keep wondering if they are tics or stims

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I've posted about this before. My son will so some facial expressions that are very unusual. He raises his eyebrows and tightens up the muscles in his neck so that it pulls back the corners of his mouth. Sometimes, he'll do an odd thing where he breathes out of his nose really hard and taps his chest...when he does that, i always think he's having trouble breathing, but he says he can breathe just fine.

I've been going around and around on this thing, trying to figure out if he has tics or if they are stims. If I ask him, he says he can control it and he enjoys them. When he says that, I figure they are stims and it doesn't bother me. But, sometimes I look at him and his face is contorting in odd ways and in my mind I'm thinking, "he's got tics/tourettes."

I guess, my question is this....if it is tourette's, it would be quite mild. So, I'm guessing it wouldn't have to be treated??? and, I shouldn't worry about it?

Well, if you were talking about me, this would be the explaination:
Odd expressions: I generally have a whole nother world going on in my head. Stories, memories, whatever. Until I learned to not show them, all the "appropriate" expressions would go accross my face.
The hard nose breathing:
I still do this when I catch an interesting scent, it may be a primitive thing. I know a lot of the things I'm smelling, other people don't even notice, or don't pay any attention to if they do.
The chest tapping, I have no idea, I don't do this one.

Sometimes it is difficult even for the person doing it to know if it is a tic or a stim. I move my head in a strange pattern at random intervals throughout the day. I can't really control it, and it comes out more when I am stressed, but there are times when I can supress it. Is it a tic or a stim? I have no idea.

He doesn't have tourette's unless there is some sort of verbal tic as well. Otherwise it's just a tic disorder.

I was placed on an anti-epileptic to control my tics. The side effects were far worse than the ticcing and the doctor agreed that it would be better to deal with the ticcing than use the medicine to control them. But I think that differs from person to person.

Unless it seems to be interfering with his quality of living, I would suggest not fretting over it.

I've gotten the monotonous tone down pat. Although I have always heard that many other AS have issues with being too loud. I have the opposite issue with usually being not loud enough. So bad to the point that people used to think I was mumbling.

As far as tics and stims: I have the worst habit of constantly picking at my thumbs with my pointing finger. Sometimes I've picked till I bleed. I also enjoy making variations on my speech tones just for fun. I like to always have my foot tapping as well. Sometimes I like to make faces for no reason. However, not sure about the chest-tapping deal, but to each their own.

As far as the nose thing, I have a belief that some (can't speak for all) AS tend to have better sense of smell than NT's in general. I tend to notice scents quicker and they appear stronger to me than for others. I believe that's true for most of AS's senses: Sight, Hearing, Taste, Smell Touch.

Comments?

Tics tend to be more erratic and less symmetrical than stereotyped movements (stims). Another good indication is that if you point out to someone that they're stimming, they'll usually stop when they notice it. It can start unconsciously but is under conscious control once noticed. A tic, however, is always involuntarily and can't be easily stopped.

He told you what they were when he said that "he enjoys them." He enjoys them because it relaxes him. That's a stem.

You make a good point. The nose thing might be related to smell. He does it frequently when we go to the grocery store or the mall. One time, he did say there was a smell he didn't like...but, I couldn't smell anything at all.

Thanks !

I'm an NT, but was placed on 2 different types of medicine or epilepsy when I was a teenager and took them for about 10+ years until I decided it just wasn't worth it anymore. They were Tegretol and Neurontin. Both made me extremely tired and my grades in high school suffered greatly. I went from straight A's (challenge class in 5-th thru 8th grade) to struggling to stay awake and barely managing a C average. They affect people differently, though.