twitching/ blinking in 5 year old - tourettes?

[philopastry]

My 5 year old DS has started making some odd noises and movements which he does not appear to be able to help
These include
Making a low noise repeatedly when he is watching something he likes on TV or enjoying a story
Exaggerated blinking
Shrugging his shoulders and flicking his whole body out
The noise has been going on intermittently for a few months - the physical twitches have only started in the last few weeks but are really worrying me and my DH
I have been googling and I am starting to think that he might have some form of tourettes - a prospect which really upsets and frightens me tbh.
Can anyone give me any advice on how to get a diagnosis and also talk to me about their experience of having a child with tourettes.
Thanks in advance.

My friend's little boy did this. He did it on and off for a few months, but reached a peak which lasted a month, in which he had several twiches and sounds. He now does not do any of it. I thnk it is just a phase. My friend was very worried too, but I think it can happen when children get stressed - he was going into a new year at school.

May be post on children with speical needs, but I think it might be one of those phases.

Thanks Clare - that is reassuring to read. And yes I will post on the special needs section instead.

My DD did the exaggerated blinking, and also a kind of half yawn (open mouth/sighing), and she would make a sort of half cough sound when she was reading.
She was about 4 or 5, and grew out of all of them in time.
Wouldn't worry yet

Hi, I looked for a new message in special needs but couldn't see it, so hopefully you'll pop back here too.

My DS (5) is the same as your DS. For about 2 years we've had the following tics appearing on and off. There's been excessive blinking, exagerrated swallowing, stuttering, shoulder shrugging and the low hum which happened when he's concentrating on something. He would tend to have one tic at a time and they usually last for a few months before he moves onto something else.

Like you I was worried and researched tourettes but then saw the definition of 'Transient tic disorder' which sounds much more like my DS. It seems for it to be classed as tourettes they have to have the same tic for over a year. At the height of his last tic I did consider going to the GP for a diagnosis but quickly decided against it. My reasons were that my DS wasn't really aware of his tics and I dont want to do anything that draws his attention to the fact that he does these odd little things. Involving a GP will make it more talked about and that may not help. If DS becomes self-consious he will become stressed about it and that will make it worse. Also I didn't want my DS to be 'labelled' as having something at the age of 5 - there is nothing that would be done anyway except for some monitoring which you can do yourself anyway.

I'm so glad I chose to ignore his latest tic as sure enough it has disappeared and so far since he started school in August he's been tic-free . Dont get me wrong I'm not in any way doing a head in the sand thing, but I'm just going to keep my eye on it, record what tics do come along and how long they last and hopefully I'll slowly see him growing out of it.