Debunking popular fake claiming points when it comes to tics and tourettes:
"I saw an older video where they didn't tic once!"
1. A trait of tourette's is waxing and waning tics. This means the diagnostic criteria takes into account that some people will go days to months without ticcing, or without ticcing severely.
2. Many of my tics are nearly microscopic. How do you know they weren't? Did you have a full body view of them? How do you know they weren't wiggling their toes nonstop, or maybe those couple of sniffs you wrote off were tics.
"their family/friends came forward and confirmed they're faking!"
1. My little brothers literally forgot I had tourettes. It can also be completely missed in childhood, many women and other people who were AFAB go undiagnosed until adulthood. Sweet Anita? She wasn't diagnosed until 27.
2. Family isn't always a reliable source and many people are estranged from family members, if you aren't very close with a person and their family, don't take their family's word at face value.
"sometimes they tic a lot, and sometimes you don't see it at all for hours/days/weeks!"
See point one about tics waxing and waning. You are literally describing a symptom.
"Every time someone brings up tics around them they start ticcing!"
This is literally how tics work. If you are reminded of them you will have them. Especially if someone brings up a specific tic.
"you can see they put thought and effort into their tics, tourette's doesn't work like that!"
Clearly, you don't know how it works if you're saying something like this. No one knows how it works or feels unless you have it. Sometimes it looks like I put effort or thought into a tic when it was entirely involuntary. Sometimes, I do put thought into a tic. There's a part of tourette's called a Premonitory urge and it's the feeling you get before you tic. If you wanna get the feeling to go away, sometimes it's better to force out a tic.
It's not helpful to anyone to claim someone is faking, EVEN IF THEY ARE. We will NEVER have any way of knowing if some random online is faking tourettes and honestly the tourettes community has bigger things to worry about, and so should you.
