tics or compulsions? people with tourettes, OCD please read

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my AS nephew is showing some odd traits of late ..

i don't know if these are tics or compulsions.

one behavior is he puts his hands in front of his face, waves one of them quickly as he drops it to his side. i know this could just be a stim but from description it sounds he does it the same way every time.

another is he will walk into a new room, stop, take a step backward, then go into the room, as if he must rewind and walk into the room again.

he's being sent to a specialist to investigate further but so far we are assuming these are possible traits of tourettes or OCD.

does this sound familiar to anyone?

also is it likely that either of these things (tourettes, OCD) could go unnoticed until age 12? i don't know if traits tend to show up in early childhood with these things or if there is a typical age of onset. my brother and i both have OCD-like and tourettes like traits so neither would entirely be a surprise.

First, everybody tics to some extent. You do it. It's so ubiquitous you don't even pay attention to it, and yours are probably so short-lived that you are never disturbed by them. Also, your tics usually have a context. For example, you might curl up your upper-lip when approached with a smell, taste or idea that you find to be distasteful.

Furthermore, everyone tics to a different extent. Some people are so impassive that they don't tic noticeably at all. Some of us are always twitching and fidgeting somehow unless we have something holding our immediate attention in a way that keeps us impassive. A goodly few of us who do not have Tourettes even suffer from some level of "copralalia," the compulsive cursing associated with Tourettes, especially under circumstances of frustration or stress. Finally, a handful of us have a neurological glitch that causes out-of-control, out-of-context tics that threaten to drive us barking raving mad, and this is the disorder known as Tourettes.

However, Tourette Syndrome also varies not only in severity but altogether in its etiology. Therefore, some people who could be diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome might not have a serious problem that might interfere with their way of life. This doesn't mean they don't have Tourettes, but it just means that the severity and manifestation of the disorder varies dramatically. Therefore, I would not put it past possibility that your nephew might have Tourettes Syndrome.

On the other hand, what your nephew is going through sounds a little bit more like the compulsive behavior associated with OCD. If your nephew does have OCD, this doesn't mean he doesn't have Tourette Syndrome. In fact, there are some forms of OCD that do have some degree of tics associated with the disorder. This is where it is up to your nephew's therapist whether it is more important to address the obsessive compulsive behavior or the possible Tourettes.

Finally, the best way to help your nephew is to help him find the best specialist that his parents can afford. You would want to ask for names and search for leaders in the field. It is the therapist's job, not yours, to make the diagnosis, but the patient does have the privilege of evaluating whether they feel they have been served well. If your nephew's parents feel that the therapist working for him simply does not care whether his diagnosis is valid, he should be fired. Your nephew's parents are the therapist's employer. Point this out until they tell you firmly to stop, so they understand that they have the right to have their child receive decent care.

I wish them the best.

Heh, I'd love to introduce you to my psychiatrist. He has been publishing some good research papers where he explores these kinds of gray areas. For my part, I wouldn't go to see a psychiatrist unless I have read some of his research material. If I haven't seen something that flowed from his pen describing the goings-on of his own profession, he can't treat me because there is no evidence that he knows what he is doing.

Anyway, there is even a form of Tourette Syndrome that has symptoms that appear to be similar to bipolar disorder, but what requires more sophisticated thought processes is coming to grips with something about it that confuses the kinds of people who need straight, concrete-sounding, "yes/no drill sergeant" type answers: this "bipolar disorder-resembling Tourette Syndrome" is not classical, lithium-treatable bipolar disorder at all! In fact, this particular form of Tourette Syndrome is exactly the kind of Tourette Syndrome that can be treated sometimes with, of all crazy things, nicotine! And, to make matters more confusing, there are forms of bipolar disorder that can be treated in the same manner, but it isn't clear that tics are always involved.

So I agree with you, it does seem to have a lot of gray area.

hi x im 13 almost 14 and i was only diagnosed with aspergers and tourettes two months ago ,i always had a few little habits but it wasnt until i was badly bullied and basically had a nervous breakdown that i lost all control of my tics and they became very noticable. im feeling better now and they have calmed down a lot and ive started to go out a bit again. the best thing to do is ignore the tics and habits ,when my mam used to tell me to stop (before she knew i had tourettes) it used to make me more self consious and id do it even more. and the other reply is correct too ,we all have habits just some are more noticable . hope this helps x