How one woman’s battle with Tourette’s and discrimination turned her into an advocate for fairness in the workplace

When Ann Khoo, a senior campaign manager at ecommerce retailer Lazada, worked at her previous company, her former boss said he hired her out of pity due to a handicap. Her boss even told her that she had to work thrice as hard for people to believe in her. “Also, while others were invited to attend functions, I was warned not to attend […] because they did not want guests to shy away.”

This is the story of Khoo’s life. Diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome since she was nine, she faced challenges as a result of her disability be it at school or in the office.

Tourette’s syndrome is characterized by repetitive, involuntary movements and vocalizations called tics, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

Despite the challenges brought about by her handicap, Khoo has managed to adapt and find a measure of success. The journey, however, was by no means easy.

“It was especially difficult for me when I was younger,” she says. “It was a huge shock to me as to why my body was not reacting the way a normal kid would be. Then there was the issue of self-acceptance and self-confidence, especially during my teenage years.”

Growing up with disabilities

Khoo’s physical and vocal tics were extremely severe right from the start. On a scale of 1 to 10 for severity, she rates them at 11. Worse still, she had a hard time dealing with the side effects of medicine given to her:

I was prescribed heavy medication to suppress them, so I spent a good part of my high school days falling asleep in classrooms and feeling like a zombie due to the side effects of the drugs. I also developed complications such as trouble concentrating in class and stiff joints where I was unable to write for a while. It was hard for me to study, let alone attend school but thankfully, I had a supportive family to steer me in the right direction.

Still, she was driven to excel in spite of the difficulties, and excelled academically through her schooling years, earning her passage to higher education abroad. Her university taught her that society can be accepting of people with disabilities.

“I learned that society can be accepting if they were educated enough to understand – such is the difference between the West and the East,” she explains. “People were kinder abroad, and the more I was treated less indifferently, the more I embraced Tourette’s as an integral part of me.”

Physical problems continued to ail her during this period, but the university was extremely supportive. “During exams, my stress level would go up three notches and I always sported massive bruises on parts of my body that I would hit repetitively,” Khoo recalls. “However, my alma mater provided me with proper student support, facilities and organized for me to take my exams separately with a private invigilator.”

The support of the school and her good results pushed her to go further in her studies, and she went on to get her Master’s Degree. It seemed like all was right in the world. “I managed to lead a very well-balanced university life, both pursuing academia and having the time of my life,” she says. Khoo even managed to get a driver’s license at this point, baffling those around her since Tourette’s could affect a person’s ability to drive.

A whole new (discriminatory) working world

Back in Malaysia, her ex-company proved to be not as nurturing. Fear of scaring customers away drove her previous bosses to confine her in a room at all times, she shares:

Finding acceptance

Fighting discrimination