Hamilton mother takes to Kijiji after son with Tourettes is ‘shushed’ during ‘Beauty and the Beast’

A Hamilton mother took to the popular website Kijiji in an attempt to educate those who she claims told her son to quiet down during a movie.

Sophie Martineau says her 16-year-old son suffers from Tourettes and Kabuki syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that leads to distinctive facial features. The disease can also cause heart abnormalities and early puberty.

Martineau wrote that her son wanted to celebrate his 16th birthday with his family with a viewing of Beauty and the Beast at the Cineplex in Stoney Creek.

“Tonight my family saw [Beauty and the Beast] in 3D in upper Stoney Creek…a movie about seeing past the outer shell to what’s inside and not judging people on their appearance alone etc..(oh the irony ). If you were there you likely heard a lot of random noises lip smacking sounds,  raspberry sounds and or kissy sounds during the movie. You may have also heard a few people shushing the boy making the sounds assuming it was an unruly child acting up. That was my child. What you don’t know is that my son felt worse than anyone about the noises.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Tonight my family saw [Beauty and the Beast] in 3D in upper Stoney Creek…a movie about seeing past the outer shell to what's inside and not judging people on their appearance alone etc..(oh the irony ). If you were there you likely heard a lot of random noises lip smacking sounds,  raspberry sounds and or kissy sounds during the movie. You may have also heard a few people shushing the boy making the sounds assuming it was an unruly child acting up. That was my child. What you don't know is that my son felt worse than anyone about the noises."

Martineau wrote that they felt safe attending the movie because her son’s Tourettes hadn’t showed any side effects.

“Tourettes can come and go, wax and wane and for some people, Tourettes can gradually disappear with puberty. We thought that was the case for our son as his tics had almost completely vanished.

“To our surprise Tourettes reared its head after being dormant for quite a while with a few small tics and people around us assumed it was behaviour and shushed him. I don’t blame them for that. How could they know right? But if you were in that theatre and possibly even one of the people who shushed him…what you don’t know is that he hates the noises more than you do . He hates that he can’t control it.

“What you didn’t know is that the best way to make a Tourettes trigger go away is to ignore the tics but correcting a tic make the brain grab hold and make the sufferer tic even more. Telling someone with Tourettes to stop a tic makes their Tourettes mechanism in the brain go on fast forward repeat of that tic so it creates the opposite effect of what you are asking or telling them to do. THEY CAN’T HELP IT.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Tourettes can come and go, wax and wane and for some people, Tourettes can gradually disappear with puberty. We thought that was the case for our son as his tics had almost completely vanished.</p><p>"To our surprise Tourettes reared its head after being dormant for quite a while with a few small tics and people around us assumed it was behaviour and shushed him. I don't blame them for that. How could they know right? But if you were in that theatre and possibly even one of the people who shushed him…what you don't know is that he hates the noises more than you do . He hates that he can't control it.</p><p>"What you didn't know is that the best way to make a Tourettes trigger go away is to ignore the tics but correcting a tic make the brain grab hold and make the sufferer tic even more. Telling someone with Tourettes to stop a tic makes their Tourettes mechanism in the brain go on fast forward repeat of that tic so it creates the opposite effect of what you are asking or telling them to do. THEY CAN'T HELP IT."

Martineau updated her Kijiji post to add that she’s been overwhelmed by support. Her post has gone viral online, garnering tens of thousands of views.