Around the age of 45 I developed non coprolalic Gilles de Tourettes syndrome. The non coprolalic means the non sweary version. This is a fairly rare and very peculiar neurological condition characterised by repetative vocal and physical tics. These can take many forms but in my case they typically involve very rapid head movements and various vocalisations as if I were immitating an owl or perhaps a barking dog. Their occurance can depend heavily on the social situation and so it is likely that if you meet me you would not be aware of this condition. Typically they show up just at the edge of concentration, so for example if I my mind wanders during a presentation.

The one thing that is almost guaranteed to suppress them is mental focus, which is part of the reason you are unlikely to see them when first meeting me. It does not stop me doing presentations in front of audiences, but I often get symptoms just afterwards. A common question I get is "are you aware you are doing it", and the answer is yes I am very aware. This raises the question of if it is entirely involuntary. I can suppress the tics up to a point, but like a suppressed sneeze, eventually it comes out.

Although I would much rather not have this condition, before it developed I used to get crippling migrane headaches and these have now entirely gone away. Ticcing is somewhat undignified and sometimes tiring but it generally doesn't hurt. If you notice me ticcing and are curious, I am very happy to talk about it, in fact talking about it tends to suppress it. There is also a link to my work in education technology as without concentration no one has ever learnt anything