A Suffolk teen’s journey to speaking in the nation’s capital started with a nervous habit in middle school. At least, that’s what teachers thought it was when they asked her to spit out her gum in the middle of class.

But there was no gum. Tara Grady, daughter of Phyllis and Chuck Grady, had been singled out because of a tic that had been constant for as long as she could remember at the time. Her “nervous habit” was eventually diagnosed as Tourette Syndrome.

Her friends came to understand her tics, but adults did not understand her needs.

“Teachers and school officials didn’t understand my condition,” Grady said. She was denied testing accommodations because her grades were too high.

They didn’t understand the social anxieties that come with her condition, so she decided to educate others herself.

The 17-year-old Nansemond River High School senior and Girl Scout created an awareness campaign with presentations for school faculty throughout Suffolk. She called it “What Makes Me TIC.”

Grady also gave presentations outside of school and even created an online support community called Teens that Tic, with more than 200 members in the United States and internationally.

In February, she earned the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest honor and achievement in Girl Scouting. Less than 6 percent of eligible Girl Scouts nationwide earn the Gold Award, according to a February press release.

“I took a hardship and embraced it to get the Gold Award, then I applied to be a youth ambassador,” she said.

Grady was one of 36 teens nationwide to be selected by the Tourette Association of America for ambassador training for National Advocacy Day in Washington, D.C., from Feb. 28 to March 1.  The TAA’s Youth Ambassador Program trains youth for public speaking on awareness and understanding of Tourette syndrome.

Grady and her compatriots spent six hours on Feb. 28 in exercises to improve their public speaking and presentation skills.

“It was basically a whole day of school,” she said.

The teens then dressed in their best business attire for The Congressional Children’s Briefing on Tourette Syndrome on March 1. TAA arranged them to meet with staffers of congressman and senators to discuss policy priorities for Tourette syndrome and tic disorders in 2018, according to tourette.org.

They met with staff of Congressman Bobby Scott, Representative Barbara Comstock and Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine.

“I met Tim Kaine in the hallway as we were leaving his office,” Grady said.

The highlight of her experience was telling her story in front of approximately 250 people gathered in the Kennedy Caucus Room of the Russell Senate Office Building.

“She went from barely being able to speak in front of a handful of people at a PTA meeting to speaking in front of 250 people,” Phyllis Grady said. “She’s definitely grown quite a bit.”

Tara Grady relished the opportunity to speak with government representatives and meet others like her from across the nation.

“It was the first time I met people and didn’t have to explain myself,” she said. “It was crazy.”

She’s still keeping in touch with teens she met in Washington as she plans more of her presentations at different Suffolk schools and gets ready for college. She plans to enroll at University of Kentucky in the fall and study human health services.

“I definitely want to go into the medical field and pursue health advocacy,” she said. “I want to take what I’ve learned with Tourette syndrome and go forward with that.”