Fireworks trigger for blinking?

[rossina]

Hi there-

Just wanted to take a quick informal poll... Did anyone else experience their child blinking intensely at the sight of fireworks last night?

My son, age 7 has been doing great, though we stay away from tv & videos altogether anymore, as he will start blinking right away.. he can play webkinz on the computer & seems fine. But, last night we went to fireworks and he immediately started in. It is just so interesting to me & I am curious if the "flashing lights" were a trigger for anyone else's child? Also, any thoughts on what this means? Any likelihood this means it is more TS than a tic disorder???

Thanks,

Jeanne

[lurker]

Jeanne,

 

Look at a thread called "dilated pupils and tics." (I don't know how to link it !)

[Chemar]

fireworks are a trigger for my son too, both the visual and the sounds. when younger he got an OCD linked tic of banging his ears after the noise of the fireworks at disney and yes they have always triggered blinking nd vocal tics too for him. we dont attend fireworks shows cos of it.

[CSP]

Son did not see firework this year, He wanted to see a baseball game, so chose that. But I was wondering if anyone thought being farther away would be ok. Not so bright and sound would be less? Maybe in a car down the street.

 

CP

[P_Mom]

Didn't even consider a fireworks show...quite certain we would have seen a ticcing episode.

[Claire]

Absolutely for a child with photosensitivity as a tic trigger, the flashing of fireworks - especially the contrast of the dark night sky with the serial flashes can be a tic trigger.

 

Excitement, and that can be a factor anytime for some, but the photosentivity/flash trigger is very real for a group of kids and I would never assume it was just the excitement. Easiest to tell if they were waning with tics prior to the event.

 

If in doubt, stay away from screens for a week then have them watch Star Wars Episode 2 with the laser fighting in the night on a large screen from a semi-near distance (even non-CRT flicker kind) in a dark room.

 

I just think of the 'perfect storm' for 1990's kids and my own son back then: mercury/thimerisol in vaccines (a major contributor to photosensitivity) combined with the screen size increase of TV CRT screens and the up close and newly prevalent use of computers and video games in the homes.

 

Now, I thank God that LCD/HDTV/Plasma technology have mostly replaced CRT screens. And most childhood vaccines (still watch some of those flu shots and some TB) are without thimerisol. I think at least one group of tic tendencies will be greatly reduced in the next decade as a result.

 

Claire

[lurker]

Claire,

 

You should apply for a patent for that test .

 

Tami

[kim]

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-fi...0,4886525.story

 

Along with beauty, fireworks create a beastly mix of pollutants

Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times

Disneyland developed aerial launchers that replaced black powder with compressed air in 2004.

Traces of metals, fuels and other toxics can stay in the air and water for days, even months. Scientists are creating cleaner versions, but they're still not widely used.

 

 

Ironically, green-colored fireworks are the least "green" because the metal that produces the color, barium, is highly poisonous.

 

Scientists in India found that airborne barium increased by a factor of 1,000 after a huge fireworks display there. Strontium, which creates red, and copper, which forms a blue hue, can also be toxic.

 

"The use of heavy metals like barium or strontium should be reduced or, if possible, avoided," said Karina Tarantik, a chemist at the University of Munich in Germany whose lab is working on cleaner pyrotechnics.

[Chemar]

here in Florida with the 100% humidity, 4th July results in a thick smog that lingers for hours The thought of that toxic stuff settling in the water and plants and never mind the critters is bad enough but what of those sitting out at these displays. I wonder how many people get sick after the shows and dont realize what it is from.