My brother recently came to live with us. He’s 14 and has numerous ticks that annoy my father and my step-mother overlooks. Since he was around two he has open and closed his fists when excited. He looks towards the ceiling and sometimes mutters repetative phrases to himself. He’ll say “that so sexy” about things that just aren’t. Ex. I’m a teacher he attends my school, I say “I’m drowning in paperwork.” He replies, “that’s so sexy.” It’s just odd to me. I teach middle schoolers, so I understand that age group pretty well. Also, he still plays with toys and is a huge packrat/hoarder. He’s a really nice kid, does pretty well in school, but is unlike other kids his age. Also, he’s never had any close friends. I keep thinking something along the lines of tourette’s, but that doesn’t seem quite right either. Let me know what you think.
That does sound like Tourette’s and maybe a bit of OCD. The tics and unsavory comments probably annoy him as much as they do the rest of the family. Ignoring the behavior is not quite as bad as endorsing it; but acknowleding or questioning the annoying habits might be a huge relief to him. Can you accompany him on a doctor visit?
I asked him about it a few months ago, and he seems to think it’s no big deal, and that dad’s just being a jerk when he tells him to stop. I’m of the opinion he should probably get checked out because one of his occasional vocal tics involves calling people/things fat. Eventually, that one will get him in trouble.
Perhaps OCD? (Not a mental health professional, blah blah, though I did get my degree in psych.) My sister exhibits behaviors like that, and has since childhood, where she adds certain phrases onto sentences whether they fit in context or not. She’s also mentioned having compulsions to count words in her sentences, with certain multiples being better than others.
Could have some autistic tendencies, could be something else, could be nothing at all but if he does have a neurological disorder no one is going to be able to diagnose it over a message board. Has he ever been examined for anything like autism or Asperger’s?
By the way, is it possible that “That’s so sexy” is just some kind of current teenage catchphrase? I’ve heard a lot of people going around saying “That’s hot” about anything and everything, often using it ironically or as a complete non-sequitur. Maybe this is a variation?
He’s never had any sort of neurological assessment. I think an elementary teacher suggested the possibilty of tourette’s, but my parent’s never took the suggestion seriously. He attended Sylvan Learning for a year, they never diagnosed any learning disabilities or abnormalities. As for the sexy thing, being the hip new phrase, I doubt it, he’s go several other repetative phrases that seem to come out of nowhere. Also, I teach at a 6-12 school, I hear all kinds of crazy stuff all the time. It takes a quite a bit to phase me.
On of my charges was diagnosed with Tourettes and OCD. A severe case- kid couldn’t exit the passenger door of a car. He was a big teenager and would scramble across the seat and steering wheel to get out before I could shut the door. No amount of conditioning changed that habit. And it was something his doctor was working on extensively- he lived with me for two months and was never able to conquer that one.
He uttered vulgarities when girls his age walked by him. Consequently he was frequently bruised- but continued to make up new and disgusting phrases to share with his female schoolmates. He also yelled obscenities at the bank and restaurant drive-thrus. You haven’t lived until your passenger screams “I want crotch cheese on my taco” at the drive-thru.
Each time he stood up from a chair, he did a strange little shuffling dance and said something quietly to himself before he walked away. Never knew what he was chanting.
He had odd eating habits and would reject foods based on color. Touched others’ elbows and wrists as often as possible.
In spite of his frustrating habits he was an awesome kid. Smart, funny, very very sweet. Performed well in school. Read a lot of science fiction. Was good at conversation and small talk. Washed dishes, brushed the dog and swept the floor without being asked. I can’t say that his habits were endearing; but they did make him unique and interesting.
I walk around and yell out “Muff !” a lot of the time for no reason other than it’s funny to me. I do it because it makes me laugh. Maybe it’s his way of entertaining himself. That’s why I do it.
It does sound like OCD, and possibly Asperger’s. (Tourette’s? Not so much.)
That said…are you sure he needs treatment? His behavior sounds “eccentric”, but not necessarily out of line. The only thing I find possibly disconcerting is the lack of close friends – has he complained to you about this? I know it’s a fad these days to label everyone with some sort of disability, but unless he feels that his condition’s getting in the way of things, or he’s disturbing other people, there’s no need to intervene.
As for calling things “fat”…are you sure he’s not saying “phat”? That word’s about 10 years out of date, but he sounds like the kind of kid who’d be into retro slang. You should ask him.
Tourette’s isn’t just someone yelling obscenities and whooping - in the same way Epilepsy isn’t all Grand Mal - what OP is describing sounds like a mild case of Tourettes
My step-son has Tourettes, what you describe sounds like it to me. The ticks vary from person to person. My son’s most irritating one was a constant throat clearing cough – about every 7-10 seconds. Another was a sort of one sided shoulder shrug. He had problems with restrictive clothing bothering him. Like your brother, he seemed to mature slower than other kids. As he got older he had less and less trouble, and now at age 22 he only has a tick when under very high stress.
As far as no close friends, my son was like that too. It is not a suprise, really. Young people are not very accepting of odd behavior. My son has a circle of friends now.
You ought to go ahead and take him in for an evaluation, I’m just trying to give you some hope for a better future.
Also, he may be perfectly happy. My son tried some medications and they reduced the ticks (making other people happy), but that make him feel really bad. Please keep that in mind when considering treatments.
Does he sniff a lotor do oother facial movements such as grimace orrapid eye blinking. I got Sydenhams in fisrt grade and ir stayed. It’s like Tourettes, but caused by an infection.
He has some type of compulsion going on at minimum, and should be checked that it isn’t a current medical condition that is causing it. Once something like an infection is ruled out , your dealing with long term issues. He may have correctable issues that can be lessened by medication, but there is no treatment out there that is 100% effective. He may coose to not take the medicines, because of the side effects for what seems to be mild syptoms. He’s not repeating actions until he drops so it’s mild. He’s not creaating a scene in the middle of the mall, because he can’t stop a compulsive behavor, so it’s mild.
He needs to go to a neurologist as a fisrt step, because many neurologic diseases manifest in the way you discribed, and it could get worse. My stuff runs in seasonal cycles, where I know some monthes will be worse, and my Nueraligisted said that was common.
Wanted to enclose this link: nicotine can help reduce tics . I have a co-worker, a friend, and the former foster kid I mentioned earlier wth Tourette’s symptoms- they all smoked like fiends. Treatment with nicotine is controversial; but it is a well known drug that is widely available.
I’d be interested to read about this, I tried a search but I think you may have spelled the name of the condition wrong (you got some bad typing going on today! . Do you happen to know of a website that talks about it?
Sydenham’s Chorea is hard to find good information on, and the best sites I had on the subject are closed. I will look at other pages to find a site that is informative, if thats what you want information on. I won’t look farther if you don’t indicate thats what your asking for. It classified as a rare disease by the federal health agency. Before the 60’s it was a common occurance along with Rheumatic Fever. They went hand in hand together. The parents on childern with Sydenham’s Chorea have some compeling reasons to be upset. There is almost no subport for them, and their child has become a nightmare. A lady on a message board listed an occurance, where the son sat on the floor in the mall and did his thing. He wouldn’t move from the floor or stop for over 30 minutes. He had to complete his pattern before he could stop. Just writing about the behavor is making it had to not go into a repetative action myself. Most of the time I have a patern in the back of my mind repeating over and over. 3,3,3-3,3,3-3,3,3-3,2,1-3,2,1-3,2,1-1,1,1-1,1,1-1,1,1-1 and done start over.
Vocal Tics I have some quickly found links for, since it’s a componant of multiple illnesses.
I think I can give you some valuble practical advice on this that comes from experience.
Get him to a doctor as soon as possible. Have him explain his case to his family doctor - help him if he needs help - and go with your family doctor’s referrals (first will probably be a neurologist who will probably prescribe something and refer you to a behavioural therapist.)
I have tics - always have - and my parents completely ignored mine 90% of the time and yelled at me and told me to cut it out the other 10% of the time. I tried to hint at my condition to my doctors when I was a teenager but I was too embarassed to really come out and say anything substantial and they were too busy to bother playing Sherlock Holmes, so they usually just prescribed muscle relaxers.
The problem is that if he gets into his 20s before talking to a doctor like I did, the doctor will think 2 things: If this has been going on for so long, why wasn’t it treated in childhood? And, If it bothers him so bad, why did he wait so long to come see a doctor?
They’ll typically be less than helpful at this point.
IANAD but this just sounds horrible to me. Not only is nicotine a nightmare of a drug, I just broke a 12-year nicotine habit and my tics have reduced by at least 80%, if not more. I’d rather live through a ticcing habit than a nicotine habit any day.
It happens that I know a jazz musician who is billed as Little Brother. I’ll mention that to him. He’s also a full time restaurant chef in Cicero, and he has a recording studio here in Anderson. He’s a busy guy.
You should ask him.
. Do you happen to know of a website that talks about it?