Does Anyone Know Why?

H., I just wrote a long response and then accidentally erased it. It's 3 am and I need to go to bed, so I will give you some feedback tomorrow. I have a student who does the same thing and I'd be happy to share with you, but now, I'm spent. Til then, J. D.

My guess is that is a normal thing for a child to do. Sometimes they just want that little bit of attention. so Maybe when she starts to do that suggest that you do something together. Or just talk to then and ask then about their day or what was their favorite day for that week, the favorite food they liked that you prepared that week. Sometimes getting them distracted onto to something else does the trick

My son did this for a while too. It seemed to be stress and attention related. You might try asking her if she's worried about anything. My son eventually stopped on his own.

My son who is 9 makes noises and little things like this. It is just a natural thing for him to do. I was this very way when I grew up. It helps the child to relieve stress in this way and prevents them from acting out in a physical way. For some children this is a natural part of growing up. I let my son make noises and sounds and the like as long as he does not get too loud and as long as it is not in an inappropriate place such as at Church, in stores or in the public because I know that some people frown upon this. Each child is an individual and no two are exactly alike. As long as your daughter is not hurting anyone then allow her to express herself in this way of making noises and sounds. If it becomes bothersome then talk with your pediatrician about it but for me I was a child who made noises and sounds and my parents allowed me to do so because they knew this was my way of dealing with the stress in my life in a non physical way. I allow my son, as I said, to make noises and sounds as I know it is just a way for him to relieve the stress he has plus it is fun.By making noises from when I was young I have a vast repertoire of voices, sounds and noises I can make plus I can sing very well all glory be to God. As long as your child's noise making is not hurting anyone do not worry for some children this is normal.

I will be praying for you and your family concerning this.

I don't know if this is normal or not but my 16 yr old does it too. My other boys never did it. I have often wondered if it was normal or was something wrong with him. I have looked up tourette's syndrome and read about that and ocd - obsessive compulsive disorder and I am still lost.
If you find out anything I would be very interested in what you have learned.
Good luck... it is a pain to put up with sometimes.

It does sound like it could be Tourette's.
I would ask her teachers if she does it at school.
Regardless, I would have her checked out.
My nephew has it, and it is not always such a terrible thing to deal with. As he has gotten older, it seems he is outgrowing it.
Also, even if she's not doing it at school - I'd check her. My nephew was able to control the ticks if he tried very, very hard...but then he'd have to "let them go" when he got home from school and they'd be pretty severe.

If she does not have teretts then she is annoying you!Ignore her or take away privalages. Let her know you are not going to tolerate disrespectfulness.

Many children have tics. Back in the old days they were called "nervous habits". Some outgrow them. Some don't. They are no big deal unless they annoy the child doing them.

You may want to get her tested for PANDAS or a strep infection which can cause tics.

If they really annoy us, we need to look within ourselves as to why. My husband used to do something that annoyed the heck out of me. I realized that what annoyed me the most was that I would tell him he did it and he would deny doing it. I would say, "LOOK! You're doing it again", but of course then he wasn't.

It was not until we realized that our little girl had tics, that I understood. It was funny - her vocal tics used to annoy the heck out of my husband. UNTIL we understood they were tics. No big deal, and not done because the child wanted to do it. That made the same tics as before no longer annoy my husband. That also caused my husband to understand he had some tics as well. The funny thing is that then what my husband did no longer annoyed me, either.

Stress may make the tics worse (both physical, and emotional... although during times of intense concentration, the tics may stop completely, only to come back with a vengeance as soon as the child relaxes). I figure that at least in the child's own home - let them tic to their heart's content. Home, at least, should be their one place of refuge - where they can totally relax. It is hard enough for them to not do it outside the home.

And yes... they can partially control them. At an effort... a cost to them. That doesn't mean it is not a tic. The main thing is... it isn't a big deal. Ignore it.

Is it normal? In a way... yes. In that it is not some pathological condition and often goes away on its own. How to make it stop? With maturity. My daughter's never stopped. Yes she has mild Tourette's. And no, she doesn't yell or blurt obcenities either - actually that is very RARE in Tourette's. It does mean she has some vocal tics, but they are no big deal and most people never even realized it. But a lot of my family members were never diagnosed but they do have tics.

ticks? like tourets ticks?? get it checked out

H.,
Is she able to control it when you ask her to stop, or does it start up again soon afterwards? If she can turn it on and off at will then she is probably just testing to make sure of the boundaries. Ticks don't have anything to do with intelligence or mental handicaps they are usually psyiological in nature. Have you ever heard of Tourette's Syndrome? You may want to check out their website to see if you think she fits the description. Here's the web link http://www.tsa-usa.org/

Good luck!
B.

Hi H.,

At that age, my niece and nephew went through a stage where they made noise all the time. When they'd start up we'd ask, "What bit of meaningful information are you trying to convey with all that noise?" It might have been half-singing, drum noises, squeekes, anything. After a while, they realized how often we asked the same question and paid more attention to what they were doing. If it's that kind of thing, I think it's pretty normal, but that doesn't mean you have to listen to it.

Good luck!!

Is she only making noises (grunts, squeaks, throat clearing, cough or clicks) or doing strange movements with her eyes (blinking, eyebrows raising, mouth movements) or any physical odd movements? Tics are not that uncommon. If she has any movement type tics those are called motor tics. If she has both vocal and motor, she meets criteria for Tourette's syndrome. Has she ever taken stimulant meds for ADHD? This can be a side effect from that also. Some kids outgrow these tics and some need to have them treated if they are disruptive (at school, etc or causing them to be teased). If these are actual tics, you may notice they are worse at home or in times of stress. Kids will try to suppress these as much as possible in social settings then they will increase when they are in the safety of their home. May be why she keeps going after you ask her to stop. She may not be able to. Hope this helps.

I am a pediatric nurse and sometimes and this is from past experience, stress can cause it, anything can trigger ticks, we had this one little boy who would make a coughing sound all the time, and it was due to stress of his parents divorcing. Not sure if that is you situation, but I would talk with her and ask if anything is wrong. Or could be the start of terretts, Maybe take her to the Dr. Good luck. J.

Hello H.,
There could be several reasons for tics and noises:
Is this a new behavior?
*It could be a reaction to stress. So I would look at recent stressors (at home, school, has she started her memces? etc)
* There are some medications commonly used to treat ADHD that have tics as a side effect... so investigate that.
* This could be a habit that she is using as an attention getting device. Does she seem to be aware that she is doing this? Can she stop it in mid occurrance?
* A possible sign of a type of seizuier disorder.
* The last and most serious is that tics and loud noises are an indication of Tourettes' Syndrome.... a neurolocial disorder. If this is a possibility then she needs to be seen by a pediatric neurologist who can perform a series of diangostic tests to either confirm or rule out the problem.
I hope that this helps.
T. H.
Child Psychologist

I know what you are dealing with. PRE-TEEN girls are doing things like that now. Why? I really don't know. My daughter (12) has done the same thing also. When asked to stop she gets one more in or she would make another sound. They know that it gets on our nerves. I do believe they are testing us to see how long we will allow them to do it and much we can take.

H.. This sounds like Tourette Syndrome. I have it. Not a full blown case, I don't yell or blurt out obscenities. I have outgrown alot of the ticks I had as a child. But I still have some. I suggest you find a doctor that know something about it and have her properly diagnosed. My oldest daughter has it as well and my son shows some signs. It is an inherited neurological disorder. More common in boys. It normally shows up between the age of 9 to 11. It can be accompanied by ocd. It can be controlled by medications. The noises she makes, she truely cannot help. Don't try to punish her or reprimand her, let her do her thing and get it out. If she tries to hold back, it will just make it worse for her. Good Luck, feel free to contact me if I can offer any more help. stacey_817 at the hoo...

She might have tourette's syndrome. you might take her to the doctore for a check up. I have a friend who has it.

I saw a special on Ophrah about a boy who was blind and made ticks like a dophin to help him to tell what kind an object it was and how close it was to him. Maybe you can check Ophrah website to get more info.

Research - my ex made ticks & noises.
Tourette Syndrome Fact Sheet: National Institute of Neurological ...Tourette syndrome (TS) is a neurological disorder characterized by repetitive, stereotyped, involuntary movements and vocalizations called tics. ...
www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/tourette/detail_tourette.htm

Have you had her tested for tourette's syndrome? None of my kids have done this so I'm no expert but I would ask her teacher if she's doing it in class or is it just at home? If she is, she may not be able to control it & needs medical intervention, the sooner the better. Because if it's medical and she can get help that will help her in the long run before kids start in on her, they can be harsh. I hope you find the answer soon.

I had a boyfriend in college that had terrets syndrome. His symptoms started around the same age and in the same way as your daughter's. His mother thought he was making the ticks and noises on purpose, and he didn't get diagnosed until late in his teen years. I would suggest you have her tested for terrets just aa a precaution. Hope that helps...

Hi H., you know there is a disease with ticks and jerking movements. Has she been tested? She may not be able to control it. I do not know the name of this particular disease and she may be in the early stages of it. Worth checking out with her doctor. Definetly Not Normal.

K.

Hi,
No, not every child does it BUT do not panic over Tourettes just yet.
My son was diagnosed with Dyspraxia. Among a host of other symptoms were tics.
He would jerk his head to one side time after time. He would also make that "ahem" sound of clearing the throat again and again.
While having a dyspraxic son can be trying at times, it is not as hard as tourettes would be i am sure.
Just wanted to give you another avenue to consider.

Good Luck,

B.

Hi H.,
Ticks immediately make me think of turrets syndrome. I don't know much about that though. I am currious if you are the same mom who wrote in about her talking out in class. If so, turrets may be something to bring up at the conference as well. I don't know, I may be way off here, like I said I don't know much about that syndrome at all.

Here is a website I found you may like:
http://www.steadyhealth.com/turret_s_syndrome_t62037.html

It gets your attention. My son did the same thing at age 12 and so did my step-son. I don't think I would worry about it for now. I think they just do it because they can and they have control over it. If it lasts a very long time then maybe start to question a doctor.
J.

I'm going to start by saying it's a kid thing. My 13 year old still makes noises all the time and never stops. She started saying mama when she was 3 months old and hasn't really stopped since. By the time she was a year old she would wake up in her crib and say MaMa I'm up. She has ADHD and takes medicine for it during the school week and her "noises" are better. On the weekend she doesn't take it and it's non-stop chatter, talking, and noises (she makes fabulous animal noises and Chewbaka (sp?) from Star Wars is the best. Most of the time she doesn't even know she's doing it. I remind her to stop and she's like oh, sorry.
Happy Chatter, K.

People have the right idea on here...you need to have her tested for tourette syndrome. Get on the internet, see if she matches any of the symptoms. My nephew has tourette's and does the same thing if he's not medicated. A lot of ticks and he also does a good deal of twitching. It doesn't have to be swearing uncontrollably like you see on severe cases.

Good morning H.. My son did this around the same age. We took him to the dr and everything was fine. It's just a tick and she will eventually grow out of it. My son would shake his head and blink repeatedly when his hair got too long. Once we got his hair cut, it stopped, until it got too long again. Double-check with her physician, but I'm sure she's fine. Hope this helps.

No this is not normal! Sounds as though she might have tourettes syndrome. I have a grandchild that has it and the more you try to get him to quit, the worse he gets. He doesn't do it all the time and the doctor said he might out grow it, if not it will get worse. Started out just physical tics, such as eye and facial movements, then the shoulders then the legs would jerk some. Then all of a sudden he started having vocal tics, such as, throat clearing and just making noises with his throat. Cussing also goes with tourettes, some do it and some do not. See a neuroligest, don't depend on a regual doctor. Laboneur in Memphis,Tn is where I take my grandson! Great Place to get help. Wishing you luck, R.