My son is doing something kind of odd....

[Kelli in TN]

I don't know whether to put this here or on the special needs board. This is concerning my youngest, who is a special needs guy. He is 8 years old.

 

He has developed a new mannerism and I don't know what to make of it. When he is talking to me, or anyone for that matter, he turns his head away and looks at me out of the corner of his eye. Sometimes he turns his head to the left, sometimes to the right. I asked him why he turned his head and he said, and I quote "Okay, I don't know why. It's just something I do now." :confused:

 

Can anyone give me a btdt with kiddos developing odd little mannerisms?

[Mom2legomaniacs]

Did he read or see some show or movie where a character does this? What popped into my head was CSI Miami with what's his name -- reddish blonde guy from NYPD Blues? He does that. I don't know!

[Melinda in VT]

My 8yo daughter frequently looks out of just one eye. She, too, doesn't know why she does it. In her case, she has done it since she was tiny.

 

We did have her evaluated by a pediatric ophthalmologist, just to rule out anything wrong with her eyes. The doc said her eyes are fine. (And he got to observe the one-eyed look.)

 

I would have his eyes checked, just to make sure you aren't dealing with anything that needs to be physically corrected.

[Kelli in TN]

Did he read or see some show or movie where a character does this?

 

Nope. I am certain this is not the case.

 

I would have his eyes checked, just to make sure you aren't dealing with anything that needs to be physically corrected.

 

Everybody gets their eyes checked at the start of each new calendar year. His were checked in February. The optometrist? Opthamologist? I can't remember, the durn eye doctor!! Anyway, she said his vision is great. It was a complete check, not just reading a chart.

[hsmamainva]

Is your little guy on the autism spectrum?

 

Many autistics look at you via the corner of their eyes because direct eye-to-eye contact is uncomfortable for them.

 

My youngest has autism and she does this from time to time, especially when her sensory system is overloaded for whatever reason.

[Janet in WA]

You know what, Kelli? I'm almost certain there was a thread about this exact thing on these boards a while back -- seems like it was right after the change to this new format. I actually checked the date of your post because I thought it was the old one being resurrected. If I'm mistaken, I apologize. But you might do a search to see if you can find an old thread that might have some helpful information.

[PariSarah]

I mean, have you tried giving him a set of circumstances in which he's not allowed to do it, and can he follow your instructions? ("When you talk to me or Daddy, you must look us in the eye." "When you're watching TV, I want you to look at it straight on." Or whatever.)

 

If so, I'm not sure I'd worry about it, beyond mentioning it at his next well-child check-up.

[Nestof3]

My 8 year old does odd things like this a lot. He usually has no better reason than to say he likes doing it. His most annoying is when he snorts while tilting his head to the side when starting to speak. He is also very dramatic and comes up with "expressionist" things to do for a while. I find it's just part of his creativity. He acts out subtle things as well that most people wouldn't pick up on, but I know it comes from Piggling Bland or something like that. Almost every story or movie impacts him in some way.

[Laurie]

 

Many autistics look at you via the corner of their eyes because direct eye-to-eye contact is uncomfortable for them.

 

.

 

Kelli, you could do a search using "gaze aversion". Depending on when he's doing this, it could be that it helps his thought process. Looking at someone's face while trying to recall info/answer questions could be too distracting.

[klmama]

This sounded familiar, but I couldn't remember the details. I googled, and in a nutshell, kids on the autism spectrum often look out of the corner of their eyes at people because there is something wrong with their rod function (some part of the eye - don't ask me to explain!). It makes what they see look right if they look out of the corner, and wrong when they look straight at it. Giving them cod liver oil provides them with the natural vitamin A they need to correct it. Here's the link of the article I found: http://www.megson.com/readings/BiologicalBasis.pdf

 

I'm not sure if your little guy is on the autism spectrum or not, but if he has other delays it might be a related issue, even if it doesn't manifest as autism. It might be worth a try to see if the cod liver oil helps. Nordic Naturals and Carlson's are supposed to be the best quality.

[Kelli in TN]

Well, in 2006 the doctors at the ped. dev. center did not find him to be on the autistic spectrum. We just happened to visit our ped. the other day for something unrelated and while I did not bring up his new habit I did ask her how long I should go before having another evaluation. She thought it might be a good idea to start pursuing an updated eval pretty soon.

 

Perhaps he is on the spectrum. In the meantime I think I will try to gently work on seeing IF he can break the habit on his own per Sarah's suggestion.

[Whisperlily]

Kelli, you could do a search using "gaze aversion". Depending on when he's doing this, it could be that it helps his thought process. Looking at someone's face while trying to recall info/answer questions could be too distracting.

 

 

I do this. I am certainly not autistic, but when I *really* need to think about my answers, or if I'm having a serious discussion with someone, I often don't look them in the eye. I look out a window, at my knees, the floor, or something similar, because looking *at* them causes me to lose my train of thought.

 

I don't do this in daily conversations, but anything that requires thought, proper wording, or is emotionally important and requires treading carefully causes me to look up or away, only glancing at the person I'm talking to, to ensure they know I'm listening.

 

When I am really *listening* I do this too. Sermons at church, I usually look at something non-descript, glancing up occasionally.

 

Does your son have attention issues, or ADHD? My son with ADHD does this too, not looking directly at you when you're talking to him... I frequently remind him to look me in the eye, especially when answering me. I give him time to think, but when he is talking, *after he's formulated his answer* he needs to look at me.

[Kelli in TN]

I do this. I am certainly not autistic, but when I *really* need to think about my answers, or if I'm having a serious discussion with someone, I often don't look them in the eye. I look out a window, at my knees, the floor, or something similar, because looking *at* them causes me to lose my train of thought.

 

Does your son have attention issues, or ADHD? My son with ADHD does this too, not looking directly at you when you're talking to him... I frequently remind him to look me in the eye, especially when answering me. I give him time to think, but when he is talking, *after he's formulated his answer* he needs to look at me.

 

 

Well, it's different. It is not when I am talking to him or he is concentrating. If he is just chattering at me about his favorite video game, for instance, he will turn his head to the side and look at me out of the corner of his eye while he talks to me. He actually will look at me when I am talking.

 

It is not subtle, either, it is very noticeable.

[Stacie]

Direct eye contact, but doing so from the corner of your eyes (ie. a "cutting" gaze) is a symptom seen in kids on the autistic spectrum. However, other kids do it too. I have one on the spectrum who did the cutting gaze instead of eye contact. After supplementing with Nordic Naturals CLO and a little extra vitamin E, he stopped. I think I read about this in Kenneth Bock's book about the 4A disorders. You should probably schedule another evaluation, but I wouldn't worry too much about it.

[Kelli in TN]

I just now noticed something else new. He is very relaxed right now, school and chores are over and the kids are just chillin' until suppertime. He was talking about Webkinz with his brother and doing the "cutting gaze" . You know how when you turn your head the bone or cartilage on the side of your neck pops out? Well, mine doesn't because I have a fat neck, but it does it on thin people. He keeps grabbing at the bone/cartilage that pops out. I mean he is intent about it.

 

Odd, huh?

[stephanie]

I don't know whether to put this here or on the special needs board. This is concerning my youngest, who is a special needs guy. He is 8 years old.

 

He has developed a new mannerism and I don't know what to make of it. When he is talking to me, or anyone for that matter, he turns his head away and looks at me out of the corner of his eye. Sometimes he turns his head to the left, sometimes to the right. I asked him why he turned his head and he said, and I quote "Okay, I don't know why. It's just something I do now." :confused:

 

Can anyone give me a btdt with kiddos developing odd little mannerisms?

 

Ds13 did the exact same thing when he was little. He would point to something, but he would turn his head to the side and look out the corner of his eye. He was diagnosed at an early age with ADHD, and a language deficit.

More recently, he's been diagnosed with SPD (sensory processing disorder). I don't know if it has something to do with tracking or what, but I have read it somewhere before b/c it caught my eye since ds had done the same thing. It may have been on my evaluation form for SPD. Sorry I can't be of more help. I just wanted you to know that mine had done it too.

[Lolly]

Puckering lips, rubbing his nose with his top lip, and popping his neck out like a chicken while he talks are some that I vividly remember because they were so disconcerting. Others were not so bad. His latest is opening his mouth really wide to the point it stretches the corners.

 

They started very gradually at 6 yo, shortly after he had his vaccinations. They didn't really start getting bad until he was 8. My personal research has pegged him as probably having Tourette's. He just turned 11, and the tics have really toned down (until just recently with the lip thing and throat clearing that is not allergies). That is pretty normal for Tourette's. It usually starts at about 7 and diminishes in most around 11. He does have some autistic tendencies that I have noticed since he was little. They aren't enough that any doctor would recognize them. They would just think I was loony.

 

I just try to ignore the behaviors. For ds, controlling them just makes them worse. He CAN control them to a great extent when out of the house if I allow them at home. Not completely, but it isn't as bad.