Tourette syndrome: Liu Fusheng, Art, Life, Tourette's

♪ (ABILITY Magazine jazzy piano intro) ♪

This condition started when I was

seven years old.

(grunts, thud against body)

I was in my house in the backyard,

playing soccer.

Then all of a sudden, I fell down.

When I got up in the night,

I started this condition.

I started hitting myself

and I screamed.

Every night, I saw spirit.

In fact, I saw a dark shadow.

He was holding an ax and a chain.

Every night he would wake me up

and I would cry.

When I woke up, I saw my parents

watching TV down the hall.

I told them, “Someone was getting me!”

But my parents thought it was a nightmare.

But it wasn't,

because it happened every night.

So I went to all kinds of religions

from the east to west to north to south.

Some Chinese say, “Maybe bring your son

to go and see some Buddhist or medium,

maybe pray for you, eat or drink something

it might cure him!"

But it was getting me more scared.

In 1995 I went to Australia.

(grunts, smacking noise)

I got my advanced degree

to study in Australia, Tasmania.

When I went there to study, the students

complained about my being very

noisy in my hostel.

I was told to go and see

the psychiatry doctor.

So the doctor then told me, “What you’re

having is a condition called

Tourette’s syndrome.”

I used to hurt my chin very badly,

it would bruise and crack, black.

And yellowish.

(Female interviewer) You mentioned when

you’re dancing, it stops.

I don’t jerk at all.

I don’t jerk at all (grunts).

(Male interviewer) What about your painting?

(grunts) I used to jerk, I stopped.

But my mentor told me,

“When you jerk (grunts)

let the jerk of the movement,

leave it in the painting.

That is Gods creation!"

♪ (ABILITY Magazine jazzy piano outro) ♪