Geographies of Impulse: a study of individuals with Tourettes Syndrome and the embodied experience of public space

This project aims to inquire into how the embodied experience of
individuals with Tourettes Syndrome (TS) experience the world in
which they find themselves, taking into account existing postphenomenological
literatures regarding the body, space, place and
affect. It will use an interdisciplinary approach to challenge and
evolve foundational understandings of the human body within
Cultural Geography, but implementing a Tourettic lens. This
Tourettic lens will be applied in its approach to existing theories of
the body, identity construction, and affect. By applying this lens, new
avenues for the study of neurodiversity and impulsivity within
geographical consideration of affect, space, place and the body will
arise. Providing a foundation from which to research abnormally
scripted bodies, the project also seeks to explore issues surrounding
the representation of TS within charitable organisations and within
the media, pushing for genuine first-hand Tourettic narratives in a
way that respectfully raises the voices of the Tourettic community.