Seeking Advice on Childhood Tics

J.,
It is always best to get an oppinion from the experts. Yes, it could be touretts syndrome, but it seems to be starting earlier than most. Usually it starts around puberty. My son has touretts and that is the exact way his tics started. I also tried to get him to quit clearing his throat and of course he couldn't stop and he then developed a different tic...srunching his nose. Just get him checked out without all the second guessing and worring. My son is 27 years old and is living a normal life. Touretts isn't always the horrible cussing and swearing of the worst cases. I wouldn't have had my son checked if my nephew also wasn't diagnosed. It runs in families. The best advice if it is touretts....Stress brings out the tics even more..and if the child tries to suppress the tics the tics will be worse later on when relaxed. So trying to get him to stop, just makes it worse. Good Luck.

I am glad I read the other posts first because I think I am changing my answer because of it. My son was 6 also when he started having tics. One would start and a few months later it would disappear and a different one would appear. Our pediatrician said not to worry kids commonly get them and they go away on their own. For the most part they did. But, and here is the thing, my son has been evaluated for Asperger's and they are leaning towards PDD-NOS because they don't see what I do at home when he is relaxed. I also know someone whose brother has Asperger's AND Tourette's so I think a neurology consult or even just a child pyschologist would be in order. Good luck!

L. Etta, mother of a 7 yr old girl and a 9 yr old boy:)

If you want an allergy and asthma special who deals mostly with children, I can help. She used to have an office in Fishers/Noblesville. Her name is Dr. Karen Marshall. She's in Carmel.

Have you tried simply talking to him about the behaviors? My son, who just turned 6, temporarily used to clear his throat all the time. Right away though, I started telling him to stop, and after a matter of a couple of months of really being consistent about telling him to stop, he did slowly quit. I think they just don't realize what they're doing. Also, with my daughter, who just turned 7, she talks about how people at school have tics. She told me last week about 3 different people she knows who have tics. I pointed out to her that out of all the people she knows, there's only a few with tics, (because she said "lots of people I know have tics) and so I explained to her that means that MOST people DON'T have one. I think at first that she was looking for something special she could have for her own tic until we had that discussion. Sometimes, there absolutely is something going on, but other times it's just a "habit" that if you're adamant about him not doing, he can break.

J.,

Make an appointment with a neurologist.

M.

I was just talking to a friend yesterday whose son has those tics. I would definately get it checked with the neurologist. Her son was diagnosed with terets (sp?). I was shocked because when I hear terets I think of the movie What About Bob? and the scene they do with random yelling nasty things... there are a lot of tics associated with terets and the vocal tics are the worst. There are many minor ones that are more of an inconvenience in life, but totally bearable. Good luck and God bless!!