"As a neurodiverse public speaker and presenter, I draw upon my personal journey in thriving with TS to share real-life experiences that resonate with neurodiverse communities and families"

Posted Wed 11th Sep 2024 at 10:47
by Dave Brebner

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I am Dave Brebner, and this is my story.

I have lived with Tourette’s, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, ADHD and Anxiety Disorders since an early age.

Early Life

Born in 1962, I am the 2^nd of 5 kids in an average working-class family. At seven, something strange happened to me. I developed severe asthma and felt an irresistible urge to shake my head and continuously clear my throat. In addition, I began to have the compulsion to make grunting and squeaking noises and developed obsessions and fears.

I soon found myself in front of our family doctor: “The fact that young David does this sometimes and not others indicate a level of control of his actions. I imagine it is an attention-seeking device.”

Being hardly noticeable when in public, I could conceal the compulsions while at primary school, and life continued. At age 13 though, my compulsions were suddenly greatly amplified with grunting and many very antisocial actions and behaviours. I became the target of terrible bullying and teasing, and some students imitated my ‘tics’ while the teacher would pretend not to notice.

I had no answers, and throughout 1975, my actions and compulsion became far worse. The tapping of objects, doing things in patterns and only even numbers, and repeating noises and words became a continual part of my day. Some teachers, thinking that I was being deliberately disruptive, publicly made me do demoralising things and ridiculed me for doing things like making me sit on an upside-down chair at the front of the room facing the class and leaving me there to shake. I developed a deep fear of people. I created coping mechanisms like holding my breath in class to not stutter. Life at that age was difficult and everything began to accelerate.

The symptoms would increase dramatically at the wrong times. Many times, I was told not to do something which incited an insatiable desire to do it and looked like direct disobedience.

As a teen with Tourette’s throughout the 1970s, little was known about Tourette’s. No one knew why I performed all these kinds of actions. After being admitted as a day patient to the child psychiatric unit at Auckland Hospital, I was heavily medicated. It stopped my outward conditions but, as with many psych drugs, stopped me from functioning much at all.

Discharged at 17, a prominent professor told my parents that I was disabled and would probably not achieve much in my future. He advised they take me home and do the best they could as I may suit menial factory tasks in, but not in the public eye. I left school I spent six months on unemployment benefits and although trying for a few jobs, I couldn’t gain employment.

Getting UNSTUCK!

In 1979 I was enrolled into a ‘sheltered workshop’ for the disabled. My first task was to spend 8 hours a day weighing and packing rubber bands and then crayons.

After this, I was moved to metalwork, where a retired aircraft engineer took me under his wing. This kind-hearted, slightly eccentric man inspired me to try things and work with lathes, welders, and engineering equipment. This awakened something within me. I realised I could do more with my life outside of the ‘normal’ educational format.

New Skills and Self-Acceptance

My fear of people began to diminish, and although my condition ebbed and flowed, I found my self-acceptance beginning to eclipse the problems created by it. I saw a future for myself, and I wanted to develop a path to reach my goals. Through the persistence of my parents, who never gave up, a few lifelong friends who saw past my strange condition and a large church youth group who fed my soul with a great social life, I came to life.

I gained a local hardware store and after travelling the world, I gained an electrician apprenticeship, and after four years, I returned to Auckland and became licenced. By chance, I turned on the TV one day and observed a show character with my traits. What a shock! I had never met anyone like me, and I quickly wrote down the condition’s name. I had a miraculous meeting with an American Neuroscientist, the next day, and he told me at 27, that I had a condition called Tourette Syndrome.

“In architecture, if you can’t hide something, you make a feature of it!”

I have since been diagnosed with ADHD and OCD and continued to gain a love of learning. I have gained a Bachelor's in Adult Education, completed my Master’s degree in Career Development and a Master’s in Educational Neuroscience.  I have learned how I learn! My goal is to use my qualifications and experiences to provide a channel to assist others who are Neurodiverse and do not learn in the mainstream educational system.

I am now a teacher of Electrical trades and consult and speak on Neurodiversity and Inclusion. Visit me at www.davebrebner.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.

Dave has released his memoir 'Living Beyond Limits: My struggle and triumph over Tourette syndrome' which is available to download here.

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