New to ACN and seeking advice

[san70]

I am new to the forum. My 7 year old son has had tics for a year now. His tics started with his neck and now include others like eye rolling and blinking, stretching his fingers and arms and making a sucking noise with his teeth. I think that one possible trigger is tv since when he watches he tics a lot. Also, when we are in the car, he tics. This leads me to attribute this to photosensitivity. Another time that he tics a lot is when we are reading aloud together. When he lays in bed at night, he also tics. I am not sure what that trigger is. The detergent that I use is a fragrance free one. I have also begun to eliminate the artificial dyes in foods. Any ideas or advice?

[lurker]

Welcome San70,

 

My kid is photosensitive too. Search Claire's posts. She is the resident expert on light sensitivity. In the meantime, try getting him to wear sunglasses in the car.

 

I noticed that all the activities you described require his little body to quiet down to inactivity (sofa/carseat/chair/bed). If he is a hyperkinetic little guy, he might be ticcing off energy when he is required to stop moving. There's some doctor (phd) who actually thinks tics are productive in hyper kids because it allows them to remain seated and learn instead of getting up and running around -- a compensatory skill.

 

I'm not suggesting he's hyperactive in the clinical sense, just the normal 7-year-old boy way.

 

My son is five. He is not hyperactive, but when he has a tic, I see it at that "downshifting" time -- in our case it is bedtime story time. Six months ago, I would have sworn it was the sound of my voice that set him off, but in retrospect I'm sure it was the transition from chasing his sister around the dining room table and trying to snap her with a wet towel to "sit and listen." He would always tic for the first three minutes of the book.

 

Tami