My son has recently been diagnosed with Tourettes syndrome. The diagnosis has been a long time coming. We have also been told that he has mild autism. He is an amazing kind little boy and he is struggling. He doesnt know how to process this information. His anxiety is through the roof. The kids at school make fun of his tics. He is barely learning because he is concentrating so hard on trying not to tic. Its heart breaking.
He will now be getting extra help at school and his teacher has been amazing with making him feel more comfortable at school. Right now i want to wrap him up in cotton wool and home school him. However as a single mummy i have to work to support my family.
Does any one have any advice in how i can help him? Are there groups i can join for advice? How do i help him realise that he is the same little boy he was before he was given this diagnosis. We don't all fit into a box and that not everyone has the same brain.
Thanks sisterhood
4 Replies
A good starting point is the Tourette’s Syndrome association of Australia. They also have a Facebook group you can request to join. Some associations also offer counselling.
I’d also organise a mental health care plan with your GP for some on going psychological support for your child and you.
You might want to look into the NDIS as your son might benefit from some mentoring.
This is going slightly outside the square here, and everyone is different. When my son was little he always had rapid blinking, a weird gesture he did with his hands sometimes, and he would bang his knees together when sitting. Our dr said he probably had mild tourettes, but we didn't get an official diagnosis. He got to the point where he would cry because the briuses on the inside of his legs were so bad. I started doing research and discovered sue dengate's books and website about how foods can trigger different behaviors.Anyway it appeared that salicylates triggered many of my son's twitches. These are found in fruit, fruit juice, sultanas and tomato sauce in particular, all my son's favourite things. Once he stopoed eating them, even at 5 y.o he felt the difference after a few days and rarely if ever now has those things. At 15y.o he has no discernable twitches.
This is very interesting, thank you
Firstly, no such thing as mild autism. You either have autism or you don't. Same struggles and challenges as everyone else.
I am a single mum and I have homeschooled before. My kids (both autism etc) mental health and self esteem and THE most important thing to me. Yeah I struggle on a carer pension but it's the decision I made, to be here for my kids.
I'd hope that the school takes a zero tolerance policy with bullies and educates those arseholes kids. Changing schools is always an option. My kids attended a very small school at one stage that had quite a few kids with various disabilities. It was quite the family atmosphere,caring and accepting, but it al depends on who's in the charge. The culture of a school is dependent on the principal.
Get your boy into singing or art or music, find a good therapist for him. Build him up, focus on his strengths and watch YouTube clips of inspirational ppl with autism/tics for him to aspire to