When I decided I wanted to share others stories on my blog, I knew Finley’s had to be one of them. She is such an amazing young woman who is advocating for her own disability. It’s truly inspiring.

The universe works in mysterious ways and it’s such a fun story about how I met Finley and her mom, Kelly. Back in August of 2020 Kelly posted a picture in a photoshop group that we both belong to. Finley wanted a puppy and asked a member to photoshop one in a picture with her to play a joke on her dad.

Dialogue got going under the picture and Kelly let everyone know that Finley was making sea glass necklaces to help raise money for her pup. I immediately knew Finley was my kind of gal and purchased a necklace to help the cause.

I have since been following her mother and Finley’s journey. She has had a challenging couple of years, having been diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome. Instead of being ashamed of her disability she has fully embraced it. She speaks and educates her classmates and teachers and shares how she feels about how people react to her tics. She is owning her disability and I am here for it.

Finley was more than happy to share her story and I am honored to be able to publish it. Keep reading to hear what Finley has to say.

Hi I’m Finley, I am 10 years old and I was diagnosed with Tourette’s when I was eight.
I started having tics when I was little but the doctors always thought they were something else. Once I started remote learning they became much more obvious and that’s when my mom took me to the doctor and I was diagnosed with Tourette’s.
Fast forward and my tics got really bad when we were back in school. I was spending almost all of my school day out in the hallway
where I got some pretty wonky looks and reactions. A teacher even yelled at me once to stop. That’s when I learned how to advocate for myself- I even confronted a group of adult men when I heard them making fun of Tourette’s.
I’m not ashamed of my disability.
I was always tired and felt like I never got a break, Tourette’s started to really affect me in my day-to-day activities. That’s when we made the hard decision to pull me out of school. I missed my friends and my friends missed me, but we knew that it was the right decision.
After a couple of months I tried to go back for half days and even sometimes full days but my tics hadn’t gotten much better.
No matter what I did it was like I could never get away from them.
My mom and I started to focus on really listening to my body when I felt like I couldn’t be at school my teacher would text my mom and she would come and get me.
We’re not sure what’s going to happen when I go back to school, but we’re going to take it one tic at a time.

We are all rooting for you Finley! Keep letting your voice be heard. So many of our kiddos don’t get that luxury.