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Question 76: One type of tic that isn't recognized
is variations in my speech. My voice gets louder without me knowing
it. I get "Quit yelling at me!" when I don't mean to. I
get asked if I am being sacastic because of the tone I cann't hear.
I over enuciate and people think I am talking down to them, this one
I can catch sometimes. Most complaints are that I am yelling and that
I am confrontational when I ask questions or am having a discussion
subject matter seems irrelevant. I try to get opinions from others
but they seem to think I am being bitchy when I do this....I have
thought of video taping everyday activities and conversations around
the house. Have you had any experiene with this type of disorder?
Ideas? Medication? Thanks for listening to me. K.T., BC, CANADA
Hi K.T:
Are you
familiar with a diagnosis known as nonverbal learning disorder (NLD)?
It is not uncommon for people with TS+ to experience problems with this
as well. I have a fairly cursory handout at www.lifesatwitch.com
/datafiles/moduleI_nld.pdf, but I would suggest reading up on NLD
-- it might help cast some light on what you are experiencing. In a
nutshell, I think that people with TS+ are so overstimulated, and fighting
so many internal battles, that subtleties in noticing the body language
of others, or their own body language, are sometimes missed because
there isn't enough room on the mental workbench. Medications aren't
really directly indicated for a problem like this, but social skills
training is very helpful (discussing, modeling, and practicing each
skill, with explicit feedback as you go).
Also,
anything that will help to make you more aware of how you sound and/or
look will help. Taping yourself is a good idea (video might be cumbersome:
I would suggest audiotaping); so is watching yourself in a mirror as
you make different faces or adopt certain tones -- learn to recognize
how your face and/or voice feels different when you switch from one
style to another. Another strategy is to recruit trusted friends or
family to cue you when they notice aspects about your approach you wish
to curb. It is important to ask people to help you with this at 'calm'
times when there is no immediate instance on the table; if you don't
trust your non-verbals even then you might want to write the request
in an email or letter that you can look over a few times before sending
it (this is a good strategy to use in general when face-to-face interaction
isn't even necessary). Also, the more room you have in your beaker,
the more resources you have available to become aware of how you present
to others. Having strategies, medications or other treatments in place
for your other symptoms can help with this.
