David Begnaud is opening up about how he overcame adversity after havingTourette’s Syndromeas a child.
“I still have tics today,” the CBS News correspondent tellsPEOPLE Now’s Jeremy Parsons, adding that sometimes editors will be able to pick up on that when working on his stories.
“I’ll kind of do this with my mouth,” he explains, demonstrating the subtle movement. “It’s little tics. I forget about them.”
According to theMayo Clinic, Tourette’s syndrome is a disorder “that involves repetitive movements or unwanted sounds (tics) that can’t be easily controlled.” The tics typically begin to manifest between the ages of 2 and 15, and males are three to four times more likely to develop the disorder than females.
David Begnaud.GDA/AP
Begnaud says onPEOPLE Nowthat one day, when his dad had come to watch him “anchor a morning show in Lafayette,” the journalist “was ticing during the commercial break.”
However, “as soon as the camera came on it all stopped,” he remembered, adding that his father pointed out that there’s something about Begnaud’s job that pushes his Tourette’s to the background.
The CBS News correspondent was bullied as child, which he attributes to being both gay and having Tourette’s.
“It was debilitating as a child,” he shares. “I changed schools 5 times. I was homeschooled. I was given blood pressure medication, which they thought would help.”
“I don’t harbor resentment,” he remarks.
“Every person who sends me a message today apologizing for how they treated me as a kid, listen, we’re good. We’re game. Learn that going forward and teach your kids that kind of acceptance towards others. Pay that forward,” he adds.
source: people.com
