Tics, Tourettes,Perseverations

[zurb]

What's the difference between Stims, Tics, Tourettes and Perseverations?

 

[Aspergirl4hire]

A stim is what I do when I'm just "so something"--happy, or anxious, or something, and I do it to soothe. (Stim is such a wrong word for it...or maybe I'm just using it wrong.)

A tic is something I can't help, such as a muscle jumping under stress. Think "eye-twitch."

I don't understand Tourette's, except it has something to do with swearing uncontrollably.

I think a perseveration is what's between being interested in something and being obsessed with it...it's doing something over and over, or persistence disproportionate to the value you'd get from a thing.

 

[AsheSkyler]

Stimming is (mostly) voluntary, a tic is involuntary, Tourette's is often a sum of tics and I know sometimes OCD is a comorbid, and I have no clue what perseverations are. I like this post by Cynthia Kim and she also has a few others on it. It seems to be closely related to echolalia, like echolalia on auto-pilot or something. I wish Asperger's and Tourette's had swapped names. I like saying Tourette's, and Asperger's often comes out too slurred for me to be coherent. I also wished they didn't call it a "tic", because that's an annoying little bug that needs a hot match put on its butt to make it go away.

I watched a pretty cool documentary on Tourette's once and they had quite a surprising range of tics! There was of course the expected swearing, but some people had to snap their fingers, or spin, some would yip or howl, some would blink, and other stuff. There was one scene at camp where one kid had a tic, and somehow it set off everybody else's tics, so there was this interesting chorus of yips, howls, barks, and other verbal tics. One girl almost had some kind of split-personality disorder for a tic or comorbid, and another girl had some severe OCD as a comorbid. The one with the OCD had a terrible tic, she often punched herself. Hrm, now I want to go explore Tourette's officially and see how much it's like Asperger's, we do seem to share a good bit of common ground with Tourette's people.

 

[Robby]

Just wondering if anyone else here who is aspergers or thinks they are gets these tics? I've gotten them for years, usually its worse when I'm alone or where I know I can let them out. I can pretty much hold them in in public but its hard. I don't think I have tourettes but dont know. Like in private I'll say random cuss words or make obscene noises with my mouth. When im in public, ill rub my hands or fingers violently together in my pocket to get rid of the tension because I know I cant make verbal noises or people would think I'm crazy but when driving or something or in private I definitely make a lot of them. I have done this probably 9 or 10 years old. Is this part of aspergers?

 

[wyverary]

I had and still have a number of tics myself, though they've changed throughout the years, things from randomly giving my head a vigorous shake, to wiggling my ears. Currently, it manifests as echolalia, especially when I am very stressed...I will start saying a certain word to myself over and over again when I am in a bad way.

I do think it's more common among Aspies, but I wonder if that's because Tourette's is commonly co-morbid with an AS diagnosis.

 

[Robby]

I have repetitive things I say for no reason some is gibberish and others are just vulgar words for no reason. and I'll make like obscene bathroom noises with my mouth sometimes very loudly. Over and over. At times it's repetitive and other times I can keep it in check. I don't think its tourettes because I can control them when the situation demands it like around people or in stores. But I wonder if this is some part of aspergers.

 

[Kaylee]

i do not have tics persay but i do have twitches, it wasnt until recently that i learned that these may or may not be absence seizures. i am now on an anti convucent/ anti seizure medication that seems to lessen them quite a bit. i do know that conditions like tourette's and epilepsy are much more common with people on the autisim spectrum, i would think most neurological conditions in general are more common, i also know that tourettes can be experienced in multiple ways and not just the way that it is portrayed on TV, also anxiety conditions are fairly common with aspergers so i very well may just be something of that sorts.

 

[Laughingowl1975]

I have a strange little cough that I make when excited, apparently this is not a too uncommon tic. I also repeat words quietly to myself when thinking about things and I also blink rapidly at the same time. I can twitch but very rarely (nearly always after urinating for some odd reason or if I hop into a hot spa pool).

 

[Robby]

I dont know what to make of it. I find that it's less if Im listening to music or playing with animals or doing something fun. Maybe its add. No idea. I just know when the need to blurt out these things comes I do it as long as Im by myself or in the car or something.

 

[Kaylee]

sounds like anxiety, it can really effect many things and look like many other conditions

 

[Southern Discomfort]

Tics are quite common with autism, at least more so than the general population. The most common comorbid conditions with tics and Tourette's is ADHD and OCD/OCB. The criteria of Tourette's is multiple motor tics and at least one vocal tic according to both the ICD 10 and DSM 5. Coprolalia occurs in about 10 to 15 percent of the population who have tics and is not required for a diagnosis of Tourette's. The majority of people with Tourette's have it quite mild, ranging in people with a simple cough, forceful blinking and a facial grimace. Echolalia can be both connected to autism and tic disorders, but there's a difference between the two, one's more like a compulsion and the other is more like you want to do it. Mine is personally because I want to do it and have done since I was a child.

My old psychiatrist explained to me that when I try to counteract my autism behaviours OCB and tics would become more frequent. So the best thing to do with try to be yourself and try not to mask your autistic behaviours.

I've had tics for just over a year now, it started when I was 24. Both my sister and my father had tics when they were younger, I never displayed any tics at that age. My tics started after a severe depressive episode with a jerking of the neck. Now I can count as many as six or seven, including a respiratory tic which according to the internet counts as a phonic tic, forceful eye blinking and a quick, sudden shudder tic. My tics don't increase with anxiety or hunger but I do tic quite a lot when I'm on my own as well, I sometimes freeze position when I tic, prolonging a certain muscle stretch. Thankfully though they are relatively mild, in the sense that I can easily distract myself from them and I'm usually tic free for the first few hours of waking up.

 

[buttercuplols]

Tics are quite common with autism, at least more so than the general population. The most common comorbid conditions with tics and Tourette's is ADHD and OCD/OCB. The criteria of Tourette's is multiple motor tics and at least one vocal tic according to both the ICD 10 and DSM 5. Coprolalia occurs in about 10 to 15 percent of the population who have tics and is not required for a diagnosis of Tourette's. The majority of people with Tourette's have it quite mild, ranging in people with a simple cough, forceful blinking and a facial grimace. Echolalia can be both connected to autism and tic disorders, but there's a difference between the two, one's more like a compulsion and the other is more like you want to do it. Mine is personally because I want to do it and have done since I was a child.

My old psychiatrist explained to me that when I try to counteract my autism behaviours OCB and tics would become more frequent. So the best thing to do with try to be yourself and try not to mask your autistic behaviours.

I've had tics for just over a year now, it started when I was 24. Both my sister and my father had tics when they were younger, I never displayed any tics at that age. My tics started after a severe depressive episode with a jerking of the neck. Now I can count as many as six or seven, including a respiratory tic which according to the internet counts as a phonic tic, forceful eye blinking and a quick, sudden shudder tic. My tics don't increase with anxiety or hunger but I do tic quite a lot when I'm on my own as well, I sometimes freeze position when I tic, prolonging a certain muscle stretch. Thankfully though they are relatively mild, in the sense that I can easily distract myself from them and I'm usually tic free for the first few hours of waking up.

Wow! You seem to really know your stuff! This was fascinating to read.

When I feel very excited/happy I stretch my neck up, close my eyes and shout 'MEEP!' I remember doing this since puberty at least. I can keep it in for a bit if I try but it does come out eventually and sometimes I don't know I've done it. I had never really thought of it as a potential tic...

 

[Southern Discomfort]

Wow! You seem to really know your stuff! This was fascinating to read.

When I feel very excited/happy I stretch my neck up, close my eyes and shout 'MEEP!' I remember doing this since puberty at least. I can keep it in for a bit if I try but it does come out eventually and sometimes I don't know I've done it. I had never really thought of it as a potential tic...

Thanks. I have a tic similar to that, I have to stretch my neck up too. That one's fairly new, along with shacking my head.

 

[Alan tm]

I used to blink a ridiculous amount as a kid so much that I was taken to see a doctor
But nothing was found .

Iv'e had what I call shocks for years , I jolt .
Like electric, I sometimes totally out of the blue .
But mostly when stressed the tension builds up quick and pow.

I also drive myself crazy counting loops of numbers in my head ,
I'll count anything, my own steps , how many times a person sweeps or cuts a pencil . I get sick of counting

 

[Katrina Wolf]

One of my symptoms is the more stress I'm under I start developing a cough that can get so severe that I won't be able to finish a sentence in conversation. In my twenties it got so bad I went almost two years without being able to finish a sentence. Usually it's just a clearing of the throat and a tickle. I was wondering if anybody else had tics.

 

[the_tortoise]

Perseverating is when you get stuck on something. It's the inability to shift gears, to stop doing/thinking about one thing and start doing/thinking about other things.