Help please

Welcome,

I agree with the previous reply that, from what you've said so far, this doesn't sound like Tourette's (it's named after a French doctor, which is why it's such a tricky one to spell!) The tics of Tourette's are uncontrollable by the person doing them, so they can happen at any time, not just when the person is trying to communicate with someone or talking to themself. In the people that I have met with Tourette's, their verbal tics don't sound like part of what they are trying to say. If they happen while the person is speaking, they sound like random interruptions in odd places in the sentence, and often not in the same tone of voice; for example, like; "Hello, [chocolate!] my name [chocolate! chocolate!] is Trog." Some people with autism do have Tourette's as well, but as the previous poster said, it's an independent condition, not part of their autism.

However, autistic people do often have difficulties with language which can make their style of speech unusual, especially when they're young and working out all of the new skills that it needs. The way that people use language is very complicated, because it depends what mood they're in, whether they're joking, etc., and these subtle parts of language can be particularly difficult for autistic people to understand. When we say; "Ha ha, you silly idiot!", we don't always really think that the person is an idiot, we might just be saying what a silly mistake they made in a jokey, friendly kind of way. If the word is heard in a happy tone of voice with a bit of a giggle, an autistic child might accidentally think that it must be a good, nice word, because they don't understand yet the meaning that you'd find in a dictionary, or don't realise that the tone of voice is just as important as the word itself.

The repetitive, stuttery talking that you mentioned sounds more like what's called "echolalia", which is relatively common for autistic people, though by no means most of us. The repeated word or phrase is often something that the person only just heard (repeating a question that they were just asked, for example), or one of their own words that gets stuck on a loop, maybe while they're stuck trying to work out what the next words should be. Sometimes, it can just be a certain word or words that the person always seems to get stuck looping, and they're fine until they need to say that particular word.

These are things which can be helped with speech therapy and specialised language teaching, so I would definitely mention them to the early-help worker when you get the chance.

That is also like the repetitious short phrases my son says sometimes, like a continual stutter. 

Tourettes is more complicated than just swearing. In fact very few people with tourettes do have swearing tics. Tics can be vocal or motor and can include things like blinking, jerking, grunting, coughing and whistling to name a few examples. I am no expert but in the person I have met with tourettes it was obvious when their swearing was a tic and when they were just swearing. It depends to be quicker and more jerky when it is their tourettes and for them is usually accompanied by a motor tic. I believe they have to show a number of tics in order to be diagnosed as tourettes but again I am not an expert.

Tourettes can run along side autism but they are separate conditions.

Does your son say these things in a particular situation or all the time? It could be a sign when he is frustrated or he may just like the word idiot. Children with autism struggle with communication and do sometimes resort to unkind words to try and make their point. They can also use words inappropriately for example say I hate you yet give you a hug.

As for the made up language I wouldn't say that it is a trait of autism but again as they struggle with communication this could be your sons way of coping with this. Having said that many young children make up a language at some point. It also depends a little on the age of your son and how often he uses this language.

Hope that is of some use to you.