I am a sociolinguist who specialises in how language is understood and interpreted in society. I also have Tourette syndrome. Tourette’s is a genetically determined neurological condition in which a person produces both motor and vocal tics (movements and sounds), and in most cases occurs with conditions such as autism, OCD, ADHD and sensory processing difficulties.
I am typically very private about my condition, but I feel compelled to write about it following events at the 2026 Baftas ceremony, where Tourette’s advocate John Davidson produced several offensive tics, including the N-word which was aired in error in the BBC coverage. I do not pretend for one moment to be able to fully understand how traumatising and deeply upsetting hearing such language must be for black people.
