Tics worse at work. How can I tell if this is Tourette's Syndrome?

[AngelWings17]

Just copy/pasting the first part of this from my "Tics worse at work" thread.

I have Asperger's, I know that for a fact. Now, being an Aspie I naturally deal with motor and verbal tics. They're not bad at all when I'm at home or in a relaxed setting. Or even in a familiar store. But work is a totally different story. My tics come alive every time I clock in to my job. My hands shake and twitch constantly, my head shakes, my eyes twitch/squint, I even utter my vocal "Uuhhh" often. Sometimes I even tense up a bit. At least my vocal "Mera" doesn't come out or the need to constantly crack my neck. And this is all because of the stress and the fact that I don't like either of my jobs there.

Does any of that point to Tourette's as well?

 

[Aspergirl4hire]

Tourette's is mostly motor and verbal tics. Fewer than 10% of people with it do that swearing thing. I question "being an Aspie I naturally deal with motor and verbal tics." I don't think that's necessarily aspie at all. Echolalia, and some of its sibling conditions, is sometimes comorbid.

You might have a co-diagnosis of Tourette's, but I'm not a doctor and this is not medical advice

 

[gonzerd]

I concur with the above. I've been diagnosed with Tourette's as a co-morbid to my ASD, but it's very mild and I never looked into it that much. It's sometimes difficult to discern between tics and stims maybe too (I think I had a similar discussion about the difference between OCD behaviour and stimming behaviour), but there's a difference. Stims can be soothing, they are part of how I express myself; tics are involuntary and I don't get anything from them. I do feel better when I'm in an environment where I don't need to worry about tics, but that also makes them less prevalent. Being in an environment where I don't need to worry about stimming makes me stim more, just because I can, because I'm free to be myself.

You could have it checked out I suppose. When I was going through the diagnostic process they gave me a daily checklist to keep track of tics, which types and how many, and based on that I was given the Tourette's co-morbid. It was a little unexpected, but still, it's good to know.

 

[AngelWings17]

I concur with the above. I've been diagnosed with Tourette's as a co-morbid to my ASD, but it's very mild and I never looked into it that much. It's sometimes difficult to discern between tics and stims maybe too (I think I had a similar discussion about the difference between OCD behaviour and stimming behaviour), but there's a difference. Stims can be soothing, they are part of how I express myself; tics are involuntary and I don't get anything from them. I do feel better when I'm in an environment where I don't need to worry about tics, but that also makes them less prevalent. Being in an environment where I don't need to worry about stimming makes me stim more, just because I can, because I'm free to be myself.

You could have it checked out I suppose. When I was going through the diagnostic process they gave me a daily checklist to keep track of tics, which types and how many, and based on that I was given the Tourette's co-morbid. It was a little unexpected, but still, it's good to know.

I suppose I could get it checked. I was thinking of re-testing for my AS as well. Just to get the full details on it.