Tourettes ? or ASD

[district12]

Hi, my ds has dyspraxia, spd , ehthlers danlos symdrome and is awaiting an assessment for autism (hf).
Just lately ,the tics and noises he mainly does at home , or sometimes in crowded places, have become a lot more frequent and he is doing it everywhere including the classroom.
he is making loud noises , clapping , moving his head and generally not able to be quiet.
When I ask him why he does this he either does not realize or he says his brain makes him do it.

my question is , could this be related to the dyspraxia as I first thought, or the possible asd , or maybe even tourettes.

Thx , he has some fiddle toys which help slightly.
I think my main concern is the noises, in the past fortnight , he has gone from doing it at home now and again to doing it almost constantly , and it seems slightly different , a bit more out of his control.

I don't know whether to just accept it and try to help him stop myself somehow , or to be more concerned that it might be something else (tourettes), of which I know nothing about.

Don't mention tics (if that is what they are). They are suggestible and get worse if you draw attention to them. Lots of kids get tics for a while and it is nothing to worry about.

Tourette's means you have had motor tis for at least one year and at least one verbal tic with no more than 3 months break.

My son was dx with TS at Easter.

There is a difference between a tic and a stim. Lots of kids with ASD make noises and movements to stimulate their senses. A tic is an involuntary movement. There is a sensation before it happens. I can tell if my DS is going to tic his shoulder just before it happens.

Are the noises always the same, or just random?
Ds2(TS) hums and yelps, but that is it verbally.
DS1(suspected AS/HFA) makes a heck of a lot of noise all the time, but he is doing it for sensory reasons).
They present very differently.

Thx for your reply,
The noises are random, some more frequent than others. He repeats random words ,sometimes sentences.

I think sometimes , he see's the word and then says it ,even if it at a really inappropriate time.

He also does random movements that really stand out , when all around him are being still.

This is all so relatively new, he is so well behaved in school and hates to be in trouble , but is causing disruption by doing it , and does not always seem to realize how it looks to others around him.

Is the general advice to always ignore?
I may have made things worse as I have been telling him to try to stop alot lately.

I am also not convinced that it is involuntary tics , I think he can control it to some degree , but is maybe losing more control at the moment?

Its not just words either, it can be shouts and shrieks.

Thankyou , that really is helpful, I think the problem is that I am just not sure if it is tic's or just his way of coping in stressful situations.

When he is completely focussed on something ,such as his laptop or xbox, he doesn't do it.

Part of me thinks it must be sensory related, but at other times , it really looks like tics.

Either way I know he can't help it, I just don't know how to go about helping him.

He is 12 by the way , and only recently been diagnosed with dyspraxia and spd and possible high functioning autism.

I would take your concern to your GP. We were referred to the local paed, but they had no experience of tics, so referred us on to neuro in the city in the next county. The neuro was brilliant. We were seen in three months and got all the answers we needed in a half hour appt.