Elly Report post Posted May 3, 2007 My son,11yrs old, has developed (what I feel is) a new Tic that is making him go bald. He twiddles his hair around a finger constantly, pulling out hair in the process. If we mention the bald spot he is making he gets very upset but, he continues to twiddle his hair. I have brought kosh balls etc but to no avail, he just puts them down and his hand strays to his head. Do many people find that Tics like this happen with ASD? He has a couple of other ones; burping(yes, and very loud), a strange coughing noise and sniffing his fingers. My hubby gets really annoyed with him, especially with the burping one. I really feel that he cannot help it as much of the time he appears unaware of what he has done. These happen on a regular basis throughout the day, with the hair twiddling being almost constant. I'm not sure if this is related to his Aspergers or whether he has tourettes. I am new to this forum, so apologise if I am bringing up an 'old' topic. It would be great to hea some other views on this and I felt this forum was a good place to start. Keep smilin Elly Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chriss Report post Posted May 3, 2007 My son has Asperger's and he tics a lot too. A lot of "Aspies" do. Like you I wonder if he fits the criteria for a Tourettes diagnosis. He has OCD too and that is closely related to tics. My son has not had a tic that involves hair twiddling but he has had a wide range of other tics. They never last too long - a few months usually but they all, without exception, get worse if you tell him to stop doing it. There are some good Tourettes forums around if no-one on here can help you with the hair twiddling. Tourettesfriends is one but I am not sure of the site address. Some good books are "Passing For Normal" by Amy Wilensky and "Life Interrupted" by James McConnell. Both authors have had tics and compulsions throughout their lives and are good at explaining why they had to obey the compulsion to tic. Like your son they really couldn't help it! It must be really upsetting for you to see him making his hair come out like this so I hope you find the help and advice you need. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
barefoot wend Report post Posted May 3, 2007 Elly My gut instinct is that this is could be a ritualistic compulsion. It could be classed as self-injurous and may be due to an increased level of anxiety or stress. Does your son have a specialist as it may be worth asking them what the best action would be? Barefoot Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Elly Report post Posted May 3, 2007 Elly My gut instinct is that this is could be a ritualistic compulsion. It could be classed as self-injurous and may be due to an increased level of anxiety or stress. Does your son have a specialist as it may be worth asking them what the best action would be? Barefoot He does have a paediatrician and I will bring it up on our next visit. If hr was still going to school then I would certainly go for the stress bit. However, since we started home educating him last summer he has gradually become more relaxed. He chooses his 'subjects' and which days he wishes to study etc and has gone back to being a much happier child. It's not really self-haming (I have an 18yr old aspie daughter who self harms) as he is not pulling hia hair out, it is just breaking because of the twiddling(sorry people, I know its not a good word but its what we call it ). He does have some OCD traits, its just this one and the other 'tics' don't seem to fit the pattern. Keep smilin Elly Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Elly Report post Posted May 3, 2007 My son has Asperger's and he tics a lot too. A lot of "Aspies" do. Like you I wonder if he fits the criteria for a Tourettes diagnosis. He has OCD too and that is closely related to tics. My son has not had a tic that involves hair twiddling but he has had a wide range of other tics. They never last too long - a few months usually but they all, without exception, get worse if you tell him to stop doing it. There are some good Tourettes forums around if no-one on here can help you with the hair twiddling. Tourettesfriends is one but I am not sure of the site address. Some good books are "Passing For Normal" by Amy Wilensky and "Life Interrupted" by James McConnell. Both authors have had tics and compulsions throughout their lives and are good at explaining why they had to obey the compulsion to tic. Like your son they really couldn't help it! It must be really upsetting for you to see him making his hair come out like this so I hope you find the help and advice you need. I have recently read 'Passing for Normal' and will see if I can get a copy of 'Life Interrupted'. I agree that telling him to stop would be no help, its just so hard when I know he loves his long, blonde locks. The 'burping' tic is harder as people find it rude. I will view the tourettes website and see what it says; never know I could learn something new Keep smilin Elly Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chriss Report post Posted May 3, 2007 Hi again Elly It is www.tourettefriends.org.uk I just had a look and searched for "hair" and quite a few things came up so I hope you find some useful info on there. From my understanding what he is doing is more compulsion than tic so it may be easier to change the behaviour (say to hair stroking rather than twiddling?) than it would be if it were a tic. Good Luck! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
V1971 Report post Posted May 4, 2007 My AS son, who is nearly 4, does the same thing, we had to shave his head off twice and while his hair was growing back he tried to fiddle with mine. We're about to cut it all off again, let me know if you find a solution! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
