Tics triggered by Reading

[Jan]

My son's facial tics and shrugs appear, thankfully, to be under control by watching his diet very carefully. However, I have noticed that when he's reading, he starts ticcing quite significantly - does anyone know why this might be? Consequently, he avoids reading like the plague because he doesn't want to be "blinky", as he calls it! I don't want this to become problematic at school etc.

 

Also, he is almost 8 now and still wets the bed pretty regularly. We've taken him to the doctor and made sure that this isn't a medical problem. We've tried a blanket alarm system and this did have some success, but it has started up again. I am considering trying the Feingold diet to see if I can isolate a particular dietary cause. Does anyone have any experience of this?

 

He has also suffered periodically from various rashes and has a particularly resistant one around his mouth at the moment - he looks quite washed out and run down too - I'm thinking that maybe his immune system needs a boost - he takes Echinacea already - but I've read about Golden Seal and Astralgus as good immune system boosters.

 

Sorry this is so long! I'm always so reassured when I visit this site - thank you so much to anyone that can help me.

[Chemar]

Hi Jan

 

here is a thread from BrainTalk that has some info re bedwetting that you may find useful

http://brain.hastypastry.net/forums/showth...ead.php?t=60294

 

As to reading...yes, my son also tics more when he reads, and finds that the full spectrum daylight lamps help a bit. He is an excellent reader so that isnt the problem but he says that focusing on word after word and then line after line sets off his tics.

 

He finds it much easier to read stuff on the computer than in a book and has a number of eBooks (he uses an LCD computer monitor)

 

Building up his immune system would be a very good idea for your son...golden seal and astragalus are excellent, as are antioxidants

Remember that echinacea tolerance can result from long term use so it is good to take it for short periods and then stop for a while.

[Helen]

Hi Jan,

 

My daughter had tics also last year when she read. She's almost 6 1/2 now. It was pretty bad at first and that made me worried because she's a good reader and she loves reading. It was hard for me to tell her not to read especially that was the time she supposed to learn to read more! That reading tic probably lasted for one or two months. Thank God, she can read without ticcing now. I think the tics from reading may come from different factors. With my daughter, I believe it's from trying to concentrate on pronouncing some difficult words; trying to read the whole paragraph with a lot of lines without skipping a line in between (I noticed she'd point to every word in order to make sure she can read the right line.) At that time, she had also developed a special tic from reading, i.e. she'd be holding the book in her hands and she'd constantly move her hands up and down; it looked like she's trying to keep the book open so it won't close by itself. When I noticed her ticcing from reading was getting worse, I monitored how many books she could read everyday (if not, she would read 10 books sometimes!) I also tried to make sure she had enough breaks in between after a book or two.

 

Helen

[Jan]

Thank you so much for your replies. I've looked at the bedwetting thread and might follow up on the B6 and zinc supplements to boost seratonin levels - does anyone have any experience of using these supplements?

 

Reading...when reading, my son puts his hand up to his face and he splays his fingers across his eyes while ticcing - he says the page looks a bit bright and that starts him "blinking". I have read something in Latitudes about Irlen Syndrome/Scotopic Sensitivity - does anybody know anything about this? Could it be a possibility? Despite this problem, he has an above average reading age - but getting him to read is really difficult - of course, he just might not like reading - his Dad didn't at his age!

 

Thank you.

[Claire]

Jan,

 

Irlen syndrome, a form of light sensitivity supposedly affected 10-25% of kids, depending on what you read.

 

http://www.irlen.com/

 

I have written on here a number of times on it, if you do a google search on the site, or look at my photosensitivity thread (my first thread here), you will find it. Too much to repeat.

 

I HIGHLY recommend it for the symptoms you just described--classic Irlen. SOOO easy. Pay $30, get the 10 colored overlays, try them on your son and see which color, if any makes it easier to read--without the GLARE, or blurry.

 

My son used to like the blue. I brought them to his school and most kids preferred a color, and some continued to use them in the classroom.

 

Forgot formal, expensive testing for the first step. Just get the overlays. If it makes a huge difference, I would only test at an Irlen center, we did someone 'trained' and it was a joke. Even our opthamologist knew about this, as did a TA at the school, who used them with kids all the time.

 

Claire

[Guest Jeff]

Hi Jan, You asked about Feingold. We have been on the program for several years and have found it to be very helpful with tics and some minor behavioral issues (corn syrup). I have heard of many families whose children stopped wetting the bed once they started on Feingold.

If you have any more questions, let me know. Their web site is feingold.org

Jeff

[Guest Guest]

Thanks!!

[Jan]

Sorry - last post was from me but I wasn't logged in properly! thanks again for your replies.

 

Jan