Premium Only Content

I'm A Teacher With Tourettes & Haters Question It | BORN DIFFERENT
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
-
9:11
Truly
12 days agoI Don’t Need An ‘Exorcist’ - I Have Tourette’s | BORN DIFFERENT
28 -
LIVE
Sean Unpaved
1 hour agoColt Knost Unplugged: Golf, 2025 Ryder Cup, & Football Fever
48 watching -
LIVE
Neil McCoy-Ward
1 hour agoIt’s About To Get Ugly Between JD Vance and Macron
85 watching -
LIVE
Total Horse Channel
18 hours ago2025 Gypsy Congress Championship Show | Thursday
1,332 watching -
LIVE
TheAlecLaceShow
1 hour agoJacob Frey MOCKS Catholics | Annunciation | Guests: Gordon Chang, Jim Pfaff | The Alec Lace Show
94 watching -
LIVE
Viss
1 hour ago🔴LIVE - Stacking Wins is What We Do! - PUBG Tactics 101
110 watching -
LIVE
The Charlie Kirk Show
1 hour agoShould Taylor Swift Submit? + What's Wrong In Minneapolis? + MAHA vs. CDC | 8.28.2025
2,939 watching -
LIVE
Law&Crime
4 hours ago $1.23 earnedLIVE: Adelson Matriarch Murder Trial — FL v. Donna Adelson — Day 5
559 watching -
LIVE
The Mel K Show
1 hour agoMORNINGS WITH MEL K - Refusing the Lie & Standing Firmly for Truth 8-28-25
669 watching -
LIVE
The Shannon Joy Show
2 hours ago🔥🔥BREAKING: FOIA’d Government Docs Reveal American Citizens Might Be Worth More DEAD Than Alive. Exclusive With Sasha Latypova! 🔥🔥
233 watching