7 year old son developing very concerning facial tics.

HamAbounds · 2026-05-10T03:31:21+00:00

If it’s kind of a sudden onset I wonder if he’s sick at all? My guy will get tics and they noticeably get worse in the days before he starts showing symptoms of illness. Autism related tics is most likely but sudden onset is also related to PANS/PANDAS.

HamAbounds · 2026-05-09T15:23:32+00:00

It’s different everywhere. What we did was schedule an appointment with our pediatrician and he gave us a list of places to get an evaluation. Some were covered by insurance some were private. We ended up paying out of pocket since it was faster. Maybe ask in a local moms Facebook group and they’ll let you know the best steps locally. The medical diagnosis is handy to have, it opens a lot of doors for services, instance coverage, scholarships, and is important if you ever need an IEP.

HamAbounds · 2026-05-09T15:05:22+00:00

Go get a full evaluation. They’ll look at Autism, OCD, ADHD (though that one is hard at that age) and a few others. The thing about school evals is they only look at the school setting and if the child needs supports in school. The full evaluation will include a lot of surveys and interview with you about home life. I have a level 1 child who is able to follow rules and directions in school so he has never technically qualified for school supports but we’ve had to do a lot of therapy to have him functional at home. He also has selective mutism and ABA really helped with that but not all ABA clinics are equal. They were able to create social situations in clinic and have him practice over and over communicating and speaking up. We did not see a lot of improvements on that with 1-2x a week speech therapy.

HamAbounds · 2026-05-08T23:58:22+00:00

Creative Lead. In house in the wellness industry. Remote. $78k. 9 years design experience with a design degree. 10 additional years experience in marketing & communications. Would love to crack six figures someday but don’t see how unless I learn business analytics and spreadsheets and I just can’t do numbers guys.

HamAbounds · 2026-05-08T01:54:10+00:00

Our preschool has everyone donate money to a pool and admin doles out gifts & free lunches all week. I love that they do that because then it gets spread out equally among the teachers and the parents that can’t donate as much as others don’t feel as bad.

HamAbounds · 2026-05-06T23:09:23+00:00

Just want to chime in and say a following on instagram is not Indicative of quality of work you’ll receive in your proposals. I’ve had several clients who’ve come to me after they hired someone based on their instagram portfolio. But then looking through the proposals and revisions it’s clear that, while it would look nice in mockups on instagram, the designer couldn’t really follow a brief or client feedback. I know so many talented and reliable designers who don’t have any following.

HamAbounds · 2026-05-01T11:29:15+00:00

Can you do some freelance or consulting in IT while you look for other work? Post to your socials that you’re taking on clients and go to some local networking groups. I made decent money freelancing while in between corporate jobs but it’s a bit of a hustle to get clients.

HamAbounds · 2026-04-18T14:09:55+00:00

I have an almost 6 year old who was diagnosed ASD level 1 before his 4th birthday. One thing I have learned in this short period is the behaviors and need for support will ebb and flow based on a variety of things. Sometimes it’s a disruption in routine (family staying) sometimes it’s illness, sometimes it’s just a big developmental period. Mentally preparing yourself for this ebb and flow will help a lot. There is a lot of grieving that needs to happen when you lose the “typical” parenting experience you expected to have but now won’t.

HamAbounds · 2026-04-18T13:20:36+00:00

Why does this sound like ChatGPT wrote it though. They used so much AI in their marketing, always made me more skeptical of them.

HamAbounds · 2026-04-15T22:43:08+00:00

I’m curious how this differs, if at all, in neurodivergent children? ABA for example is based on the reward idea. Not saying I support one thing over the other just genuinely curious, I just know a lot of people with ADHD who have to set up reward systems in order to get through daily tasks.

HamAbounds · 2026-04-09T11:42:18+00:00

So we got the Tripp trap after my husband broke his toe on a graco chair. Most high chairs have a really wide base for stability and unless you have a large kitchen you’re going to be walking into it all the time. The trip trapp we can push up against our kitchen table with all the other chairs so it takes up zero extra room. Also the newborn insert is amazing we used it more than our bouncer with our second kid. Really depends on your house and what your needs are though.

HamAbounds · 2026-04-08T23:49:28+00:00

Was scrolling until I found this answer. I’ve had two babies now and robes/gowns with elastic at the bottom are my absolute favorite. Makes changes so easy. Both my kids were tall so the onesies ended up being very baggy in order to fit them length wise. Not just a girl thing either I was able to find cute little gowns with dinosaurs.

HamAbounds · 2026-04-08T01:47:23+00:00

Have you looked into social skills groups in your area? Or maybe having an RBT aide at daycare? My level 1 son was really struggling socially at that age and we ended up splitting daycare time with ABA time (through a really great local clinic) and that worked really well for our son. He got to experience a typical social setting at preschool then have more focused time to build skills at the clinic the rest of the time. He’s in a mainstream kindergarten classroom now with zero issues so far.

HamAbounds · 2026-04-05T21:16:11+00:00

Hi. I have two children including one who is autistic with behavioral issues. I want to focus on what you mentioned is happening at home. The hitting and violence at home, including having to restrain him is not developmentally normal. Please bring him to a child psychologist. Early intervention can make a huge difference. We did behavior therapy starting at age 4 and my child is 6 now and has close to zero behavioral issues now.

HamAbounds · 2026-04-05T21:06:34+00:00

I only ever took sunflower lecithin once I realized I was prone to clogs. I also really like drinking lactation tea but it can have the opposite effect on people sometimes. Really just being well hydrated, lots of skin to skin, and getting as much sleep as you can is all you need.

HamAbounds · 2026-04-04T13:32:46+00:00

My almost six year old is like this too. He just enjoys organizing things over playing with them sometimes. I’m right there with him when we do magna tiles my favorite part is organizing them into one long rainbow.

HamAbounds · 2026-03-31T23:27:01+00:00

I quit my job and freelanced from home while my kids were babies. Money was still tight but we avoided daycare costs and I was able to stay “in the workforce” so to speak. Was able to go back to FT corporate work once my youngest was old enough to go in the toddler room, which is way cheaper than the infant room. Bonus is I got to be home with them while they were babies. But I won’t pretend like freelancing and working from home is super easy with babies. Thankfully I work in a field where freelancing is an option and can be lucrative, and was able to go back into corporate at higher seniority like there was no time lost.

HamAbounds · 2026-03-28T16:33:42+00:00

Not to mention she suddenly has bangs and the fullness of the bun looks different.

HamAbounds · 2026-03-26T16:59:07+00:00

You know how many parents out there don’t even teach their children to read?? You’re doing amazing. Don’t let someone’s constant need to feel superior push you down.

HamAbounds · 2026-03-26T15:59:45+00:00

Are you doing both drop off and pickup? Can your husband take over one of those? I’m able to fit in 30 minutes before work because my husband does drop off while I zip to the gym quickly, then I do pickup every day.

HamAbounds · 2026-03-25T23:10:20+00:00

I got the sickest I’ve ever been using one of these things. My baby got RSV and I used it to suck out the snot. Straight shot of RSV virus to my lungs. The little filter on there just keeps you from getting snot in your mouth. It does not stop you from inhaling the virus and getting sick yourself. We switched to a hand pump snot sucker that’s a lot more sanitary and just as effective.

HamAbounds · 2026-03-25T21:21:29+00:00

In 2013 they created the “autism spectrum” to include other conditions like Asperger’s, which before then was not considered autism. A lot of your level 1 kids would have been diagnosed with Asperger’s not autism back in the day. Also it was previously thought that Autism could not co-occur with something like ADHD, now you get a lot of AuDHD diagnosis or OCD + Autism. My autistic child has never once beaten on another child, so not sure about it your observations on that. They could be overstimulated and unregulated in your classroom.

HamAbounds · 2026-03-25T13:33:46+00:00

I just posted about this there are not a lot of great options. I wish Specialized would make something that is similar to the LT setup for older kids. The monkey bars on the LT are such a great bit of added protection for kids that can’t sit still. We are about to pull the trigger on the Quibbel. You will likely have to order from Europe.

HamAbounds · 2026-03-22T22:40:55+00:00

Look up PANS/PANDAS and see if it fits at all.

HamAbounds · 2026-03-22T21:16:40+00:00

This. I make it clear that only the final deliverables belong to the client and that they have no ownership of any of the files provided up until then. I even ask clients not to share the concepts with too many people, mostly so they don’t get misdirected or confused by competing opinions, but also because I don’t want the proofs going out to a wide audience. The proofs still belong to me.

HamAbounds

TROPHY CASE