LAF - thanks so much for sharing so much detail. There's a million oddities to my lovely DS: he's never fit any mold. Trying to figure out what's just the quirks that make him unique as opposed to possible warning signs we ought to be paying attention to, is proving far more challenging than I might ever have imagined. Learning from your experience is very helpful.
cammon, I hadn't heard that providing an alternative stress outlet can help redirect the ticcing urge - it certainly sounds worth a try! Has anyone else managed to do this? We too went through coughing to eye blinking this fall, and then moved on rather quickly to neck stretching and then mouth stretching - a poster child from the Tourette's site typical tic progression, it would seem. So far I have been turning a blind eye; from what I have found so far, a 10-year old seems to be borderline as to whether calling their attention to when they tic is helpful or harmful.
P.S. Tigerle, I sort of ducked your question as I don't really know quite what I do.... it changes all the time. I'm a self-employed consultant, and work with all sort of different groups of research funders and health organizations. So some days I'm learning everything I can about what matters in fixing palliative care, others it's brain research or kidney disease. A constant vertical learning curve! I think a lot of what I do is help people with great focus and depth try to see the bigger picture, and where they can make connections to better make change "out there". Hmmm - could I sound more nebulous? Now you know why I ducked.
