hair twirling disorder
step daughter constantly clearing her throat. habit or a disorder?

I noticed last august that my 8 yr old step daughter was constantly clearing her throat. When she watches tv or is on the computer, at the dinner table and in school. her teacher noticed.

She is full blown ADHD. We thought that it was allergies.. but she does it everywhere we go. We can’t take her to the movies or anywhere that you have to be seated and quiet. She clears her throat the whole time.

Then we thought it was just a way for her to make noise without talking since we are constantly telling her she talks too much. Kind of like an annoying bad habit.

Its only been happening for about a year or so.. Now its turned into more of a light cough sound.

We took her to the doctor and he put her on allergy medicine to see if thats the problem. Shes still doing it worse than before. so i think i can eliminate allergies. Any other ideas on what this could be?

She also twirls the ends of her hair and rubs her nose. of that helps any.

THANKS!

She may just be “ticcing”. There are endless, repetitive, habitual behaviors that many ADHD kids adopt and exhibit. Many of the tics are annoying but most disappear over time and unfortunately are often replaced with others. Don’t take her to places that require her to be quiet for prolonged periods of time. That just ain’t gonna happen. Get an account with NetFlix and watch your movies at home.

Try not to make an issue out of her tics and rituals. They may be comforting to her. Instruct her teacher to ignore them. Learn to overlook them and set your sights on the future. Things will improve in time.

obsessive hair Twirling