A Girl With Tourette Syndrome

Posted Tue 21st Jun 2016 at 10:16
by Abigail Cubbon

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A short story by Abigail Cubbon, entered into the BBC Radio 2 writing competition '500 Words'.

A Girl with Tourette’s syndrome

 By Abigail Cubbon

“Be quiet!” The school bully screeched!

Ali, has Tourette’s syndrome said “No you be quiet” I can’t live like this anymore she thought, I need help. Every time someone said that word she would cry and repeat it, wishing she didn’t have to.

Tourette’s syndrome is a condition that makes her retaliate to certain words and have facial tics which she can’t help.
Crying, in the morning she tells her mother “I can’t be bullied like this anymore please tell my teacher I’m not going to school”. Her mother was crying with despair because her daughter was sick of life. Ali’s mum tried to calm her down but it just didn’t work. Distraught, sad, unhappy, Ali, lay on her bed praying for help. 

“Be quiet” said the school bullies again. She, said back to them, “Be quiet” and ran away, she told her friend Maggie, she didn’t care that she was now best friends with the twins. When she was sad she had more facial tics. After lunch Ali went into the manky, repulsive, stinking toilets and refused to go to class because she couldn’t sit there any longer letting them hurt her feelings.

She went home and hugged her mum, she cried again and her mum thought “I have to do something about thi ,it’s awful ,I can’t let my little girl carry on like this.”

Her teacher knew about this and tried to stop them but it was so difficult as he had never worked with a child with Tourette’s syndrome before.

Ali’s mum went on the internet for 2-4 hours looking for someone to help her and Ali. An experienced parent , Stewart emailed Ali’s mum and said “I want to help you get through your sadness ,my child has Tourette’s syndrome also and she is now having much more fun in school and in life actually, I know just how you feel, it is devastating”. Stewart helped the troubled little girl and her mum by giving them some advice to which they said they will try their best.

Sadly, Ali’s mum is a single parent so she has no one she can chat to when her mum is not around or is busy, she has a cousin but he doesn’t really get on with her that well, which is also very sad.

The next day felt like it was a happier day because the twins had gone on holiday with horrible, vindictive Maggie. Ali had a lovely day with her best friend Claire, who loves having her as a friend even though she is friends with Maggie too.

Stewart, Ali’s Tourette’s supporter was coming tonight, she was really happy because she liked getting help and knowing someone was there for her too. Stewart was like a dad to Ali, she thought.

She went back to school and the vindictive, horrible, nasty twins bothered her again but she knew she had the courage to face whatever was to come in life.

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