Over the last few years Autism Boy has struggled with tics. They can be small, just a flinch or wink to full body, painful muscle contracting tics. We have seen countless doctors and probably paid for a few nice cars for them. Autism Boy’s tics come and go. I thought there was no rhyme or reason, but when he was about 8, we have started putting the pieces together.
Usually, if Autism Boy is getting stressed they start. They start small, but if the stress is not addressed they quickly progress. They also present when illness is on the way. These tics are different and less controllable. So why tell you this. Well, each kid is different and the “ignore it” answer from the doctors didn’t work for me. No, I’m not going to ignore something painful that we can work on. Instead of ignoring it, the second a tic appears, I pull Autism Boy aside and we talk. We identify a possible “why”. What are his concerns? What is he worried about? Autism Boy doesn’t offer information about his feelings freely. In fact, he generally doesn’t think about it till it is too late. If we can address his feelings, we can generally help to make the tics go away. It’s not perfect. But it works for us now.
I feel awful that Autism Boy had to put up with all the doctors who never had an answer but we figured it out. I feel sick thinking of all the times I didn’t know what to do or what question to ask. But, I didn’t give up. Don’t give up on your kiddo. From one Heavily Caffeinated Mommy to another, you can do this!
