I get people who move away from me on the Metro. There were times in movie theaters that people yelled at me. What happens is, if you get emotional about a movie, it can trigger the tics.
“Similar to judgments that people 12
with disabilities receive about imagined limitations, immigrants are often discriminated against based on where they were born, not what they can do,” he says. “Tey have stories that read like a novel. I’ve been doing pro bono work for immigrants for 20 years, and am working on several cases now.” In addition to his pro bono work for
immigrants and developing an exper- tise in a variety of business-law areas, he also became skilled in disability law. He wanted to ensure that others who were perceived to be a little different would be given the opportunity for success. He firmly believes and points to himself as an example that if you fail to include someone with a disability as part of your community or business, society is diminished. “You need to see other qualities
in people than what you see superfi- cially,” he says. In 2000, Merklinger was asked to
speak before Congress in support of the Tourette Syndrome Association’s (TSA) initiative to get recognition for Tourette’s in the Children’s Health Act, which directs federal agencies to undertake a long-term study of children’s health in relation to environmental exposures. Tey had lobbied former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a lead- ing proponent of the Act and the only
doctor in the Senate, in their effort to get Tourette’s identified among the child- hood disorders identified by the Act. “I actually played for his softball
team,” says Merklinger, who was working in D.C. “Te senator’s office didn’t agree to anything but when the staff mentioned they knew about Tourette’s because they knew me, the TSA contacted me and asked me to go meet with the staff.” Consequently, the senator
had Tourette’s included in the bill among those childhood disabilities that it identified. “Tey also asked if I would speak
on a panel. So there I was on the panel to speak before Congress with a senator, a couple congressmen, and the deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control.” Merklinger says he was nervous but
lightened the mood. “I told them to watch closely and
offered to buy lunch for the person that could accurately count how many tics I had,” he says. Not only was Tourette’s recognized
in the Children’s Health Act, but Congress appropriated $1.5 million toward research of the disorder. Merklinger’s experiences with those
who have misunderstood his condition have helped him cope with it, a reality that he must deal with on a daily basis.
DIVERSITY & THE BAR® NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2012
“Even though I’m not able to stop
it, I try to deal with the tics and why they are happening,” he says. “I focus on what might be causing them. If they’re increasing, then there must be a reason. Sometimes I just need more sleep. I deal with it better now because I understand them after years of cop- ing with them.” Lack of understanding or aware-
ness of Tourette’s is still a problem, he says. One example involved a driver who began manifesting tics. Another driver, who just happened to work for the Department of Motor Vehicles, noticed, recorded his license plate, and then had the driver’s license suspended, without any hearing or notification prior to the suspension. Merklinger still encounters prob-
lems on occasions when his own tics manifest in public. “I get people who move away from
me on the Metro [public transit system in D.C.],” he says. “Tere were times in movie theaters that people yelled at me. What happens is, if you get emotional about a movie, it can trigger the tics. One time I was traveling on a red-eye flight, and someone called security after seeing my tics. But [security] didn’t give me a hard time at all; they treated me very professionally.” It is through the efforts of advocates
like Merk that society is gaining a better understanding of Tourette’s. A classic example of someone who didn’t let adversity stop him from succeed- ing, he now assists ACC’s more than 30,000 in-house lawyers working in 10,000 companies and nonprofits in 75 countries. As the ACC’s vice president and general counsel, he promotes diversity in the workplace and the com- munity at large. He says, “my work gives my clients
the opportunity to bring their talents and perspectives into a society that might otherwise miss out on what they have to offer.” D&B
Tom Calarco is a freelance writer based in Altamonte Springs, Fla.
MCCA.COM
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