Studying in Japan with Tourettes?

10 comments

1. This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.

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   **Studying in Japan with Tourettes?**

   Hey I’m 19F and am planning to visit Japan hopefully in a couple of years as part of my university program. I am starting to learn Japanese and have been educating myself in Japanese culture for a while now. I have Tourette syndrome with tics that can be quite bad at times, including coprolalia (swearing), loud noises, coughing and more. From what I’ve gathered this might be off-putting or even scary to Japanese people and I’m concerned that it will negatively affect my experience socially. Has awareness about autism and similar topics maybe increased in the past few years? Will people warm up to me once I explain and start making conversation? I would appreciate any intel or advice you have for me, thank you.

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3. I think it’ll be little different from in your home country. People will largely ignore anyone exhibiting unexpected behaviours and try not to get involved.

   People will generally be more understanding in a university environment as you’re all in the same boat; one way or another people will get to know “oh that’s just emerald-bitch doing her thing”.

   Not saying it will be easy, but I say go for it, you only live once.

4. I agree with Bamboo—you should go for it. You will encounter the same situations here as in your own country, albeit Japanese people are probably a little more hesitant or less likely to say or do anything–they tend to mind their own business… and in a university environment, especially if you live in a dorm, you should have a good experience.

5. The comments recommending going somewhere else are just so utterly stupid and naive. You get one life dear, do with it what you want. You have an involuntary condition that might cause some noise which might jolt a few in surprise, but it’s not like Japanese people can’t have or know of the condition, and it wont be different from any other country. In fact – you’ll probably receive less unwanted interactions/responses with randoms about it cause people keep to themselves.

   What i may suggest though is getting a red hidden disability tag from city hall when you arrive. I think it’s commonly for people to give up seats for you, but it really just lets people know you’ve got something going on that they might not be able to see.

   Japanese people aren’t known for warming up to foreigners generally. Take any of the japan subs on reddit where disgruntled foreigners complain about lack of socialising unless with other foreigners.

   That said, i recommend just learning a good level of Japanese before coming. if you can communicate you’ll be fine and they’ll feel comfortable around you. I got conversational and made lots of Japanese friends quickly.

   Maybe even reach out to tourettes people/societies in Japan or before you leave to get some more insight and reassurance.

   Good luck!

6. Doing a foreign exchange program can be a wonderful and amazing experience. Please don’t let any replies here hold you back.

   Tourettes isn’t unknown in Japan. While the level of awareness may not be on par with other countries, I wouldn’t let that stop you. Though some people might be surprised by your behavior, no one will get angry at you, cause a scene, etc. Or if they do (hey, jerks exist in all countries), that’s more of a reflection on them than you.

   Since you’d be going as an exchange student, you’ll have access to a lot of great university resources that can help you. Your professors will be notified, especially if there are any accommodations you require, and no doubt the international student center will help you with any other assistance you need.

   If you feel comfortable talking about Tourette’s, your Japanese classmates may be very interested in learning more! Japanese students are often excited to interact with foreign students to learn new customs, ideas, etc, and mental health is certainly something many are curious about.

7. Admittedly I don’t know much about how exactly coprolalia works but– maybe avoid learning Japanese swear words?

   I’ve never gotten into trouble swearing in English, so as long as your coprolalia only manifests in English, I think you’re totally okay there. There are some Japanese swears which can offend people though (even knowing you’re a foreigner/have a condition), so if you think knowing them would lead to you inadvertently using them– just don’t learn them at all

   Otherwise, the other comments have given you great advice about adjusting to life in Japan. It’s definitely possible and I wish you the best 🙂

8. Tourette’s in particular they probably aren’t aware of, but part of the anti bullying push the past decade has also including Universal design as a core topic in the course of studying several subjects in Japan. Your University may even have students who would love to spend time with you to better understand it, if it is a teaching program. Special Education is also a specialization in Education, which, in practice, means doing pullout or push in types of programs for students with special needs.

   So, the school won’t mind, but people in general might be startled or not know how to react to you. They won’t understand the cursing enough to be offended.

9. If your native language is English, then I’d expect some Japanese to understand that you’re saying bad words. I’d learn decent Japanese before, for conversation but also so you could explain your condition to anyone who seemed confused or alarmed, I can’t imagine many people here actually giving you grief for it, just weird looks or something.

10. Hey, I don’t have a lot of advice but I just wanted to say that Japanese people also have Tourette’s and also other issues. I won’t say everybody will be “accepting” of you, but Japanese people tend to just keep their heads down and ignore stuff like that. Even if people do get annoyed or irritated or freaked out or whatever it’s highly unlikely that anybody will actually confront you or become angry at you or anything. I’ve been on the bus or train multiple times here in Tokyo and had somebody who obviously had either Tourette’s or some other mental issue also on the same train/bus, and they were shouting random words, talking loudly to themselves, making noises, yelling, etc. some people might be a bit surprised and look around trying to find the person making the noises, but that’s it, and most people just keep their head down, and ignore things like that completely. It’s actually not uncommon at all to see people visibly neurologically different out in public in the trains or buses or in shops, or walking down the street. I wonder if you might even be able to get a “help mark” for your bag so people know you have some sort of neurological issue like that and not think you’re just being loud for no reason?