Nevada City, CA — Street fair patrons were a bit uncomfortable when an out of town male stricken with Tourette Syndrome began speaking inappropriately at recent night street fair.
“So we came looking for the Native American protests we heard about,” said Nevada City resident Stacy Grant with her two kids, “And there was this guy twitching and swearing up a storm over random stuff like feathers. Every time he saw a feather, he’d twitch and say ‘f#@$ers’.”
According to the National Tourette Syndrome Association, Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (Tourette Syndrome or TS) is a neurological disorder which becomes evident in early childhood or adolescence. The first symptoms usually are involuntary movements (tics) of the face, arms, limbs or trunk. These tics are frequent, repetitive and rapid. Vocal tics may occur with the movements, and can include grunting, throat clearing, shouting and barking.
Generally people were tolerant of the young man’s behavior, but it was disconcerting to some.
“I just told my wife , ‘stay away from that guy’,” said Brian Pedersen of Penn Valley. “Who knows what that guy was on?
Many patrons simply thought the young man was on drugs until one vendor pointed out that he had TS.
“I have a dear friend with TS,” said North San Juan Crystal vendor Merrilee Longshoes. “People don’t get it. They get all sanctimonious about things they don’t understand. Sure, James would laugh at the wrong times and swear like a sailor when we’d go to a movie, but he has rights too, you know? Sometimes I think we’re living in the Scarlet Letter. You know, the book?”
According to sources at the street fair, the young man left due to the inclement weather.
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