When Dean Campbell was seven, he started having moments when his head shook and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Within four years, things had got worse and his shoulders started shaking.

The same year, when he was 11, he was given the devastating news that he had Tourette Syndrome which is a neurological disorder characterised by involuntary, rapid, sudden movements that occur repeatedly.

Since then, Dean, who is now 23, has developed other symptoms including sniffing, head-jerking, facial grimacing and making loud noises with his head back and hands held up to his mouth.

"Some of the symptoms are very bizarre," he said. "I also have obsessive compulsive behaviour. I bang glasses down, switch lights on and off and slam car doors a few times when I get in and out.

"But people with Tourette's often have special gifts and my gift is that I'm very caring.

"I give up my seat for old women on buses and help women with pushchairs on to the bus and I visit my relatives.

"Life can be quite tough with Tourette's but now I have learned that people will laugh, and I just laugh back at them."

Dean, of Moorland Road, Pudsey, takes four different types of medication a day to control his symptoms.

Dean (above) does not work because of his condition, but has discovered a talent for woodwork. He knows if he has children there is a 60 per cent chance that the child will also have Tourette Syndrome.

"But I'm not bothered about that because I'll love them and support them whatever," he said.

He said up to now relationships have been tricky. But he is optimistic that he will find someone who will be able to live with his condition.

"I've had girlfriends but they have never understood my Tourette's. "What I'd like is a girlfriend my age who has Tourette's because we would understand each other.

"My friends treat me normally but some other people treat me like I've got a mental problem. They don't understand Tourette's is a neurological disorder."

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