Autism and Tics?

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Hello. Sorry if this isn't the appropriate place for this topic. I'm new here, and was unsure.

Basically, I'm 16, diagnosed ASD, and I've always done this heavy blinking eye movement thing. Now, however, it's turned into my eyes closing and my head moving semi-aggressively to the left every about 15 seconds, although the time in between varies based on how tired/stressed I am.

I'm a little confused. I'm not sure if it's a repetitive motor movement or a tic and I don't understand why this would be sudden onset. I'm not sure if it's autism related or something else, but I was wondering if anyone on here has any ideas or similar experiences?
-Ezra
P.S. Sorry about the punctuation. I am tired today.

Hard to say. Could be a tourette thing. I have a chronic motor tic where I look look over my left shoulder, but it's not nearly that frequent.

You can experience tics as a result of ASD, or another comorbid tic disorder. What you describe seems like it could be caused by ASD rather than Tourette's or another tic disorder. Stress can really aggravate tics, so in general, the more stress you have, the more tics you will have. To determine if it is a tic or a repetitive motor mannerism, than you have to ask yourself if you have control over the behavior. There isn't really a good dividing line between tics and stims (repetitive motor movements), so it can be hard to find out which is which. Stims are usually repetitive movements that are done to calm an overstimulated (or understimulated) nervous system. They can be done subconsciously, so it can be hard to determine whether something is a tic or a stim just by observing whether you notice it or not. Here are a few ways to figure out if something is a tic or a stim:

Tics
-normally more jerky and out of the blue than stims
-can come in many forms, but some more common tics are head jerking, eye blinking, echolalia (repeating words or sounds), arm or leg movements, and facial grimacing
-are completely involuntary, although there may be an urge preceding the tic

Stims
-more rhythmic and repetitive than tics
-can also come in many forms, but some common ones are rocking, hand flapping, pacing, spinning objects or self, and humming/droning
-done to smooth an overstimulated nervous system, or gain input for an understimulated nervous system
-mostly voluntary, although they can be done subconsciously (without you realizing), and you may not be able to stop the stim depending on the situation

Hope this helps !

Don't take my post as professional advice !^^^^^^^

Yeah, tics generally don't cause any abnormal brain activity that shows up on EEG's or things like that. They have to do with the basal ganglia and the part of our brains that control motor movements, which is why they are related to autism and even more related to OCD.

It seems like Tourette's, because you said: "I've always done". I have Tourette's, and it's something that's with you, for life, pretty much----and, people's tics can change; like, I've had the clearing-my-throat thing, the sighing one, echolalia, jerking my head, my arm just all-of-a-sudden popping straight up in the air, etc. (right now I'm experiencing one where my knees lock, when I walk----VERY inconvenient LOL).

There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason----a person just does, say, sighing, for awhile, then they'll switch (through NO choice of their own) to a physical one, or another audible one, or a combination, and then go to another one.....

Just because you have a new tic, doesn't mean, IMO, that it's a "sudden onset", in the sense that you have a new disorder, if you know what I mean----it just means that Tourette's (IF that's what you have) has manifested, in a different way, now.

I've had numerous chronic tics for years, both of vocal/physical variety. I just say I have Tourettes, I probably shouldn't because of its associations.
I'm blinking and facial scrunching like every few seconds, which doesn't help my glasses, which fall off as a result. Blinking must have magical properties because every friend I have with at least one tic, one is always blinking. I also grunt frequently, quack, and twist my arms uncontrollably.

If it's something new and you haven't been told to expect it, you should talk to a doctor. ASD or no ASD, your body shouldn't be suddenly starting to completely involuntarily do something that extreme unless it's been doing it all the time.

Oh wait, I didn't see the part where you mentioned you have always had these. I don't know what it is like in regards to diagnosing Tourette's where you live, but normally there has to be signs in childhood where I live for it to be diagnosed. If I were ever diagnosed with a tic disorder, it would most likely not be Tourette's. That being said, Tourette's is often comorbid with autism/ADHD/OCD, so if you have one of these disorders you are more likely than people without them to have another disorder alongside ASD. Like Campin_Cat said, tics change over time, so it most likely isn't something you should worry about a lot.