"Grunting" tic??

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My son keeps making this noise, it sounds like he's grunting, or clearing his throat. I ask him if he's okay, and he says yes. I ask him about the noise, and he says he's fine but his throat is "a little clogged." But he doesn't have the sniffles or any other signs of illness, and he's done this before. He makes the sound over and over, like once every couple of seconds. If his throat really was "clogged" it would've driven him insane by now, or he'd have asked for medicine or complained of being sick. He hasn't. He doesn't mention it unless I do.

I remember a therapist asking me about that sound 2-3 years ago - she thought it was a "tic" or something, maybe. At the time, I thought she was crazy. Now I'm not so sure. He sounds like he's wrestling with someone down the hall, with that grunting noise. He's not upset, he's happily playing Xbox and said he had a "great" day at school. I've had no behavioral issues with him today.

What the??? Anyone else know of this sort of thing? Do Aspies have "tics"? He really doesn't seem distressed in an way... ??

Is he on any medications?

i have a student who does this....not really sure what it's all about though...........he also talks in a cartoon voice instead of his own natural voice.

Yes, Concerta and Tenex.

Does he do it constantly, every day, or does it come and go? Is it just when he's stressed, or particularly happy? Just looking for some pattern here....

My sons weren't on any medication. Yet, I had two sons that did this--one each night before bed and the other--any time, place etc. It's starting to taper off. The less attention you pay to it, the less he'll do it. It sounds like a tic. They come and go. It's pretty gross sounding. My eldest should have been on something as he couldn't sleep at night! He started self-medicating with tylenol pm.

I wouldn't blame it on the medication. My son has never been on any meds and he gets many of the symptoms that parents blame on meds. I guess it is hard for a parent to tell. That would drive me batty! At least I know what is--is.

Now that I've explained to him what a "throat tickle" is, he says yeah, maybe that's what it is.

So maybe it is a tic or some kind of sensory issue. I've decided to record him while he does it.

This sounds exactly like what my 7 year old Aspie son did last year. The constant throat clearing/grunting noise.

It went on for a few months and would get worse when he was stressed.

It drive us absolutely crazy! It also drove our 9 year old Aspie son crazy and he would end up punching and kicking our 7 year old to make him stop.

Fortunately, he stopped doing it after a few months.

I think it's called a vocal tic (don't quote me on it though).

Helen

His father just said, "Maybe it's just allergies."

I can't possibly see that allergies could cause him to grunt like this up to twice a second, for an hour.

But I will try to pay more attention to when our son does this, what time of day, season, weather, and if he's stressed or relaxed or what.

I have a friend who has a throat-clearing verbal tic (I've known him since he was 14 and I think he's had it for most or all of that time); he has AS traits but I wouldn't presume to guess. I also heard about another boy (aged 11) who had the same issue when stressed.
So I guess what I'm saying is that such a tic definitely exists. It's up to you and the doctors to decide if that's what this is.

My son 6 year old used to do this too. I took him to the doctor who suggested that each time he cleared his throat, to give him a glass of water because his throat was getting irritated. I'm not sure if that worked or not because my son stopped doing it after awhile. Instead his latest thing is to tear his fingernails off . This has causes infections and I'm not sure how to stop it.

Temma

"But I will try to pay more attention to when our son does this, what time of day, season, weather, and if he's stressed or relaxed or what."

I would relax. Also, why are you going to tape him doing this? I think you need to redirect your attention somewhere else. Most posters have told you it sounds like a tic--common even in NT kids. Let him know it's irritating you in a kind way and then each time he does it tell him he needs to sip some water. This will, at the very least, redirect his attention. You might also tell him that he could make his throat sore by doing that constantly.

How would you explain taping him? Would you do it behind his back? Sounds a bit odd.

I'm going to add that becausee he's on three different meds, his tic could be more severe (if he's doing it every couple seconds) and maybe the meds are making him anxious--you might want to work on decreasing one or two of these. Three meds every day is quite a bit for a youngster. Why is he take so many medications? I bet you're giong to tell me it's because of his anxiety--therin lies the irony.

equinn

Allergies?
My daughter does this and it's caused by allergies.

It's not loud, but constant. When I notice it (she won't tell me when she's doing it), she gets an allergy pill.

I'm going to try to be mindful in my response here because I feel like I just got rather unfairly jumped on.

Firstly, our son is on two medications, not three. He is definitely not "overmedicated."

If I ignore things or miss his behaviors, I'm not concerned enough or paying enough attention. If I pay attention (because I find it interesting and want to help if I can), I'm being "overly anxious" and probably infecting him with my issues as an insufferable helicopter parent.

I was just CURIOUS about it, not upset about it. Just because a handful of people here tell me "Yeah it's probably a tic" doesn't mean it absolutely IS a tic (my husband still isn't convinced, for instance).

Now for the tape recording:

-WHY was I going to try it? Because so often we have no documentation for our son's behaviors other than our own experience. I'm often told it's good to document if you can, and right now we're in the process of gathering as much info on him as we can for his next school district. Also it's good to know what he's doing to explain it to friends and relatives when they ask.

-HOW was I going to do this without him noticing? That's easy - just turn the tape recorder on in the same room with him when he's playing video games and grunting. He didn't notice. Half an hour later I turned the recorder off and removed it. I didn't mention the tic to him again, because several other people suggested I just leave him be and not make him more anxious. Was that "wrong", too? I mean it's a little annoying but I don't really mind him doing it if it makes him feel better.

Again, I don't know how you got the idea he's on so many medications. He takes Concerta and Tenex. He's never had any troubles with his meds, and we haven't switched them around.

I just wanted to say, J my 9 year old does this and has done so now for years, it has been much worse in recent times.

I actually took him to the gp and then to a specialist to "make sure" there was nothing else going on.

For J this is just part and parcel of who he is at the moment, and thats fine. We try not to comment on it because it does make it worse.

You need to do what you you need to do, each child is different.
I am also of the belief it's better to be safe than sorry.

My son has recently started making a grunting sound. It started when we played tether ball one time. He would make a grunt every time he hit the ball. He started making the same sound (a little quieter) frequently throughout the day. It annoys me a great deal if he's doing it. It's all I hear.

I started wondering if he had Tourette's. But, he can stop it. I'm considering it a stim. If I distract him enough, he stops doing it. He seems to be doing it when he's happily thinking about something. I'm hoping it's a phase.