An incredible sense of humor, an uplifting story of triumph, and the ability to truly get inside the heads of an audience: a recipe for the perfect inspirational speaker for TEDxYouth@Hewitt 2011.
Marc Elliot explained his Tourette’s as an itch within his body that he scratches by “ticking.” Tourette’s syndrome has caused Marc to involuntarily say offensive racial slurs and curse words, bark like a dog, and violently chomp his teeth together.
With a happy-go-lucky attitude, Marc has been able to overcome the most challenging situations life with Tourette’s Syndrome has thrown at him. By introducing himself to complete strangers, saying he just wants to give them a “heads-up, I have Tourette’s,” Marc shows that his life cannot be ruled by the major obstacle he has been presented with.
Recently, Marc has learned how to control his tics. Upon asking him what this major achievement involved, he said:
“I took some courses on joy [and] human potential…ultimately some people helped me recognize that I’ve been the most intolerant person of myself, and it’s not the world; it’s me. As I started to find ways to find more compassion for myself and how to tolerate [myself], my Tourette’s went down and down.”
A major point of Marc’s talk was about tolerance, “acceptance in its lowest form.” When asked why he seeks tolerance instead of acceptance, he said,
“I don’t wish for anything like that…who am I to tell someone else what they can or cannot think about someone? For instance, if I think you’re thinking negative things about people and I say, ‘That’s so mean of you to do that,’ I’m now judging you for judging someone else. I think the hope is a recognition of ‘Hey, look, we’re all different human beings, we all have a struggle,’ and that’s where ‘live and let live’ really comes from. But if you can go to acceptance, power to you. Acceptance is a journey, as is tolerance; it [acceptance] isn’t just like a white and black [thing]. Every day I’m tying to find more acceptance for myself in the world.”
The core of Marc’s story and mission centers around this quote, “Live and let live.” It sums up Marc’s belief that people should live their own lives as they so please and let others do the same.
Marc’s book, What Makes You Tic?: My Journey from Tourette’s to Tolerance, will be released on December 7, 2011.