Place a card on the table at the start of a meeting, and your Tourette tics stop being a source of awkwardness
A card placed on the table at the start of a meeting, with a QR to scan. In ten seconds, the other person understands that the sounds and movements that occur are involuntary tics, which target no one and convey neither mockery nor nervousness. The exchange stays on its topic.
This case involves a 32-year-old man who lives with Gilles de la Tourette syndrome, in a professional context where he regularly meets clients and colleagues. He chooses himself to give the context before his tics are misread.
The moment of the first meeting
"Shall we start?" The meeting has barely begun when a loud throat-clearing then a repeated shoulder movement cross the table. Hugo, 32, knows what comes next: under the tension of a first client meeting, his tics rise. He also knows the look that freezes across from him, the unspoken question (is he mocking, is he uncomfortable?), and the energy he spends trying to hold them back, which only amplifies them.
Before the start, he placed on the table a card with his QR and a sentence: "Tourette syndrome, scan to understand." A colleague, or the intrigued client, opens it discreetly from their phone. In a few seconds, they read what Hugo wrote: these sounds and movements are involuntary tics, more pronounced under stress, which are not directed at anyone and say nothing about his focus on the subject. The awkwardness fades. The meeting resumes on the matter it was set up for.
No embarrassed silence where everyone pretends not to notice anything, no painful clarification on the side at the end, no label of a "strange" colleague preceding Hugo in the company. A card placed, an explanation read, and at last people talk about what brought everyone around the table.
- You write it
- The QR is in place
- The reader scans
- Understood, without explaining again
Where to place the QR for this case
For tics that appear above all in a professional context and under tension, the QR must be accessible at the moment of a meeting, without turning every meeting into a clarification.
- Card placed on the desk or table at the start of a team meeting or a client meeting.
- Wallet-format card taken out during a first contact, an interview or a one-on-one exchange.
- Link in the signature of the professional mail, opened before a call or a video meeting by those who wish to.
- Label on the laptop or the case, printed from an A4 label sheet (standard template), visible to close colleagues.
The rule here: give the context before the discomfort, not after. The QR turns a question no one dares to ask into a clear answer.
Pre-written text templates
Three outlines to adjust to your situation. They cover what a colleague or a client reads first: what your tics are, how to react, and what makes them worse. Starting points, not sentences to copy as they are.
For the "Introduction" section
"My name is [first name]. I have Tourette syndrome: I make tics, sounds or movements that I do not control, especially when the situation is stressful. They target no one and mean nothing. My work and my focus are not affected by them, even if it can be surprising at first."
For the "How to help" section
"You can: carry on the conversation normally when a tic occurs, keep a neutral tone without commenting on it, favour a quiet meeting rather than a large group when possible, accept that trying to hold them back increases them, and treat me like any other colleague once the explanation is read."
For the "What to avoid" section
"To avoid: asking me to stop or to "calm down", imitating or pointing out a tic to lighten the mood, exchanging knowing looks with others, taking a verbal tic as a remark aimed at you, overdoing it to "show nothing" to the point of looking tense."
Conditions related to this case
This case rests on Gilles de la Tourette syndrome, characterised by involuntary motor and vocal tics, more pronounced under tension. In a professional setting, they are often misread for lack of explanation. The page below details what is at play and the attitudes that ease the exchange.
Similar cases
Other situations where a visible or audible particularity, explained in time, stops being misread by the people encountered at work or in daily life.
The teacher understands the atypical social behaviours and can pass the useful information on to the teaching team.
View the case High-school student with ADHD, age 17 Reader: Tutor teacher, school liaisonThe tutor understands the organisation difficulties and can suggest concrete accommodations for exams.
View the case Adult with ADHD, age 34 Reader: New colleague, managerThe person chooses when and to whom they explain how they work, in their own words, without having their lapses misread.
View the caseNo need to explain it to every new person.
Three texts (introduction, how to help, what to avoid), one shared QR code. When they scan it, the person reads what they need to know, in their own language.