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Ok, I just have to ask your opinion on this strategy
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<blockquote data-quote="tictoc" data-source="post: 322223" data-attributes="member: 7916"><p>Hi,</p><p>My 7 yo son has Tourette Syndrome...At this age, our strategy with tics is to just ignore them. Some of his tics can be painful, so I check in periodically to see how he is doing and if I can help him with the pain. But, in general, we ignore them. Thus far, his vocalizations are not too obtrusive (esp now that he is on medications), but as he gets older it will probably get worse. Again, at that point, we probably will ignore them. There is a type of therapy called Comprehensive Behavioral Intervention for Tics (CBIT) that is fairly new and that uses the strategy of teaching people with Tourette's Syndrome to channel the tic impulse towards something else. For example, if the impulse is to make a cheshire cat grin, it might be redirected to purse the lips or something else that satifies the 'urge.' </p><p> </p><p>If your son has Tourette's Syndrome, he truly cannot control these noises and asking him to will only make it worse. A qualified CBIT therapist might be able to help him redirect the impulse, but teachers should not attempt this.</p><p> </p><p>Since the noises are causing problems at school, it seems imperative to try to sort out the cause. Are they tics, self-soothing, or could it be Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)? Sometimes kids can't tell the difference between a tic and a compulsion (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)), but often a cognitive behavioral therapist can help sort this out. My son is too young to have benefited from this, but we know older kids with Tourette's Syndrome and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) who have benefited enormously from cognitive behavioral therapy, ie things that first appeared to be tics turned out to be compulsions that were helped with therapy.</p><p> </p><p>If it turns out they are tics, would you consider medication? My son takes clonidine in patch form and we have seen a massive reduction in tics with it (probably 80%, which is considered very, very good). It is an anti-hypertensive that is one of the milder tic reducers available (so is Tenex, which lots of Tourette's Syndrome kids use). </p><p> </p><p>As for the social skills (eg, one word requests), this seems like a totally different issue and one that school personnel might be qualified to address. Does your son participate in a social skills therapy group at school? If not, is one available? We have found this approach to be very helpful for our son. He is matched with one other child who has similar issues (and who he gets along with well and is motivated to do well with) and they have to role play situations, they play board games to practice manners, and the teacher goes over "social stories" with them to reinforce expected behaviors. If you are interested in the curriculum they use, PM me and I'll direct you to the center that developed it (We went directly to that center for therapy this summer and it was amazing.).</p><p> </p><p>Good luck.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="tictoc, post: 322223, member: 7916"] Hi, My 7 yo son has Tourette Syndrome...At this age, our strategy with tics is to just ignore them. Some of his tics can be painful, so I check in periodically to see how he is doing and if I can help him with the pain. But, in general, we ignore them. Thus far, his vocalizations are not too obtrusive (esp now that he is on medications), but as he gets older it will probably get worse. Again, at that point, we probably will ignore them. There is a type of therapy called Comprehensive Behavioral Intervention for Tics (CBIT) that is fairly new and that uses the strategy of teaching people with Tourette's Syndrome to channel the tic impulse towards something else. For example, if the impulse is to make a cheshire cat grin, it might be redirected to purse the lips or something else that satifies the 'urge.' If your son has Tourette's Syndrome, he truly cannot control these noises and asking him to will only make it worse. A qualified CBIT therapist might be able to help him redirect the impulse, but teachers should not attempt this. Since the noises are causing problems at school, it seems imperative to try to sort out the cause. Are they tics, self-soothing, or could it be Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)? Sometimes kids can't tell the difference between a tic and a compulsion (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)), but often a cognitive behavioral therapist can help sort this out. My son is too young to have benefited from this, but we know older kids with Tourette's Syndrome and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) who have benefited enormously from cognitive behavioral therapy, ie things that first appeared to be tics turned out to be compulsions that were helped with therapy. If it turns out they are tics, would you consider medication? My son takes clonidine in patch form and we have seen a massive reduction in tics with it (probably 80%, which is considered very, very good). It is an anti-hypertensive that is one of the milder tic reducers available (so is Tenex, which lots of Tourette's Syndrome kids use). As for the social skills (eg, one word requests), this seems like a totally different issue and one that school personnel might be qualified to address. Does your son participate in a social skills therapy group at school? If not, is one available? We have found this approach to be very helpful for our son. He is matched with one other child who has similar issues (and who he gets along with well and is motivated to do well with) and they have to role play situations, they play board games to practice manners, and the teacher goes over "social stories" with them to reinforce expected behaviors. If you are interested in the curriculum they use, PM me and I'll direct you to the center that developed it (We went directly to that center for therapy this summer and it was amazing.). Good luck. [/QUOTE]
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Ok, I just have to ask your opinion on this strategy
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