Humming/Singing/Whistling (Tourettes, AS, something else?)

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I've noticed lately (well, I don't notice until my wife points it out to me) that when relaxing at home I'll randomly subconsciously break out into song, or whistling, or humming. Like, I'll just be sitting there, watching baseball on television, surfing the internet, and my wife will nudge me "Hon, you're whistling again". When my attention is called to it, I realize what I'm doing and stop. I also remember doing the same thing when I lived with my parents and brothers when I was 18.

I'm 27, and I have Tourettes, with one vocal tic and (at least) five facial tics, (though my symptoms are usually not too severe (only three or four other people in the world know I have Tourettes (including my wife), so I must be doing a good job of hiding it); every few years I'll have a really bad flare-up (like last summer, when I was ticcing REALLY badly).

I also seem to fit the symptoms for AS, but more on the mild side of things.

I'm guessing it's related to Tourettes, but has anybody else dealt with this?

It's not really something to deal with in my opinion. I'll often start singing without realizing I'm doing it. Unless you were to do it in a public library or during a movie AT A MOVIE THEATER or something I don't consider it a problem.

My best friend has Tourettes and she never breaks into song, hum, or anything like that. I do it when I'm talking to my children. Instead of talking, I sing to them. I have BPD w/ sensory issues. You might want to ask your doctor if it's something you are concerned about. I embarrass my kids sometimes but it's not a serious issue.

My mother does a lot of humming/singing from time to time. I noticed it is related to anxiety/frustration. When we still lived at home, it was a good sign to stay away from her. At some point she would take out her frustration on the nearest person

I have AS and sometimes I sing or hum to myself. Sometimes I'll do it without realizing I'm doing it, until someone tells me to stop lol. I think it's a way of stimming, but sometimes I do it intentionally to calm myself down.

I think it is related to impulse control and thought control. Us ticcers have a hard time keeping thoughts inside our head quite often. In your case, you've got a song in your head and it impulsively comes out! I do that as well but I know it's different to the autistic humming and whistling I do because I do the latter on purpose to cause a soothing effect. It's probably more noticeable in you if you have milder end Tourettes. I have moderate-severe depending on the day so no one really notices a few little songs, whistles and hums coming out!

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I have HFA, ADHD, OCD & Tourette syndrome. I love animals, especially my bunnies and hamster. I skate in a roller derby team (but I'll try not to bite )

I have recently started to randomly whistle a lot because I found I can make a weird whistle sound and I like the way it sounds and its become a habit.

I whistle a lot too. To me, it seems it could be impulse control issues or related to anxiety.

To get an idea what causes it, it helps paying attention to when it occurs.

You wrote it happens when you relax and mentioned you've been found to do it when watching TV or surfing the internet. Just from that bit, I'd think it could be related to self-stimulating behaviours.

I have stereotypes/stimulating stuff like humming and singsong that fit in with autism naturally, but it would be way too simple to claim the autism causes them. Lots of things also play a role in how they show and when they show.

Self-stimulating behaviours are normal and common in "healthy" people, albeit then often in more socially appropriate forms and thus can be harder to notice unless you know what to look for. Or unless they're really annoying like clicking a pen, tapping the table, bouncing one's legs or pulling, combing or twirling hair can be.

I break into song regularly, many times a day, and I don't have tourettes.