Hi- I have a question about younger children. I have noticed over the past year or so that my six year old has developed an odd habit(?) or tic. So, here it is:
When he was little (can't remember when it started, maybe around three) he would hum. Not musically, more like a buzzing fly. My husband and I learned to be wary of the "hum" because it usually meant he was about to go bonkers (run, scream, push buttons, become defiant, or launch into a tantrum).
Skip forward- he still hums, but usually just when he's tired. However, I noticed a few months back that he was constantly clearing his throat. I asked him if he didn't feel well- nope, "he just needed to clear his throat." He didn't go wild on me, during "throat-clearing" but it was frequent.
We ignored it, and the throat clearing has stopped. But now, he has just started blinking his eyes rapidly. We asked if his eyes were bothering him- no, not really, they just "feel heavy."
I don't think that this is Tourettes because it's not severe, and it's transient, and he seems, on some level to be in control of it (i.e. it's not involuntary, but he's obsessed with doing it).
Impulsive behavior is significantly better, and he is rarely aggressive or deliberately rebellious. He doesn't listen to verbal instructions well, but for the most part, I don't think he's defying me on purpose. He is also more accepting of consequences and will apologize for anything hurtful that he has said or done-- in his words, "even if he can't clean the slate (i.e. regain the lost activity/toy for the bad behavior), he's still sorry." He is "obsessive" about what he is in the middle of- last night he wanted to draw the planet Mercury at bedtime, and freaked out when we told him he would have to wait until morning (yes, we gave in). This kind of occurrence is very common in our house. He is an extreme perfectionist and until recently would throw things across the room that weren't to his satisfaction.
He is also very concerned about a few other things. For awhile, he became very adamant that he didn't want people touching anything that would go in his mouth because he was worried about dying from the Avian flu (heard on the news that some babies in China died of H1N1). He would go ballistic if I touched his water glass or his toothbrush and he would put toilet paper on the seat to use the bathrooms in our house. Thank goodness this is improving and he's willing to let me touch his things when I have assured him that my hands are germ free. He no longer puts down toilet paper. He is not an obsessive hand washer (in fact he could use a lot of improvement in this area). He's fine with eating in the school cafeteria because he has noticed that the lunch staff wears gloves.
He is highly sensitive- there was an accident on the road yesterday, and he became upset- and he read about a "beggar" in the Magic Treehouse series and became upset and tearful when he realized that some people don't have homes or money. Maybe this is common for kids? He's my "only" so I don't know.
I'm so happy that he's handling his feelings better, but I don't know what to do or think about this emerging sensitivity. Maybe it's always been there, and he's now old enough that it shows itself for what it is? Any thoughts?
When he was little (can't remember when it started, maybe around three) he would hum. Not musically, more like a buzzing fly. My husband and I learned to be wary of the "hum" because it usually meant he was about to go bonkers (run, scream, push buttons, become defiant, or launch into a tantrum).
Skip forward- he still hums, but usually just when he's tired. However, I noticed a few months back that he was constantly clearing his throat. I asked him if he didn't feel well- nope, "he just needed to clear his throat." He didn't go wild on me, during "throat-clearing" but it was frequent.
We ignored it, and the throat clearing has stopped. But now, he has just started blinking his eyes rapidly. We asked if his eyes were bothering him- no, not really, they just "feel heavy."
I don't think that this is Tourettes because it's not severe, and it's transient, and he seems, on some level to be in control of it (i.e. it's not involuntary, but he's obsessed with doing it).
Impulsive behavior is significantly better, and he is rarely aggressive or deliberately rebellious. He doesn't listen to verbal instructions well, but for the most part, I don't think he's defying me on purpose. He is also more accepting of consequences and will apologize for anything hurtful that he has said or done-- in his words, "even if he can't clean the slate (i.e. regain the lost activity/toy for the bad behavior), he's still sorry." He is "obsessive" about what he is in the middle of- last night he wanted to draw the planet Mercury at bedtime, and freaked out when we told him he would have to wait until morning (yes, we gave in). This kind of occurrence is very common in our house. He is an extreme perfectionist and until recently would throw things across the room that weren't to his satisfaction.
He is also very concerned about a few other things. For awhile, he became very adamant that he didn't want people touching anything that would go in his mouth because he was worried about dying from the Avian flu (heard on the news that some babies in China died of H1N1). He would go ballistic if I touched his water glass or his toothbrush and he would put toilet paper on the seat to use the bathrooms in our house. Thank goodness this is improving and he's willing to let me touch his things when I have assured him that my hands are germ free. He no longer puts down toilet paper. He is not an obsessive hand washer (in fact he could use a lot of improvement in this area). He's fine with eating in the school cafeteria because he has noticed that the lunch staff wears gloves.
He is highly sensitive- there was an accident on the road yesterday, and he became upset- and he read about a "beggar" in the Magic Treehouse series and became upset and tearful when he realized that some people don't have homes or money. Maybe this is common for kids? He's my "only" so I don't know.
I'm so happy that he's handling his feelings better, but I don't know what to do or think about this emerging sensitivity. Maybe it's always been there, and he's now old enough that it shows itself for what it is? Any thoughts?