Aspergers, tics, increased twitching - getting worried

[Flamesparrow]

DD1 has always had AS traits (mid diagnosis finally now), and the last year or so developed a mouth/lip twitchy tic thing. Not often, a sort of twisty nibble.

The past month or so though it has become a full body physical twitch, and is steadily getting worse.

She's going to secondary school in September and is very anxious about it, plus two broken arms in six months, it's understandable to me that stress is exacerbating it.... BUT between the broken arms she also fell and had a fairly hefty concussion in Jan - there is still a lump on her head. I'm concerned that I'm assuming it's a stress tic and it's actually some head trauma I'm ignoring.

I'm not really sure what I'm asking. DO tics get worse/bigger/more frequent with stress? Should I ask GP about the head? (it wasn't scanned or anything at the time because all her reflexes etc were good) She has occupational therapy full assessment on July 25th - is it best to wait and talk to them?

My baby girl just seems to be falling apart before my eyes

Hi, we are dealing with tics at the moment and have been reading into it loads as ds started with mild twiches last oct and now squeaking, throat clearing etc.

Trauma such as head injury can bring on tics so would definitely try to get paediatric referral to rule out any neurological cause. GP can refer her. Equally children under the age of 18 can develop tics at any time if they are predisposed to ticcing - it is understood to be a genetic disorder which can often get worse with stress in some children but cannot be caused by stress.

There are some good websites out there which might help you with more information on conditions such as transient tic disorder. For example, maybe have a look at Latitudes.org.

Sorry to hear you are having to go through this - its so difficult to find the right people to help isnt it...

Thank you so much. I'll make her an appointment.

I hate that I remember a girl from school as "the girl who twitched" but can't remember her name.

I've not spoken to her about it actually, I've been trying not to draw attention to it in case she ended up worrying about them. I'll have a chat with her.

Talking to her has set my mind at rest massively. Feel slightly foolish for avoiding it before. It IS a tic rather than seizures. She's aware she's doing it, says it was something she did one evening for fun, and now it has become habit that she does without thinking. She's even discussed it with her friend (who apparently finds it amusing - I love that she has a friend like that), and is just letting people think that it's a cold shiver if they ask her about it.

Agree with zzzzz. Spoke to ds' school this week and the teachers there say they come across lots and lots of children from age 5,6,7 who develop tics for a period of time and they just fade away. My ds has become v self conscious about it and has asked me to find someone to help him. Holds the tics in until he comes home from school and then does loads of it in the comfort of the home environment. Hoping to see a specialist over the summer just to help him feel less anxious about it and get some tips on how to manage it.

As said above many many children tic. However, keep an eye on it and try to remember dates etc. If the tics last more than a year and include both vocal and motor tics then you are looking at Tourette's (TS), which is often found alongside ASD / ASD traits. No real need to investigate it before a year unless you still have a niggling feeling it may be related to the head injury.

I have two boys with mild TS and co-morbidities.

The premonition of need to tic often comes later, btw. My DS2 (6) doesn't realise he is ticcing either.

Hi flamesparrow, just wondering how youve been getting on. Ds has now been diagnosed with chronic tic disorder most probably tourettes but he is copibg well for now...

My DS has developed 'spasms' of some sort over the past year. He goes very blank and then has a few quite large twitches of the shoulders and arms (causing things to fly across the room!) btw my ds is also 10yo and year 6 so same age as well.

He had a seizure in May. Also has twitches at night.

He is under neurology ATM. He has had MRI (clear) and 24 he EEG (clear)

Neuro has mentioned possibly tics and also suggested a 5 day stay where he is videoed, EEG, some muscle thingy etc to see if it is neuro based but something we've missed.

So I would fully recommend a neuro referral. Ours is certainly thorough and doesn't want to just say tics until he can be absolutely sure of it.

Hope things improve soon.