Aspergers and Tics?

[Ghostsgowoooh]

My ds is 13 and has recently been diagnosed with Aspergers. Ive noticed within the last 4 months that he has some kind of tic where he will flick his fingers. Recently it has got much more noticable and he will now turn his neck in a certain way and then repeatedly flick his fingers by moving his hand until his fingersclick and this is repeated about five or six times.Its worse when he is anxious or a little bit stressed.

He also sticks his middle fingers up repeatedly at me and his little sisters and says he can't stop its a habit and swears by calling us fat shits

He also has adhd and he is struggling to accept his diagnoses and wants to be like everyone else. I am loath to mention that Ive noticed his other tics, he knows about the swearing. I just don't want to make him feel further alienated by mentioning his tics.

or are they stims? I really don't know, can anyone advice on what to do?

[KOKOagainandagain]

DS1 is 12 and has a tic disorder as well as ASD. Tics come and go and you should completely ignore them - ie don't mention them to him. Do notice them however. They are a visible stress barometer for DC who internalise anxiety or are not able to verbalise anxiety. ime tics increase according to the amount of difficulty DS1 is experiencing in social relations, mainly with his peer group but also adults that don't understand him.

It is important to ignore as this can become self-reinforcing. Tics are a barrier to 'passing for normal'/being like everyone else because others see and may comment on them, increasing anxiety and so tics. It is also important that teachers do not comment - DS1 was frequently told off for behaviour that the teachers didn't see as tics such as throat clearing. coughing, sniffing etc.

[Ghostsgowoooh]

Thanks Keepon thats reassuring. I see your point about the school not commenting, I will mention this to the school when they go back

[buildingmycorestrength]

Oh dear. My son, 8, flaps/flicks his hands a lot, and sometimes when it bugs me or gets really wild I say, 'stop flapping' or copy him with a smile on my face. He says it makes him feel funny when I do that. I should stop mentioning it, I guess?

But what to do when it gets really, um, hectic?

We don't have any kind of diagnosis but there's definitely something going on with him.

[LimboLil]

Trouble is, if it's anxiety induced and you rep mentioning it, that will create more anxiety and make it worse. Best to ignore and think about if there are any triggers.

[mrsbaffled]

We have been told to completely ignore Ds's tics.

[buildingmycorestrength]

Yes, I see. Am quite at sea in terms of how to manage the less sociable behaviours. Sorry if this is hijacking thread. Back to OP.

[bubblesinthebath]

Yes my Ds goes through phases of tics anything from chewing his fingers, to constantly wiping 'imaginary' sweat from his brow (that's what it looks like, every couple of seconds) he bounces a lot more and his flapping changes to clenched fists he also gets more verbal tics too when he constantly repeats what someone has just said or makes loud squealing noises then randomly mutters under his breath that his sister is naughty much to her annoyance as she sits there minding her own business. It wasn't until I recorded him for 10 minutes after he had finished school one day and watched it back that I could see it was stress related. What I tend to do now when he is doing it is suggest he comes upstairs to help me with something (putting the washing away etc) where it is quiet, out the way of his sister and usually find within 20 minutes he will give me some 'clues' as to what is bothering him and we have a chat about it or will have a hug from me then he reverts back to his usual beautiful self . It's all well and good when I am there and I can see these happening but it does make me wonder how it is handled when I am not there.

[bubblesinthebath]

Forgot to mention he has started to go up to his room an his own accord now and I will potter up to him after 10 minutes.

[insertname]

Ds had aspergers and tics, not a formal dx re: tics tho. We ignore them, but sometimes I suggest he sees if he can do something less visible. This is cos he hates people noticing. Works sometimes, he can change them at times.

[Schmedz]

My daughter does weird things with her eyes and kind of rolls them back in her head. She also makes strange grunting noises with her throat.
As another poster said, they are just signs of anxiety (and tiredness, for my DD) and drawing attention to them will only reinforce them and ironically, intensify them.

Please ignore the tics! My daughter is extremely sensitive about hers making her look different to others and was teased quite horribly by classmates ( and her father, I'm ashamed to say) in the past.

[threelittleangels]

Hiya, my 8 yr old son is currently in the process of being diagnosed with asd , he also goes through little phases where he tics, his current one is clicking his tongue in between each word as he's talking . It can be very frustrating but you really do just have to ignore it, he hates being pulled up on things i think he feels he's being critiscized bless him so now we just ignore his quirky little ways .Its not his fault and i'm sure it'll pass soon ... possibly to make way for something else

[Ellenora5]

Yep it's all part of aspergers/high functioning autism, my ds tics vary, but the main ones are eye squinting/rolling to the side of his eye socket, hand flapping and finger flicking, has recently started chewing skin on fingers after he stopped chewing his lips, it's hard to ignore, especially the chewing as it gets very raw and sore. For the hand flapping and body stimming I still use brush technique but I have a feeling that he won't let me for much longer. Agree with having a word with teacher, explaining how commenting on it makes it worse as your child will get more anxious. He used to grunt a lot or make grrrr sounds but that has stopped now, by the way ds is 11