And other repetitive behaviours such as shoulder shrugging, blinking, throat clearing, rocking etc?

I would love to talk to you
[Edited 2/8/09 18:24pm]

Yes!

You want to talk in public or private?

Both my kids rock back and forth. They have since they were babies. At first it freaked me out, but since I have run into people who have kids that do the same things.

hokie said:

I am happy to talk publically if you don't mind.

orgnote

OK...what do you want to know?

I remember when people/family members would take notice of this they were sort of curiously weirded out. I did ask my pediatrician about it and he said that kids do that to comfort themselves. He also said that as long as they weren't hurting themselves that it was OK. He explained it as being like thumb sucking. Me being the worrying freak that I am started to furiously search the internet for info and then I found out that these behaviors can sometimes be assoc. with autism. So, that worried me even more. The doc told me as long as they reached their milestones and were progressing normally then I had nothing to worry about. The older one hardly does it anymore. Noah never did it as much as Conner. He rarely does it.

My son rocked as a baby, once he could sit in a high chair, he rocked that thing back and forth whilst eating. As soon as he could stand, he rocked his weight from one foot to the other when anxious and excited.

This past year, he has started shrugging his right shoulder up when excited, and when VERY excited (such as when winning at a game) he touches one wrist with the other hand before selecting a card, throwing a dice etc.

His teacher brought this up at a parent teacher interview.

During the school year he collided with another child in the schoolyard and since then has been blinking and winking and squinting.

On top of all those repetitive behaviours, he is now clearing his throat usually more than 10 times in a minute, during his waking hours. This causes him distress when trying to sleep, and is very worrying for us

We have seen a doctor twice, have a referral to a pediatrician and will be seeing the school psychologist when school starts again.

hokie said:

When I searched on the internet, the list of tics my child displays are typical of childhood tics, which are sometimes carried through into adulthood, but usually go away. Depending on severity, frequency and involuntariness of tics, it might be diagnosed as tourettes, which I'm not sure if it even can be treated (the drugs prescribed that might be prescribed to control the tics usually bring on whole new problems, ugh)

Since the throat clearing seems to be your biggest concern I did some searching,and found this article. It suggests that children that clear there throat alot might be showing signs of Asthema.

http://preventdisease.com...thma.shtml
[Edited 1/13/09 19:01pm]

ZombieKitten said:

I'm sorry you're going through it. It is so horrible to sit around and worry about your child. I can understand the stress.

If you aren't satisfied with the doc's answer then i'd seek a second opinion. I think being proactive is better than being reactive. We tend to put a lot of faith in our docs. but they don't know everything and aren't superhuman. I'm not saying that he's wrong, just saying that if it would ease your mind some then get a second opinion. Can't hurt can it?

hokie said:

have seen 2 different doctors already, and are awaiting the appointment with pediatrician

EmeraldSkies said:

it's the most obvious and disruptive tic

the doc checked his lungs and throat today and all is normal and clear

The Pediatrician hopefully will be a source of understanding of what the problem may be. Just make sure you give him as much info as U can such as when it started. When it escalated etc. I hope it's nothing serious!
I had a minor tic between the ages of 7 & 12. It just went away!

Amaxx said:

what was yours?

ZombieKitten said:

Try giving him Butter Menthols or some other mild kind of throat lozeng & see if it stops him from doing it while He's got it in his mouth!

ZombieKitten said:

A nose twitch thingy! Maybe it came from watching way too much Bewitched!

I guess I also had what is considered a tic when I was younger.

EmeraldSkies said:

spill!

ZombieKitten said:

I don't know what age it started,but I remember that when I would get excited/happy,I would "flutter". That's what my Mom called it. I don't do it now,and haven't for a very long time. I hadn't even thought of it really until I read this..

Stereotypies are repetitive, stereotyped, purposeless movements that may be made by normal children when they are bored, excited, or engrossed in an activity. Stereotypies are often associated with attention deficit disorder (ADD), developmental delay, or autism. They may consist of hand flapping, clapping, slapping, fluttering, rocking, or facial movements. These children are not necessarily aware that they are making the movements. In some cases, these movements can be voluntarily suppressed.

I find it intersting that they say that Stereotypies are often associated with ADD,because I have never had a problem with attention,but both of my nephews have ADD.
[Edited 1/13/09 19:27pm]

EmeraldSkies said:

I still don't know what fluttering is

"Examples of early tics are things like blinking and throat clearing, while arm flapping is a more common stereotypy."

I never heard that word before!

ZombieKitten said:

Basically I would leave my arms at my side,and flap my hands. I don't know,maybe I thought could fly.

My oldest has a tendency to develop "tics".

At first he started these "grunting" sounds...almost like he was clearing his throat but grunt-like. It started out-of-the-blue and he was doing it to get attention. I think it was a way for him to deal with the "oldest-child" syndrome (where the younger siblings take away all of mom & dad's attention), so we kept telling him to stop, and he did. Then he started blinking. A rapid succession of blinks every now & then, over & over again. We chided him constantly until he stopped. Then one time he developed a coughing tic, and like before, we just stopped him from doing it.

It's been a while since he's had a nervous tic. But in our case, I am convinced that he did it willingly and for attention.

Not a nervous tic but my son suffers from anxiety (which seems to run rampant in my family). He'll compulsively rub his nose like it's running to the point that it gets all red and raw. He's been a lot better lately - it peaked when things in his life changed (starting daycare, not seeing his father anymore). The other problem is that he's physically bigger and more advanced communication wise than kids his age so he's treated like he's older...but he's still just a little boy and I think that frustrates him.

It really, really bothers me that a 3 year old can have anxiety. He's highly intelligent which is great but he's also an over thinker and therefore a worrier.

My older brother's son started to roll his eyes (like you do when someone is annoying you) when he was about 6 or 7. I knew there was more to it and kept telling my mom to talk to my brother about it. He was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome last year.

PurpleJedi said:

our doc and various things I've read, said that pointing the tics out to the child can make the situation worse - my kid CAN'T stop his tics, even if he tries really hard being self-conscious and nervous about the tics perpetuates the problem.

ZombieKitten said:

It totally makes it worse.

JustErin said:

I've got 3 very different personalities in my kids, my eldest also an anxious worrier. He is very much like me. I don't worry so much about that so much, since think most people like him (and me) still manage just fine. It's a personality type I guess. The difference will be in coping strategies and appropriate expressions for those feelings of anxiety and worry.

zombie... my nephew blinks. he does it when stressed or tired. he seems to go through spells of it and my sister tries to get him to bed earlier or asks him if there is anything going on at school.


He's 8 now, i guess he's done it for a year or two. (He's the middle quiet child) They've discussed the possible tourettes thing but for Ben it's not disruptive enough to medicate. (way more boys have tourettes than girls) I think he does the throat clearing thing too now that you mention it


oh and erin... I get an itchy nose sometimes. There was a spell where i would wake up in the night and want to cut the damn thing off it would itch so bad. I have noticed a correlation to stress when it happens during the day though. I use an anti-itch creme and i get relief.....

.
[Edited 1/13/09 20:00pm]

emm said:

good advice
he shares a room - I'm thinking of separating them, he worries that his throat clearing keeps his brother awake, which in turn causes him to lie awake longer he really does need more sleep
at school, from all reports, including his own, he's happy with a great sense of humour, some really good mates, way ahead academically

emm said:

So it actually felt itchy?