It just ain't funny

[heyseuss]

http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/extras/video/elijah/index.html

[ariastar]

Dude, I've got Tourette's. It sucks. I feel for that boy and understand completely what he's talking about. Through a medication called orap and learning to detect when a tic is coming on, I can do an opposite motion to try off-setting it, so it's pretty well concealed. Usually it shows when my hands shake.

Maury used to show the worst of the worst and made it misunderstood. That made me hate him.

That little Elijah - I want to hug him. The stress, anxiety, bullying, even other kids stealing, parents having to go to the school repeatedly.... Poor sweetie.

[skyz]

http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/extras/video/elijah/index.html

he is very aware and articulate

he'll get through

but people are just so ignorant and mean :mad:

not all but way too many :(

[ariastar]

he is very aware and articulate

he'll get through

but people are just so ignorant and mean :mad:

not all but way too many :(

Tourette's is technically a disability, but because it doesn't come with needing a wheel chair or hearing aids and doesn't impair the ability to learn, it's passed off by schools as not a big deal. Combined with his Asberger's...

[ryudo]

I am short fat and pale and been diagnosed with ADD,SAD,OCD and was bullied like hell growing up and spent a lot of time in the principle's office being misunderstood and was easy on no one.
Have been on multiple medications but in the end I chose to do it myself and it can be done..but true some do need medication more than others just don't totally rely on it unless you have an illness that will kill/totally controls you if you don't..you can learn to control it yourself and not rely on crutches (pills) In many cases.

Any disorder like these isn't easy on top of the being teased and bullied.

But life does not get any easier plus the other cliche of someone always has it worse so can't be coddled and just need to tough up and pull through it,either mope and drag yourself down or get a sense of humour and not let anything hold you back.

As for maury and talk shows..fuck those shows they are the modern circus freak sideshows just to exploit people and con those people in appearing.
ooh we promise you nice new prize if you drop whatever dignity you have left appear on the show and also get fake coddling with aaaaaaaaaaaawwwwws from the audience.
..ugh.
And people will forever mock those who struggle like this but you just like I said before have to toughen up and push through.

I can legally be labeled disabled but I don't want to, just because I can be labeled does not really make me so..save that for someone who truly is and needs it more.

Kid you got it rough but don't grow up a mope and let people hug you every time (metaphorically and literally) otherwise you grow into a insecure wuss(I was for years but finally started taking control of myself).
Even when saying toughen up not saying you need to be a total hard ass either and of course like anyone once in a while we all need support and comfort.
I feel for the kid but at the same time don't support exploiting oneself on videos to mass amounts of strangers for the aww thing.
What the parents and friends are for but also there to keep in balance to keep you just tough enough to get through it grow up and live your life despite the many hurdles of different sizes we have to jump over.

[ariastar]

When I was younger, I was naive enough to think Maury had those people on to help them. I didn't realize it was to get viewers and make money. Stupid me, thinking a talk show host might have genuinely wanted to do something nice just to be nice.

I don't know that I agree with no hugs. My parents would hug me when I cried while telling me to be proud of who I was. The comfort those hugs gave me did help me enjoy being who I was instead of bending to others, to take pride in being different. True, there are still insecurities, mainly thinking I'm a fat blob, but not for thinking differently or doing things in a way others may find odd. Without the comfort of those hugs, their words could have come across as being told to just suck it up.

The disability label...the state of California has had me down as disabled since I was 19. "Disadvantaged" due to judgments being made quicker if I make a noticeable tic, but disabled? Nah.

Know what? I wouldn't give back the experiences I had with Tourette's or any of it because it's helped me have more genuine empathy for others.

I don't think that video is with the intent of exploitation. When looking at what Maury does, it's going to benefit Maury. That kid's video, however, has no ads and, at least as far as I can see, will benefit no one, just maybe make someone feel the aww-factor and think a bit. That's a positive thing.

When something marks you as different, you learn who your friends are. It's easy for people to walk away to not be "odd by association," but the real friends are the ones who choose their friends for themselves instead of caving to the pressure of looking "cool" by not having friends that are "different."

[heyseuss]

Guys, I know you took it personally, but the issue isn't really about how he deals with his situation, it's how others deal with it. Parents are responsible for bullys, not victims.

[ariastar]

Guys, I know you took it personally, but the issue isn't really about how he deals with his situation, it's how others deal with it. Parents are responsible for bullys, not victims.

Unfortunately the parents of bullies often are no better than their kids. Kids mimic their parents. They learn to be jerks and bullies somewhere.

[shandavio]

I feel for the kid, but I can't help but feel he's either exaggerating, or maybe just an unlikable person. I know there are exceptions, but it'd have to be a pretty terrible high school there. He makes it sound like the entire school is against him. And that may be true - but I have a feeling it's not. I don't think highschoolers (maybe elementary, but not past that) would tease and bully someone solely based on that - at least not every single person in the school.

However, if everything he said was completely true, and that's the only reason people don't like him, maybe he should switch schools.

[skyz]

Guys, I know you took it personally, but the issue isn't really about how he deals with his situation, it's how others deal with it. Parents are responsible for bullys, not victims.

people who are unhappy often act out their unhappiness by being mean

that is a fact of life and i doubt that there is a person in all the world that has not ever had some experience with bullies