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DoriansMom
Tufted Titmouse
Tufted Titmouse

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Joined: 11 Apr 2011
Age: 49
Gender: Female
Posts: 41

17 Apr 2011, 10:30 am

Hi

We were told in the fall of last year that our son had possible Tourette's Syndrom. fast forward to this spring when we finaly got him into see the Tourette's specialist. The specialist suspected Asperger's right from the moment he spoke with Dorian and we are keeping an eye on the Tourette's.
I was wondering what is the difference between stimming and tics? How can one know if someone has Tourette's or they are just stimming because of their Asperger's. My son has many mild signs of Asperger's and has been diagnoised with it, but I am trying to make sense of everything. Could my son just have Tourette's and show signs of Asperger's, or could he just have Asperger's and show signs of Tourette's because of the stimming.
If any of this makes any sense please let me know what you think.

Some things he does
touches his face the same way, probably some sort of pattern(fingers always toughing the part of his skin between his nose and upper lips)
he has vocal ticks, like a "click, click" sound, not loud and only notciable a fwe times a day
When his stress level is very high he sniffels constatnly and it is usualy loud
In the past when his stress levels were high he would go pee up 50 times a day
He moves his legs a lot when he is in a sitting or laying position
He occassionaly flaps his hands, but this is rare
he likes to pull at his clothing, like pulling up his pants even though they are not falling
He taps his wrists to his forhead(probably some sort of pattern)

When he was first showing signs of major "tics" he would turn his head from side to side and sniffle. I aske dhim why he did that and he said he liked the noises and patterns it made.

What do you think? Tourette's? stimming? or both?

I guess I am still confussed about the Asperger's Diagnosis and since it is mild.



Frogger11758
Emu Egg
Emu Egg

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Joined: 20 Oct 2008
Age: 35
Gender: Male
Posts: 8

17 Apr 2011, 10:45 am

The reply that he liked the sound and patterns suggests to me that stimming is more likely the answer than tics. Unlike stims, tics are more compulsive; they are done due to relieve an urge rather than to calm or please the person performing them.
However, it is possible that some of his movements are tics and some are stims. 10% of the autistic population has Tourette Syndrome and an even greater percentage has tics but do not qualify for a full Tourette's diagnosis.

If the movements are not bothering him and not interfering with his life, I wouldn't stress it. If they are tics, he might grow out of them (75% of children with Tourette's do), and if they are stims, they are probably soothing him or simply enjoyable. If they are interfering with his life, the same medication (antipsychotics) might cause a reduction in either (although for some, in either case, the movements become more frequent or more impairing following medication).

If you want a bit more information on the distinction, I have written on this topic previously: Spectrum Siblings: tics vs. stims