9 year old aversions/tics/ocd

[JS87]

Ds is 9. He has had tics on and off since starting reception. In the last year he has had a few which I can’t Decide whether they are tics or ocd or something else. He touches the sole of his shoe and then puts his finger in his mouth. Recently he can’t brush his teeth at the sink as he feels the need to constantly wash the spit away or touch the toothpaste spit in the sink and then put his finger in his mouth. When I asked him why he said he doesn’t like the look of it in the sink. He has also over lock down got really fussy about the sight of certain food. If we eat Brie, yoghurt, feta or cream cheese etc he gets upset at the sight of it and makes us eat separately. Are these good aversions normal for a 9 year old or could he have some kind of spd or ocd?

Tics and OCD often go hand in hand so somebody who has/had tics can then develop OCD behaviours. (I am no expert but suffer both myself)
To me it sounds like OCD behaviour, the way he has described not liking the look of the toothpaste as a reason for why he is doing it, whereas tics dont have purpose or reason, except for feeling an urge to do them.
Would he be open to seeing a doctor to see what they suggest?
Like i said im no professional, but i went through childhood not realising alot of the thoughts i had were OCD related and i grew up thinking i was odd or there was something wrong with me for thinking strange things. I wouldnt wish that feeling on a child.
I deal with it myself as an adult and it doesnt impact my life too much but i feel like things could have been different if i'd had help.
Hopefully someone else will have more experience with doctors/professionals and can give you some better advice :)

Yes I know what you mean about the toothpaste. He doesn’t show any of the common listed symptoms of ocd in children though. I’ll see how it goes and if things progress take him to the gp.

I'm sure lockdown hasn't helped the situation with routine out of the window and the stress/worry of COVID, this may have caused these behaviours to surface so possibly with things going back to normal with school etc you hopefully might find an improvement.
OCD is such a complex thing, so many people think it's just to do with obsessive cleaning but it's so much more than that.
I hope things improve for your DS.