to ask if any of you have children with Tourettes? Or any experience of it?

[cherrypez]

Am wondering if ds has this, he makes a strange noise quite a lot, but not when concentrating hard on, for example, tv. He has got to the point where he will 'disguise' the noise by pretending to get the hump and 'strop' so he can do it, or hides it within a word, but I can notice it still. He has a couple of facial tics which come and go, but are much less severe and noticeable than the noise. He is 9. Any advice gratefully received : )

DD2 has facial tics and occasionally a noise from her throat, generally they occur when she's tired or upset. She rarely notices them at all, they don't bother her and she's never had comments from peers thankfully. She doesn't have an official diagnosis of Tourettes as the symptoms are mild and unfortunately come way down on the list of SN she has, but her consultant has unofficially hinted that it is that.

My brother has had facial tics and a grunting noise all his life, no diagnosis, and it's never been an issue for him. It's certainly more common than people think.

Thankyou, I feel slightly better now, as peers noticing was what I had been most concerned about. I assumed it was rare as I've never personally met anybody with it.

DD1 has tourettes. Like your DS, hers is limited to noises (whopping or bird sounds) and the odd facial twitch. She is now in her late twenties and it has not hindered her either in her career or socially. When people are told about it or work it out for themselves, they are usually very interested in her experiences in living with the condition. She has yet to have anyone react unpleasantly about it.

Yes, my DS 9 has a diagnosis of Tourette's amongst other issues. His are motor and verbal tics, snorting, hissing, head jerking etc.

They are certainly more evident when he's emotionally aroused, excited, angry etc.

I haven't had any comments about it yet, but am well prepared with some pithy retorts for when they do!

The main advice I can reiterate is what his Consultant Psychiatrist said to us:

"No matter how much it may annoy you, unless he is in danger of causing or suffering harm, do NOT try to stop him; it's as impossible to him to control them as it would be for us to stop a sneeze and would cause more discomfort to him were he not able to do the things that calm/ reassure him".

It's actually become a point of interest to us to see how his tics alter and change over time, it certainly doesn't harm or cause him any issues thus far

My DS1 (13) has a diagnosis of Tourettes, OCD and generalised anxiety. The tics were quite bad when he was younger, but he controls them now and it's the OCD and anxiety which causes problems. My younger son also has tics, but we aren't looking for a diagnosis because he has no special needs.

To get a diagnosis, you have to have multiple motor tics and at least one vocal tic, which are present over a period of over 12 months without a break of longer than three. It is an inherited neurological condition, so more likely to be Tourettes if you know it's in the family. More info on Tourettes here.

Lots of children have tics, which don't last for longer than a few months. Generally, the most important thing with tics is to ignore them because if you comment on them it makes the child self-conscious and anxious and that can make the tic worse. It's different if your child comments on the tic himself. In that instance, I would sympathise, reassure him it won't last or even use humour to defuse his anxiety (we used to laugh a lot about some of DS1's more bizarre tics, but only because we took our lead from him finding some of them funny).