Vocal tics?

[januaryblues21]

Ds8 (who has high functioning autism) has developed a vocal tic which is a combination of throat clearing and harsh coughing and it is RELENTLESS. Very loud, every couple of seconds, constant noise. His voice is changing as well and I think he's creating some long term damage to his vocal folds. It's an awful noise that reminds me of lying next to someone who snores and not knowing when the next noise will come and flinching when it does. We all hate it. It upsets ds as he can't concentrate or watch tv as it's too noisy.

The advice is ignore. We're ignoring. It's getting worse....much worse actually. We've tried relaxation, distraction and getting him to do something else like sucking ice cubes (all without telling him why so it doesn't draw attention to it) and nothing is working. I'm most worried about long term damage really.

Anyone got experience?

My ds is 12 also high functioning asd and has periods of vocal tics, they generally last around a month at a time sometimes can go on for months. They vary from throat clearing, to coughing, whopping sounds, mouth clicking etc. They can stop for months at a time then one reappears. I’ve been advised by all professionals to ignore them. In my experience the more you mention or draw attention to them the harder they find to control them, like if someone tells you not to itch, you want to all the more. It’s hard to watch though I know.

No experience of autism but my ds did this and other noises for quite a while pretty much every few minutes. It did eventually pass although at the time we thought it would never end. I think it's unlikely to damage his throat or vocal cords.

We're definitely ignoring it but ds notices it a lot and it upsets him that he can't stop. I'm a speech and language therapist so I'm more sensitive to the changes in voice quality and it's definitely deteriorating. Vocal damage is extremely common with habitual cough and throat clearing. It's been going on for 4-5 months now and getting worse....he's had tics before but they usually come and go in waves. This feels a bit more somehow.

We are going through this at the moment with one of the DC. It's been there to a greater or lesser degree for about 8 months now. I have no advice but you are not alone.

I have a cousin with ASD who had severe verbal tics as a teenager. His paediatrician got advice from Great Ormond Street Tourette's clinic which was run jointly by a paediatric neurologist and a paediatric psychiatrist. They do lots of research into tics . He didn't have Tourette's, but had persistent, distressing verbal tics and the team there gave advice to his paediatrician about medication. He took medication for a long time (think it was a year, but not sure 100% sure). The tics gradually got less and then went away completely for several years. When he was a young adult, the tics came back at university and everyone medical he saw said to ignore, but it was really affecting his life in a big way. He was too old for the paediatrics teams but he saw a private neurologist, went back on medication (I think it was different medication) and is now a happy, tic-free young man who has a lovely girlfriend and has a job he likes a lot. We were all very worried about him when he was younger, but I wanted to let you know that things can change and that it might be worth you asking for a second opinion and for the option of advice from a specialist clinic.

My son developed tics a few years ago and the doctor said there was nothing we could do other than ignore the tics. I struggled to accept this so did lots of research online and noticed that Magnesium kept being mentioned.

We started to give him Floradix liquid Magnesium (ran it past the doctor first) and in our case it made a massive difference and the tics reduced very quickly. Have a Google of tics and Magnesium.

Thank you all. A few things to look into for sure. It's so hard isn't it.

It is hard. My aunt was in absolute despair over my cousin. He got really down about it at various times. But it really was worth her pushing for a specialist opinion, which ended up with them getting different advice which helped. It wasn't an instant miracle. The drugs took a while to make a difference, but I do remember I hadn't seen my cousin for a couple of months, we had a family wedding and suddenly I noticed that his tics had stopped. It was a very special moment.

We are having a horrendous weekend. I know my child is the one who is really suffering but the constant noise is driving me to distraction. I am going back to the doctor to see if there is anything at all we can do.

I used to have tics like this. Even reading about your DS's tics gives me that same burning, dry itch in the back of my throat.

If you haven't done so, check there is nothing around likely to irritate his throat and Airways, like air fresheners and things washed in strong fabric conditioner. I always found that my tics grew out of genuine discomfort. I had another one that was a whole scrunched up face blink - turned out my eyes weren't working together properly and I had an undetected astigmatism.

Thanks PickAChew, I will have a think about that.