SPECIAL NEEDS TEACHER, Colleen, was diagnosed with Tourette's syndrome and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) just a year into her teaching career. Growing up, she had unknowingly developed "mild tics" - but had dismissed these as merely "habits". It was not until the pandemic in 2020 when the stress of the period triggered her tics to become more severe. She began presenting with more obvious - and sometimes painful - tics, including hitting herself. Not only that, but her OCD would not allow her to tic just once - and, to this day, she usually finds herself compelled to tic four times in a row. Her husband, Joel, remembers finding it "tough to watch because I knew it was painful" and her two young children have had to adapt to her more severe tics too - Colleen's eldest son, Gavin, struggled to adjust at the start, but "now he's more accepting". When Colleen initially experienced her heightened tics, she did not let the subsequent diagnosis dissuade her from pursuing her dream career - and she has become a key role model for the neurodiverse children she teaches: "It really helps them relate to me. Seeing that I also struggle but I'm also able to be successful, that helps them to be like 'Oh, OK, I can do this too'". Still, teaching has not been without its challenges for Colleen - she has had parents assume that her Tourette's would present with her swearing and "cussing", something that has never manifested for her. Colleen is happy to inform parents of this to alleviate their fears, but will often suppress her tics for the benefit of others too - something she describes as "exhausting, it feels like I'm going to explode". In order to raise awareness for Tourette's syndrome and OCD, Colleen has taken to TikTok, where she posts videos of her tics and details her personal experiences. After initially experiencing trolls suggesting she was "faking" her conditions, she has since built an incredibly supportive following and the response she receives now is hugely positive. Colleen's work is far from done though, as she continues to passionately advocate for young people across the neurodiversity spectrum: "It's OK to be different, it's OK to be neurodivergent, it doesn't make us any less".

Follow Colleen on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@colleenmontez