Grunting Noises and Throat Clearing

Sometimes, kids with autism can develop tics, or mannerisms. With my son, it used to be tapping. He used to tap his arms and legs, sometimes stopping in the street to tap each part of his body before moving on. It was thankfully a short lived phase that only lasted a few months. I think it was his response to stress and I never made a big deal about it. I just let him do it and it went away on its own.

His new tic is throat clearing and grunting. A lot of the time I don't notice it, but this morning, I was lying in bed and my son crawled in next to me. As he was lying there, he kept clearing his throat and grunting. It actually kept me awake and in the end I had to get up, because I couldn't go back to sleep! During the day, I have kind of gotten used to it as a background noise. I hope it is a phase that passes soon!