A Hull dad who has lived with Tourette’s most of his life without knowing it says a charity has changed the lives of his family.
Daryl Wright, 32, from east Hull, has ADHD and only discovered he also has tics due to a charity that supports neurodivergent children. He said his family were having issues with their five-year-old son’s “hyperactive behaviour” and were using the support of local charity TIC (Tourettes-Syndrome Inclusion in the Community).
To help their eight-year-old daughter understand her brother’s behaviour, Daryl and his partner also signed her up to a sibling support group run by TIC. While she was attending, the charity noticed she had a vocal and motor version of Tourette’s.
Tourette’s tics can take many different forms, Daryl explained: “With my daughter, hers is a blinking of her eyes, she flips her head, twists her neck, and kind of gurns with her mouth, she’s got real wide eyes.”
“It’s not like swearing and stuff like that,” Daryl added. “We knew she did these things, but we didn’t think anything of it.” He said they would have “never known it had existed” if it wasn’t for the charity’s help.
(Image: Supplied)
Describing his son’s ADHD traits, Daryl said: “With my son it’s his hyperactive behaviour and he’s really compulsive in the things he does. He doesn’t think about anything and doesn’t see danger – he is blind to it all.”
TICS can help parents get a diagnosis by writing a letter to their GP with the symptoms they have noticed, which Daryl said is extremely useful because getting a diagnosis for neurodivergent children is often hard.
Daryl said the charity also helped him realise had Tourette’s too and there is a genetic link. “I myself have combined ADHD and, believe it or not, these guys actually pointed out to me I have motor tics myself I didn’t even know of.
(Image: Supplied)
“When we went for my daughter’s diagnosis, the doctor that diagnosed her asked when I had mine done because he thought I had Tourette’s myself… I was always told by other people my tics were to do with my ADHD, but it turns out they have got not connection to them whatsoever.”
Hull Live recently spoke to a volunteer from TIC who said the charity is trying to stamp out bullying at schools and improve attendance by giving talks about Tourette’s Syndrome.
In a bid to raise money for TIC, Daryl and his ice hockey teammates from Hull Knights development team will be walking from Hornsea to Hull. Daryl has opened a Just Giving page and so far has raised £745.
Starting at the seafront at the start of the Transpennine trail, Daryl and his teammates will walk in their helmets and full padded gear – minus the skates – all the way to the Hull Ice Arena.
They will come off the trail onto Chamberlain Road, then pass through Garden Village and Holderness Road and through Hull city centre, including Princes Quay and Humber Street. The 24km will be made extra challenging by their heavy gear and the likelihood of hot weather on the day they set out, Saturday, July 19.
“If the temperature is too hot, it is going to be really bad for us,” he said. “If it is heavy rain, again, it will just make our kit weigh so much more. But thankfully volunteers are going to do pit-stops on the way to try and get us some fresh water and ice pops and stuff like that to keep us going.”
You can follow Daryl’s journey on the Facebook page he has created for the event.