(suspenseful music) - Go away! - [Diane] Stop! - [Alex Voiceover] This is
not what you think it is. - Stop! - [Alex Voiceover] It isn't bad behaviour. It isn't bad parenting. - She's an idiot, I hate her! - [Alex Voiceover] It's far worse. - I've got a weapon, give me back my ball! (dramatic music) - Are you fucking filming again? - I just don't understand -
- Stop it! - [Alex voiceover] This is the dark side of a debilitating disorder
called Tourette's Syndrome. (Cameron screaming) It's a personal prison
and there's no cure. - Stop! [Alex Voiceover] But these rage
attacks and vivid illusions are a side of Tourette's
most of us never see, never knew existed. (Cameron screaming) - You sort of see a
change come over the face and then anything could happen. He can be wanting to
hit us, destroy things, he sometimes imagines we're Casper. - [Alex Voiceover]
That's Casper the Ghost. - Where did Casper put my ball? - [Alex Voiceover] A regular illusion. (child screaming) - Stop touching me Casper! (guitar playing) - [Alex Voiceover] And the
most heartbreaking victims of all, the kids themselves. Like 13-year-old Cameron Schubert. - [Alex] What's the toughest thing? - When I have hyper-manic
episodes, it's pretty bad. I'm not myself, I turn
into a different person. And, like, I go like, full on rage, I like (sad orchestral music) try and hurt people and
I throw stuff, and yeah. - You can't help it. - Yeah. (Cameron whistling and grunting) - For those that don't know him, Cameron's Tourette's creates an at times awkward and embarrassing
series of tics and outbursts. - Fuck! (beep) - I think most people just think it's swearing and yelling out. - Don't look at the camera! (Bruce laughing)
- Sorry. - But underneath all of
that going on in here is- - Mental.
- Anxiety. - [Cameron] Tourette's is
just the tip of the iceberg. (suspenseful music) - [Alex Voiceover] And it's
when Cameron's rage attacks strike that the Jekyll and Hide nature of the condition appears. - Go away! - It's not a build-up,
it's a sudden switch from calmness to uncontrollable rage. And there's no in-between,
there's no build-up it just is so sudden and there's nothing nothing he can do,
there's nothing we can do, you can't reason, they have
to come back down themselves. It's very, very difficult. - Stop. Stop. - Let go. - No, I won't let go. Recently, we were outside a shop and he was yelling out
at the top of his voice that I was not his mum, called the police. You don't know what you're gonna get. - (Bruce) Put it down! - Do you know what you're doing? Is it you that's doing it? - No. I go to the back of my head. The person comes from the back of my head to the front of my head
and I turn into him. And then, I know what's happening I can see it, because
like I'm in the back. But I can't take over control. It's like they're
basically driving the car, I can't stop the car. - He often refers to it as Cameron Two. - And is there anything you can do to stop the rages coming on? - Personally, I don't think there is. - Generally, no. - How long does it last? - I think one of my longest
has been two or three hours. (Cameron screaming) - You stupid piece of shit! I hate you! - After they've been through
an episode like this, the remorse that he feels is huge. It envelops him again 'cause-
- It becomes obsessional. - Yeah, it's-
- How he reacted and behaved. It's an obsession of saying
sorry over and over and over. (Cameron crying) - I didn't mean, I
didn't, I didn't mean it. - I feel like other people too much. I always feel a bit depressed, a bit down. Don't really wanna go
to school the next day. - [Alex Voiceover] And
Cameron's not alone. - Are you fucking filming again? - I just don't understand-
- Stop it! So it's up here. - [Alex Voiceover] At her
family home on the Gold Coast. - This is my room. - [Alex Voiceover] I am meeting
12-year-old Maddy Rayward. - Oh yes, okay, there's one,
two, three holes right there. - [Alex Voiceover] Where her bedroom resembles a battleground. Oh my God, okay, Maddy, (Alex knocking) that's quite a hard wall. - Yes. - Yeah, yeah. I can't imagine you putting these holes in these walls, Maddy. Look at that smile! - I told you, her sticks are strong. - Yeah, yeah! - What does our doctor call it? The Angry Beast. - Yeah.
- The Angry Beast comes out. - The Angry Beast comes out. - Stop! Stop it! - It's like an angry beast which basically controls over me. - Maddy says and does
things that I know that I just have to look and say, that's not Maddy saying that. We've had police help,
we've had ambulance help. We've had to restrain Maddy. You're just looking at
this child that you've had and all of a sudden,
it's a different child. So, angry and upset. - Is it the hardest
part of this condition? - Absolutely, it's just one of the most socially crippling, you know, disorders. (Maddy panting and crying)
- Fuck off! It just overtakes me and it makes me feel a bit sad sometimes. I feel that my parents
get really emotional and I don't like when that happens, yeah. (Maddy screaming and crying) - How tough have these rage
attacks been on you two? Nick? - I don't know, it's
so varied, the emotions that you feel when you're going through it because you do feel undertones of anger because, you know, you're being yelled at. But it's also sorrow because you're seeing your child going through this, knowing that they cannot help it and cannot stop, and just feeling, I don't know, how do you describe it? You can't do anything to help. - Write your ideas down. - [Alex Voiceover] Maddy's in year seven, and it's here at school, in
her quiet, focused classroom- - Ten more seconds. - That the tension of holding in her tics and outbursts can reach boiling point. (build-up music) - Out of nowhere, a rage strikes and we find her storming
through the school grounds. - Stop filming me! Suddenly, Maddy isn't Maddy anymore. For Maddy's teachers, this disruptive and distressing behaviour
is all too familiar. - [Alex] And what happens
in one of those meltdowns, Caitlyn? - She can be slamming the doors or pulling down the posters or
throwing things at the door. There's a time where I've actually needed Leva's assistance and she's come down. She's thrown a phone at
Leva, obviously using those colourful language to get us away because she doesn't want us to be there. Even though she's seeking that attention, it's more that the rage
has taken over then. - [Alex] And it's not so
much her that's in control, it's something else, isn't it? - [Leva] Yeah.
- [Caitlyn] That's right. - [Alex Voiceover] So
difficult that Caitlyn Cleary and Leva Rimbult will often walk Maddy from one class to another, a therapy dog, Solo, helps calm Maddy too. - The high school that
Maddy's at have been above and beyond, they are amazing. Without those ladies, I
don't know how we'd do it. - No. - Yeah, she's a very lucky girl- - [Nick] Very lucky girl, yeah. (suspenseful music) - [Alex Voiceover] When
it all becomes too much, kids like Maddy and Cameron come here to the Kooky Clinic, run
by Gold Coast psychiatrist, Dr. Shannon Morton. - Rage symptoms can happen in up to 70% of kids with Tourette's Syndrome. - What are some of the worst cases you've seen with these rages? - I've seen kids who have
demolished their houses, where their houses look like war zones. - So, serious damage these kids can do. - I've had kids where they've, you know, unfortunately broken bones, or physically really hurt themselves.
- [Alex] Or other people? - Or other people. (sad music) - The Schubert's and the
Rayward's are two families dealing with a condition that has drastically altered their lives, for which there is no cure. Cameron and Maddy have
Tourette's Syndrome, and the shocking rage
attacks that come with it. How difficult is it for you, Bruce, seeing this, seeing your
boy go through this? - You've got to detach yourself
a little bit, sometimes. - How do you do that? - You keep focusing on a bigger picture and putting yourself way down the list. - And sometimes you can't.
- No you can't. - Sometimes you get to
a point where you can't. And that's when you kinda
say to the other one, you have to deal with this tonight. (hopeful music) - [Alex Voiceover] But there is something that seems to quell the awkward and often embarrassing
symptoms of the disorder. It isn't rocket science
either, it's as simple as playing high energy sports, or anything that requires
intense concentration. - [Alex] Plus he's going
pretty well out there. - [Bruce] He loves it,
absolutely loves it. Yeah, he's the smallest kid on the sign but he just loves basketball so, that's fine, we'll let him
play as much as he likes. - [Alex] Smallest kid, biggest heart. - [Bruce] Maybe, yeah. (children cheering) - Diane, I'm noticing
there aren't as many tics. - That's right. - That's because he's
concentrating, right? - Yeah, yeah, he's hyper-focused. He's trying to do his very
best, relax and enjoying it. You know, if he were sitting in a class concentrating, it wouldn't be the same. I can still see some tics, I've seen him chewing on his shirt a little bit and making a few funny
faces but essentially, yeah, all but gone. - He's having a ball out there, isn't he? - He does, he loves it, and
he's got good mates out there. (children cheering)
(hopeful music) (upbeat music) - [Alex Voiceover] And
for Maddy, it's gymnastics where her mind is occupied and at peace. - [Instructor] Push up, much better. - I know you do gymnastics. - Yep. - Does that help? - Yes, it does, it really does. (upbeat music) It just helps to get my
mind off my Tourette's and rages and tics. - Physical activity and acceptance, yep. For Maddy just to be in an environment where she can just be herself and she's got a very outgoing,
beautiful personality. So when she can be herself,
she feels just like herself. - And what do you think
the best medication is? - I guess it's just treating a lot, don't treat anybody else. - Yeah. (slow piano music) - [Alex Voiceover] It sounds
like good old common sense, and even doctors agree. - There are a lot of kids
where if they just have understanding and support
of those around them, won't need to be on medication. And so, you know, we save
them having side effects by educating everyone around them. - Acceptance is the best medicine. - Absolutely, hands down, yeah. (hopeful music) - [Alex Voiceover] And that's exactly what Cameron and his mom, Diane, are out to do. Today, they're visiting a Brisbane school to explain what Tourette's is all about, not to judge, and
especially, not to bully. - We're just here to
talk to you a bit about Tourette's and what to
do and what not to do like, not be mean and stuff. - [Alex Voiceover] This speech
is particularly important because there's a student
at this school who, like Cameron, has Tourette's. His name is Matthew and he's eleven. - I'd like to thank
everyone for supporting me and and that's about it, I think. (audience applauding) - [Alex] We're lucky to have them. - Yeah, we're so lucky. They're natural performers,
naturally creative, natural comedians, big-hearted, kind, you'll never find kinder kids. So we've got a lot we can learn from them. - It's okay if you laugh with
him, but don't laugh at him and it's not good to bully. I just think you shouldn't bully because it makes it a lot worse. Anything you want to say, man? - Just don't bully, please. Don't really bully anyone, actually but it makes our Tourette's a lot worse. (audience applauding) - Thank you for listening. - Thanks man, thanks for coming.
