my story of Tourette's, and then I met Jen's willing, which was just the highlight of the trip and her mom, and it changed my life. One of the biggest things was I was asked to speak at Yeshiva University School of Social Work, and I lectured about my story and Tourette Syndrome, why you should bully people for it. I educated them about it. Then I got like, super involved with njcts, which was just so cool. I wrote a book, a children's book, about my like, quote, unquote, sort of my story. It's called Emily's tick. It's available at Barnes Nobles and Amazon and and on Nook and on Kindle, which is so cool then, and

Michael Leopold: 10:53

you donate the proceeds to to Tourette causes. I believe, I think,

Emily Fleischman: 10:58

buy it because there's so few proceeds that could like book in years, because maybe we need some better marketing. But buy it. We make whatever comes through, through the bank account each year we make the donation. NJ, CTS had me interviewed on news 12 about Tourette's 12 tier health just there was so much involvement in Tourette's the Tourette Syndrome Association and jcts, is that the pilot year of the Tim Howard Academy at Rutgers, njcts changed my life. It's such a special experience. There's such special people I met. You

Michael Leopold: 11:34

mentioned writing that book when you were when was the book? Were you like in high school or so

Emily Fleischman: 11:39

was I was in high school. I think, I think it was like sophomore year of high school. What?

Michael Leopold: 11:45

What inspired you to write the book? Yeah, how did that come about? You know,

Emily Fleischman: 11:49

the youth ambassador presentation was really more targeted. I felt like towards middle school, high school, maybe older elementary school, there need, I I needed to have a way to reach out to much younger children, like kindergarten, first grade, second grade, those are years where you're like already developing stigmas, even at such a young age. And I felt that was a really great way to reach them. It was also a great way to reach people without a youth ambassador, youth advocate present during that time, my family donated hundreds of copies to libraries all over the tri state area, school libraries so people could check out the book and get it and learn because there's very few books about Tourette Syndrome. Mm,

Michael Leopold: 12:39

hmm. Yeah, definitely. And at that time, it just like, yeah, it felt like a whole different world. Like even saying Tourette's like, people just didn't know about it. They didn't know what it was, or if they did it was, you know, cochraalia is what came to mind. And it was just, we've made a lot of progress. In kind of short amount of time, we've made a

Emily Fleischman: 12:57

huge progress, really hard. People just understand more and are more empathetic. I don't know, even as kids, like, people would make fun of kids for having glasses it was just

Michael Leopold: 13:07

right, or, like, asthma, like, you use an inhaler and like, kids have to disclose that. Like, and it's, it's bizarre that, yeah, no, I'm really, I'm really happy with how far we've come with all of that. You know, there's still more work to be done on socially and, like, integration, but it's, it's less now of like, Hey, don't bully this guy because he's different. Like, we've, we've, for the most part, I think, gotten past that in most cases. And it's a little deeper around, like, inclusivity and making our world accessible, and I don't know, more important stuff that needs to, you know, changing society to make it better. But so you are a nurse? Do you have a specialty? Or you're kind of like a nursing generalist? Is there a population you work

Emily Fleischman: 13:51

with the most? So right now, I work adult med. It's called Adult Med, surg. It's basically the patients after they go through the ER and they're admitted to the hospital and have an extensive stay. I've rotated through many hospitals, and it's could be anywhere from someone who has a hip replacement and has to be hospitalized, someone in diabetic crisis, someone with lung problems, most recently, the floor I'm on really gets a lot of people who are from the underserved community, and we get a lot of homeless people with psychological problems on my floor that have extensive stay stays because they have infections and can't care for themselves, and having like the neuroscience degree with my Tourette's experience. Also, side note, I used to be an ABA therapist, so all of this stuff, like with my diagnosis empathy, I've totally fallen in love with working on this bitch of a unit where I'm working with a lot of like the homeless population with mental health problems, more special needs. We get a lot of special. Needs people, special needs adults who don't have families and are just found on the street and need to be placed in a home for Special Needs individuals.

Michael Leopold: 15:11

Have you found any or come across any threat patients in your work? Actually,

Emily Fleischman: 15:16

I did, and all of the people didn't understand and they thought it was schizophrenia. And I'm like, No, he has Tourettes. And it was just like, so cool that I was able to educate the doctor.

Michael Leopold: 15:30

That was my next question, yeah, do you educate the medical staff on on Tourette, you know? And given the hospitals you've been to,

Emily Fleischman: 15:36

yeah, they wanted to send him to psych. And I was like, No, he has Tourette's. And I met this great psychiatrist at the hospital, and we were like, talking about my Tourette's just really, it's really cool, and I it's awesome that I've been able to educate people about it. And

Michael Leopold: 15:52

I really appreciate that, you know, yeah, no, that that's wonderful. What What inspired you to become a nurse? Is it something you always wanted to do? Or how did that come about. I

Emily Fleischman: 16:01

knew I wanted to do something healthcare related. My original degree is like the neuroscience degree, which allowed me to take all pre reqs for medical school, pre PhD, pre psyched therapist, pre social work, pre nursing. And I went into nursing because it allows me to use the science background and help people. But if I were a therapist, I think it would be really hard for me, because I like to it's nice to have co workers to interact with. So I love that I'm helping patients, but I also have co workers. I'm not just isolated, one on one, and most importantly, I work three days a week. Full time as a nurse, is three days a week, four days to still enjoy my time outside of work. It's my, like, real niche. I think that's

Michael Leopold: 16:47

amazing in terms of, just, like, for a lot of people, and like, if you need to accommodate a certain lifestyle that you've got, or just like, a life structure, if you're neurodivergent, or any health condition, or something. Like, I could see the three days of work being No, no. That's not to put it easily. Like those three days are grueling. Like, I remember you hearing from you, you're on your feet all the time, and you're doing anything you know, going between floors. And everyone

Emily Fleischman: 17:16

should consider being a nurse. There's so many things you could do it. You could be a psych nurse, an ICU nurse, a school nurse. There's, it's so good. Like, if you want to have kids, eventually, you can take time off and go back. You can work part time, full time. I could do, oh, if I want to go on vacation, I can work. Oh, and I need extra cash, I can work overtime. I absolutely love being a nurse. I am so thankful this job came to me, I will

Michael Leopold: 17:42

say also, Emily's really great at finding nursing opportunities. I know during the pandemic you were you got on the the nursing grind of your contract, a crisis nurse during COVID being full crisis. Yeah, you had a great, great gig set up there during that I shouldn't say great. It was a horrible time for the world and for healthcare professionals, but you were very employed, and had no shortage of work, and they paid you well for it. And I you had mentioned about when during childhood you did CBT or cognitive behavioral therapy. Did you do any work with CBD as a kid? Or was that not really a big thing then, because, like, when, I mean, we're about the same age, and it wasn't that big or prominent for Tourette back then, but I'm curious if you got into c bit at all. I

Emily Fleischman: 18:26

don't think it was around. But the key takeaways from the CBT I did the cognitive behavioral therapy, which I'm not so familiar with c bit, but the key things I learned were focusing on like a thermometer, and eventually, like a thermometer, the temperature will go down and your urge to tick will go down. And we used a lot of counting techniques, like counting how many times I ticked and to bring it to my awareness. Oh,

Michael Leopold: 18:54

interesting, yeah. Let's talk a little more about that. If you don't mind, like, what? How? C but helped you what kinds of things you guys did, what you learned? Do you mind sharing more on that?

Emily Fleischman: 19:02

Yeah. So I guess the biggest thing so much of it was a blur, and I guess, like, maybe just the trauma of it also is, I don't remember so much, but I do remember that we used to get, like, a pitch encounter, like baseball pitchers had, and I had to, like, carry it around in my pocket all day, because we didn't have cell phones were old. Michael, 29

Michael Leopold: 19:23

I know, I know. I yeah, I didn't. That's true. Kids have cell phones these days, and

Emily Fleischman: 19:27

we would, I would count it in my pocket, like every time I said, I love you, Mommy, because that was like, my my thing. I had to do it. And we would come up with goals, like, this week, we're gonna do it less than 100 times today, because I would say 100 times a day, but

Michael Leopold: 19:43

it was the goal to reduce the tick. Like you were trying to count how often you did it, so that you could become aware of it and know when you're ticking. Yeah, and

Emily Fleischman: 19:52

reduce it. And then we had fifth the name of it. But like, they do this a lot with ABA therapy kids, like there was a reward. Measure in it, which, like, I don't know your Tourette's is something you can't control. I don't know if you really want to fix it. Like, there's nothing wrong with having Tourette's. I think it's I'm going to put it the right way, that it's nice that I have. I'm not I'm no longer ashamed about my Tourette's. I used to have so much shame around it. Maybe it's just the society we grew up in, but it's, it is nice that I it is somewhat manageable with medic, I guess, like everyone wants it manageable in a sense, if, if you can't control it, there's nothing wrong with it. And, like, sometimes my tics are so bad, and it's not bad. My tics are so out of control, and there's nothing I can do about it. I'm ticking. I've had patients asked me, they're like, are you coughing? Because I'm, like, making noise. But I noticed, like, as the day goes on, I have like, verbal tics, or I'm like, and then I'm like, No, I have Tourette's. But I guess it was nice that I learned some tools to have control over it, and I no longer think about controlling it. It just sort of decreased. It also just like I aged out of it. I guess

Michael Leopold: 21:06

that's some of it too. Yeah, do you I was going to ask about that. Did you find as you became an adult, like the ticks got better? Did co occurring conditions change at all, like the OCD or anything? Yeah,

Emily Fleischman: 21:16

it got better as I got older. But there's still times where it's a struggle. I noticed, just like they say in the Youth Ambassador Program, when you're sick, tired, anxious, stress, so definitely, halfway through the work day, if I'm having a really hard work day, my ticks are increased when I'm sick. They're increased during times of stress. They're increased if my apartment's super messy, and I need to get it in order. It's totally increased organization. I thrive on organization, and if it's not organized, I'm like, my tics are not okay.

Michael Leopold: 21:53

You mentioned a little earlier. You're certified in ABA therapy,

Emily Fleischman: 21:57

trained, I used to work in college, trained

Michael Leopold: 21:59

in it, yeah, applied behavior analysis. I think that's the first time that that that ABA therapy has been mentioned on my podcast. So would love, if you don't mind, to take, take some time and to kind of walk us through what it is and what you learned about it. I think that'd be interesting for our listeners. Yeah,

Emily Fleischman: 22:13

I did it so long ago. I hope I can give you an adequate definition. So a lot, it's used a lot for children with autism, but it could sort of be carried over into anything in everyday life. It's a lot of rewarding for behaviors. So it could start so simple as teaching a young child to answer to their name, so every time you call and a lot of there's a lot of statistics used for it. So the trainer, the therapist, sits there with a chart, and every time we could do 10 trials of saying, Hey Michael, and we want to see how many times you respond by looking at me. And every time it would start off, every time you responded, you would get an M and M or some sort of reward. So, hey, Michael, you respond and look at me. Then I give you an M and M, and I mark it on the graph that you respond. And we'll do 10 trials. And it can carry over, and it has reinforcement too. So just teaching a child how to sit down, saying, sit in your seat, and then they don't listen, and you physically could, like, kindly put them in their seat, give them an Eminem as a reward, and say, Good job sitting in your seat. And then we tried again 10 times. And I don't know it's like, sort of interesting how it's sort of the reward aspect was used on me also as a kid. Yeah.

Michael Leopold: 23:36

I mean, it's based on conditioning, like the psychology, on that, that you can that learning can happen through, through reward and through, like, an incentive. Like that word it as 29 year old we are. I mean, that's why we pay people. That's why we like in a job. Like, like it money is motivating. That's why, you know, yeah, people, people definitely respond behaviorally to to rewards and incentives. So we use them. But, yeah, I mean, ABA can be used. Like, I think I think you've described it really well, as far as I know of it, and I've never had formal training in it. But you know, my Google searches like broad internet research, and I know it's used a lot for communication, helping young kids with social skills and developing independence, but yeah, really like using the principles of learning, like operant conditioning to change behavior. And I think it also it underpins a lot of other kinds of therapy and just work that we like. I think ABA is kind of like a it's almost like a general, like baseline, and a lot of those principles can be taken into CBD or cognitive behavioral therapy or other areas. But no great to hear about that. We have a lot of parents that listen to our podcast, and they're always looking for ways that so for example, hearing that like getting ready in the morning took so long, and it did for me too. I remember I'd like get distracted by different things. I always would like, I played piano a little bit as a kid, and I would like, go see the piano. And like, want to go TINKER AWAY AT that for like, 10 minutes. And then I like, put my sock. On, and I had the like thing where it just never felt right. And so putting on a pair of socks could take me, like, 20 minutes or 30 minutes or whatever. And so I remember, like my mom did something very simple, which is she just had me wake up a little bit earlier as a kid, like maybe I'd wake up a half hour earlier or something, which can be tough if you need to get your sleep, or you're staying up late and stuff, but, but that actually went a long way, just giving me more time so that it was okay if I wanted to tinker around on the piano a bit, or I wanted to, you know, or had to, like, spend time putting on my socks, because it just didn't feel right with some of the sensory issues I had. We accommodated it. I'm curious to hear your thoughts on, you know, being a kid, if you can remember that far back, kind of, what are some areas where it may be things your parents did well, that you're like, yes, that that is something other parents I, you know, I recommend for other kids. Does anything come to mind?

Emily Fleischman: 25:55

Good question. Similarly, the extra time in the morning we needed like, we needed the extra time, and then I didn't feel like I was running late to school. I was able to get out all of those urges. Because who wants to start the day with not getting out those urges? Yeah? No,

Michael Leopold: 26:09

you're just gonna feel Yeah. It's just gonna

Emily Fleischman: 26:11

feel like, uneven and weird. You're gonna feel weird definitely, also just like identifying where I had to do ticks the kitchen was a really big stressor. For some reason, the table, I always had to touch the table. So we would just try to avoid the kitchen. In the morning, I just wouldn't go the kitchen. We would eat breakfast outside. I mean, that's great,

Michael Leopold: 26:30

just being adaptable to things like that. I think, you know, there's no reason you have to, I eat eat in the kitchen. Like, if it's if it's triggering ticks, and you don't want to be ticking, then don't I think

Emily Fleischman: 26:40

also it's like this is something that even affects me today, like, because right now I'm not trying to change anything about my tics. I'm happy where they are, like they're pretty decently controlled past that stage of making changes on it as a kid, and when we were going through cognitive behavioral therapy, it was like part of my tasks, it was part of my assignments, that it had to be brought to my attention to the tics, but that was incredibly stressful. And these days, my grandmother, I love her so much. She's my bestie, but she's 87 and she's just not going to get it. She always tells me when I'm ticking, I guess maybe it's communicating with your child or partner who has Tourettes. And do you want me to point out what you're kicking? Like, I know of ticket.

Michael Leopold: 27:25

There's a way of like, Yeah, almost reading their body communication is important whatever they want, you know, because, yeah, it's going to be different for everybody. Some people, I would say there's something nice about like, if they can read your body language and tell like, hey, they're ticking, they probably don't want me to remind them. Or, or you say it in a way that doesn't remind them of the ticking, like you could say something else about like, I don't know it's their partner, be like, Hey, do you want a back rub or something? Like, I feel like there's other ways to handle it that doesn't just draw attention to the ticks, but it's it's so individualized, because even just mentioning anything about it when I'm ticking, it's just gonna remind me that I have ticks, and it's gonna trigger them. So it's like, sometimes you just Just don't say anything. You know, everyone's different

Emily Fleischman: 28:07

on that also, like, for some reason, a lot of studies and therapists were always like yoga meditation. That's the thing that will help, that never helps me. And it even to this day when people recommend, I've like, tried it at least every few months. I'll try yoga class. I cannot stand it. Focusing on my breathing makes my tics so much worse. And I'm not the first person with Tourette syndrome to feel that way. I've met so many people like that, so I don't know, just like, it's good to try everything I love, like listening to loud music, I guess it drowns out the tics. Some other tips I have, what I really loved as a kid and still to this day, massages, because just the movement of my tics would cause so much strain on my muscles, and that would be form a way to help me relax. We tried we tried everything. Another pro tip, I have great health insurance. My insurance covers medical massages.

Michael Leopold: 29:03

Oh, so you can get that through. I do. I grew it up through Tourette. Wow, that's amazing for like,

Emily Fleischman: 29:11

chiropractic, but back and muscle problems because I guess the tension from my tics I do still, like when I'm exhausted, my tics are exacerbated.

Michael Leopold: 29:23

Like, I don't know. I think being aware of your body and how you feel at the moment is is important, and can go a long way with like, knowing your tics and how your Tourette affects you,

Emily Fleischman: 29:34

using it like verbalizing things that are bothering you and upsetting you. Another recommendation for parents. I don't think I was really ever sat down and explained that I have Tourette's and the definition of why I was acting this way and the OCD, and it was really scary. I was like, Why do I obsess over remembering the street numbers? I think it's sort of important to like for your child, not. My parents are great parents. They just didn't know. I think it's really important to talk about the diagnosis and why your brain acts this way, which also, I know the Tim Howard Academy does a really great job of talking about, like, why your brain does this, but younger age, I think it's really

Michael Leopold: 30:18

that's a great point. And I've heard from other guests on the podcast, that there's, there's different ways to frame that, depending on how old they are. Like, when the kid's really young, you can talk about it in terms of, like habits, and like, how our brain forms habits and to keep doing certain things. And, you know, there's different ways you can explain it, and different words you can use that kind of make it make sense, you know, as the person goes through life. But I think also understanding, yeah, like, how the kid feels about it, because I could, could see that being kind of confusing, like as a kid, like, Why do I have such a fixation over even numbers, or why do I remember street names or whatever? Have that kind of encyclopedic way of thinking? Why am I that way? Why does my brain do that is so interesting? No, we've had some good, good, good ideas here, shared. Well, Emily, it's been awesome having you on the podcast here. Thank you so so much. Great tips here. Love hearing your story. Love seeing you again. Often meet up in person in the city soon. Here, any other last minute kind of ideas, thoughts, tips, if, if you, if someone walked up to you and said, Hey, I just got diagnosed with Tourette's Emily, what do I do? You've had it your whole life. What? What advice would you tell them? I

Emily Fleischman: 31:27

would tell them to go to the Tourette Syndrome Association and reach out. There's so many good or njcts. There's so many good resources. They have a list of doctors, they have a list of therapists, they've list of parents that could support you. There's just so many resources.

Michael Leopold: 31:42

Absolutely don't be a stranger. Reach out to njcts, to other Tourette organizations. There's Facebook pages, there's all sorts of support and resources for you know, for parents, for the student, for the young adult, with Tourette, for you name it, make the most of it, and njcts is one of those. So feel free to reach out with questions, and we've got a dedicated staff that is happy to make a referral. Give you a list of physicians, CBI, providers, things like that. But Emily, I appreciate again, having you on the uptick and wish you the very best. Thanks, Michael, all right, take care. 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 you.