Stims vs. Tics

[jstone]

Our son was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder over 2 years ago. We suspect and should have diagnostic confirmation soon, that our son is PANDAS because he has OCD behavior that seems to 'flare up'. He also has what we call 'stims', which seems to be a terms used more in the Autism world. For my clarification - Are stims (stimulory response to certain sensory triggers) the same as tics?

[Chemar]

hi

 

it depends on the type of tic ie the root cause of the tics

....tics from TS are believed caused by malfunctioning in the basal ganglia/dopamine receptors. Tics caused by other issues have different neurological mechanisms at work

 

my TS son has sensory integration dysfunction and reacts to certain sensory stimuli....but not necessarily by increased tics

[jstone]

Thank you Cheri.

It is amazing how similar certain components of Autism are to TS and the other tic/OCD conditions I read about on ACN.

Like TS and the other conditions, Autism is really only the name of the presenting symptoms that have an underlying physiological cause. Our son also has sensory integration issues and has sensory integarative therapy for that reason, which has helped alot. The therapy, in our opinion, hasn't helped near as much as the intervention we have pursued to treat the physiogical issues, but still, we combine them for what we hope is a more integrative approach. His stims, or what I may need to start calling tics, are almost always triggered by a series of specific stimuli. Someone please tell me if I am wrong to be calling stims, tics.

Edited June 14, 2010 by jstone

[Chemar]

Hi John

I personally do think it a misnomer to call stims tics....I would think some stims may be tics but not all stims are tics nor are all tics stims...at least the way I understand it

 

for someone with TS, they often experience an almost mysterious waxing and waning of tics, and where one can frequently find triggers for waxing tics...many times there is just no clearly defined trigger or stimulating factor

 

I know some classify TS as being on the autism spectrum and yes, there are areas of overlap, but true TS is a genetic condition related to a malfunction of the dopaminergic system, so usually TS people are triggered by anything that elevates dopamine

 

we have a poster on the separate PANDAS forum here, peglem, whose daughter has Autism and PANDAS and so she may be able to give some insight there.

[jstone]

Thank you Cheri.

What you are saying about Tics vs. Stims does make sense. I think I generalized in my conclusion and that wasn’t accurate on my part. You confirmed something I did not know, which is that true TS is a genetic condition. From reading Shiela’s Natural Treatments book, I was convinced that it was a combination of probable underlying genetic conditions with environmental triggers. I will follow up with peglem. It does seems like some of my son's stims are not tied to a specific trigger.

[Chemar]

You confirmed something I did not know, which is that true TS is a genetic condition. From reading Shiela's Natural Treatments book, I was convinced that it was a combination of probable underlying genetic conditions with environmental triggers.

 

oh absolutely! when I say "true" TS is genetic, I dont exclude environmental and other triggers as also being *very* causative in the manifestation of TS symptoms

 

people who have TS likely inherited the genes that make them more susceptible to those triggers....

 

I know there is a belief that perhaps the switch on of the TS is most often seen in boys in the pre or pubertal years because of the dopaminergic effect of the androgenic steroid hormones. But many kids manifest earlier than that , (and a very very few after 18yo) so that, plus the clear evidence in our TS kids, shows there are many factors that work togetherwith that genetic predisposition to manifest the TS symptoms