Skater Girl​​​​​​​ Letisha's Rolling With Her Tourette's

The outgoing Aucklander calls her condition a superpower!
 

- Fleur Mealing

Sharply glancing over her shoulder as she raises her arm, Letisha Tan looks like she’s trying to shoo a bug away from her face. It’s not until she repeats this movement several times that you begin to notice there’s no insect and there’s something a little different about the 32-year-old Auckland financial advisor.

You see, Letisha has Tourette syndrome. She may not suffer from the verbal outbursts that the disorder is known for, but since she was a young girl, she has suffered from a physical tic that sees her twist and turn.

“I was around five or six years old and I wasn’t even aware what it was. I didn’t even know I was doing it,” recalls Letisha. “It feels like an itch or a sneeze and if it’s coming, and if you tune into it, then you can control the urge not to scratch it.”

However, the diagnosis of Tourette’s came a long time after the movements such as eye blinking and swimming strokes began.

Growing up in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Letisha admits she was constantly misunderstood and often punished for her moving.

“The adults around me didn’t know what was happening and they made me feel like I was a naughty child,” confides Letisha. “Even the doctors didn’t know about it. It was a condition no-one knew about.”