Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional Do any of your kids have "tics" intermittently?

Hi all, I am a bit concerned about my DS and his 'tics' and would like to hear your experiences, insight and advice. He seems to get 'tics' on and off. When is that Tourettes? Is it ever *not* Tourettes? If so, when? Could the tics be a symptom of other disorders? Do any of your children (particularly anxious 2e children) get them?

My kid seems to get "tics" on and off. Flicking fingers, shaking hands, right now he is making a slight noise (like a clicking) with the tongue at the back of the throat. Just when I start really getting worried, they go away... Also, each time he's been evaluated the psychs do not notice them or maybe they just happen not to be happening at the time of the eval or a little of both. I talked with his private OT place and hey HAVE noticed his tics and tell me that it is due to his bottleneck - his processing problems... They said they see it A LOT in the kids they work woth and that they do not feel it's tourettes but something along the lines of it gets overwhelming for him to not be able to get his knowledge out etc... and the tics are the manifestations and how he copes with that and not to worry. Also, they believe the tics have a sensory basis - it's a sensory behavior. That makes me feel better but as evidenced by my posting here about it I still go through periods where I get concerned it is something more.

I actually have an acquaintence whose child has tourettes. And, through her, I have been to some tourettes support group meetings, sort-of coincidently. By that I mean the meetings often have special speakers and workshops on things covering a wide range of special needs issues that are not just for tourettes - like "drafting ieps," "how a neuropscyh eval is different form a psych eval," "drafting trusts for care of kids special needs," etc. When I have gone to those meetings -there are often kids there that have tourettes (obviously) and I leave feeling like "okay I don't think my kid really has that" but he does have these tics on and off. I am not sure of the kids I have seen just have more severe torettes and that's why or if my kid really does have something different.

Anyway, at the last eval DS went through, I had met the neuropsych doing the eval previously at one of these meetings (the one about 'how a psych eval is different from a neuorpsych eval') and she asked at the end of DS's eval why I was "in attendance at a tourettes meeting? does DS have a tourettes dx or one of my other children" I told her it was merely b/c I have a firend in the group and she invites me to meetings that she thinks would be helpful for me. The psych said "oh okay I was so curious b/c it doesn't seem to me like your DS has tourettes and I was confused as to why you'd be at a tourettes support group mtg." I never mentioned my concern to her (I happened to be going through a phase where I wasn't very concerned about it at that time) and I could only surmise that she didn't see DS's hand-shaking (his thing that he was doing at the time) as indicative of tourettes.

My nephew (DN?) has a few tics and was seen by a neurologist last year who said that he doesn't have tourettes so it is possible to have tics but not tourettes. In DN's case none of his tics are vocal which was part of the reason he doesn't fit a tourettes diagnosis. The neurologist said that there are so many kids that have tics that they are now starting to think it is more normal to have them than to not. Now I'm not saying to ignore your gut instinct or to not investigate further but maybe that will help ease the stress while you search for answers. Good luck!

Yes, my DD had a throat-clearing tic for a while and then a funny thing she did with her eyes. Both are now gone. I spoke to her ped about it and she said it's fairly common in the 6-9 age range and didn't feel it was of concern. The tics were not extremely bad or really noticeable unless you were a parent, I think. I have since noticed other kids her age with tic-ish behavior.

I think the throat-clearing one had to do with allergies and then got out of control. She is now on meds for that. Also, she is a sensory-sensitive kid.

My ds11 has had tics on and off since kindergarten. Coincidentally, he didn't have them until after his first bout with Strep. (There's a theory that having Strep may cause tics. I think the theory is from New Zealand and has a name, but I can't remember it right now.)

He has them whenever he's excited (happy or nervous) and when he focuses on a symptom of his allergies. I used to tell his teachers. I haven't this year. It has never affected him socially and his teachers have told me that it's quite common with boys. If I draw attention to the tics, they seem to get worse. Sometimes I've advised him to find a different, more discrete, habit if he can, and sometimes that works.

I've been terrified to go down the road of seeing if it's Tourettes. They do subside or disappear altogether then come back again with allergies or stress.

I think PANDAS is what you're thinking of -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PANDAS

That's it. Thank you.

The wiki page on PANDAS is dangerously misinformative. Please see pandasnetwork.org for more up to date information.

Do you have personal experience with it?

Oh thank you all. I'm glad I asked, I feel better about it now. The occasional tic does not seem to be causing any trouble right now at all ... and these responses reassure me it can be just a developmental/transient thing. I guess I'll just wait it out... if it gets troublesome, disruptive, etc. then I can explore more. Thanks all.