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Stephen Fry: Sex has given us one of our most versatile swear words.
It can be used as a verb, a noun, and an adjective.
It is, of course, the F-word,
and you're about to hear it repeatedly.
Jess Thom: I love bacon (SOAP, ***)
SF: (Laughing) You're the only person on Earth who does.
JT: I love sheep skin (***, biscuit)
I love biscuits (sheep, ***)
SF: Jess Thom has Tourette's syndrome,
which involves involuntary movements, and vocal tics,
random noises, and words like, in her case, "biscuit".
JT: I had noises, the first (***) noise that I could remember
was a squeaky one when I was about six (haa haa).
My tics, when I was younger, all through my childhood
were much more motor, and also much more mild (***)
than they are now (***).
For lots of people, Tourette's gets better as they get older. (***)
For me, in adulthood, and in my early twenty's it got,
my tics got much more noticeable to other people (***)
although the sensation for me (biscuit) didn't change...
SF: Right
JT: ...that much. (***, biscuit)
SF: It was in her twenty's that Jess developed Coprolalia,
the uncontrollable use of obscene words
that effects only 10% of Touretter's.
JT: I was speaking to... (biscuit) ...speaking to my Dad on the phone (***)
the other day and he's used to very rude swearing in our conversations,
and constantly peppered with (***) tics,
but sort of understands them for what they are. (***)
But then I used "***" to describe something,
I said something was "***" something (***)
and he knew instantly, and told me off and told me mind my language (***).
It really made me laugh, because it was like, he sort of (haa, haa)
he'd heard all the, he hadn't heard all the offensive words,
because he knew that they were tics, and they had no meaning,
but as soon as I'd use something deliberately...
SF: It just proves, doesn't it,
that it's not just the words themselves it's where they come from...
JT: Exactly.
SF: ...and it's what spin they're given by the speaker.
JT: Lots of people misunderstand Tourette's and they say:
"I wish I had Tourette's, so it could mean I could get away with swearing,
or it means I could say whatever I... (biscuit, biscuit)
I could say whatever I wanted to." (biscuit)
The whole point is that I can't say whatever I wanted to,
lots of what I say, I don't want to say,
it's just there, it's (***) and it's
(biscuit, biscuit, biscuit, Happy Christmas)
but, you know, that doesn't mean that I can't articulate my thoughts
and make myself understood. (***)
SF: Right.
JT: (biscuit)
SF: As an attempt to tackle misconceptions of Tourette's syndrome head on,
Jess has been keeping a diary of her complex tics
and using them to inspire fantastical visual works.
JT: I have to be creative about it to be able to sort of
have a decent quality of life and not let the tics impact on me,
especially socially, and part of the... (biscuit)
one of the big elements of Tourette's is the social (***)
impact it has, and by then engaging with people in...
...engaging them creatively (***),
celebrating the humor, saying that (haa)
it's not okay to laugh because I have Tourette's,
but it's all right to laugh, (***) I'm saying,
laugh at the funny things (***) I say as tics
that are the result of Tourette's (biscuit)
because they're often (***, biscuit) very visual . . . (haa)
SF: It's almost like a surreal use of the accidental collisions of words,
and to make something out of them.
JT: Yeah.
SF: Jess has also created an alter ego, Touretteshero
to encourage other Touretters, young and old, to embrace their condition.
Do parent's of the kids you work with, do they worry about your language at all?
JT: (***) I mean I think there's always a concern, (biscuit)
with children and swearing, but I think that openly
and honesty is the key to them feeling comfortable,
and families (***) feeling confident,
and just getting on with, you know, what you're doing
but answering and addressing any concerns that they might have,
that's the sort of, the way (***, biscuit) the way forward (haa).
(Child) Why do you keep doing that?
JT: Cuz I have Tourette's syndrome, and that means (haa)
my body moves and makes noises that I can't control,
but it's not a big problem, in fact it's not really a problem,
it's my power.
(Child) Can I take a picture with you?
JT: Yeah we can wave, look at the cameras. (haa)
(Music)