I have three daughters, 'Catherine' (21), 'Alexa' (17) & 'Mia' (14). Catherine and Alexa are very sweet and we rarely argue at all. My daughter Mia is also an incredibly sweet and precious girl yet I get into arguments with her frequently especially as she has attention seeking tendencies.
Over the course of a few months, Mia has started to blurt out random words and aggressively move, (shoulder shrugging, head movements, etc). She's also been making weird noises, I never asked her and ignored it as I thought she was doing it because she was seeking attention.
A few days ago we were sitting at the dinner table and she kept making weird noises and moving and wouldn't stop, it was incredibly disruptive. My husband got very worried and started asking her if everything was okay, trying to console her, I got mad and told him to leave it as she was probably just seeking attention.
My daughter bursted out in tears and wouldn't stop crying. My husband got up and took Mia with him to go outside.
When they came back she calmed down. I told her to stop making noises and to stop moving weirdly, she told her she couldn't control it to which I found ridiculous because she hasn't done anything like this in her whole life.
She said she believes she may have developed tourettes and wanted to go to a doctor. I told her tourettes don't develop like that and she should've told me earlier. I also pointed out how it just magically disappears whenever she's doing something she likes.
My husband is furious with me and so are my daughters, everyone in my house is giving me the silent treatment. My husband said he would be taking Mia to the doctors but I'm not letting him. I told some of my friends and they all agree that my daughter is faking it. AITA?
proudmillenial writes:
YTA. Your daughter has issues and should see a professional in any case: if she fakes it for attention as you claim, or if she really has developed Tourette. Both cases aren’t good and you should seek for medical advice.
beaarthurismymom writes:
NTA. Mia is 14. And I’m wondering if she’s on TikTok. There is a huge influx of kids pretending to have various disorders, ESPECIALLY Tourette’s, DID, and autism (particularly stimming).
Tiktok is flooded with fakers and people giving “self diagnosing” advice with self-assigned authority that doesn’t actually align with these disorders. and if Mia is watching them, her algorithm will keep pumping that information to her.
Doesn't even have to be Tourette's. I developed a tic disorder at 39 which is extremely rare. Just started out if the blue during a run one night. It gets bad when I'm stressed but I can control it to some extend. When I'm focused on something it hardly ever happens cos my brain is busy with other things. So yeah, OP, YTA. Very much so.
YTA - what the actual f___? There are actually cases were teens developed tourette and no one really knows why. So maybe next time you just listen to your daughter instead of being such a f$^%&^g bad parent.
Hi! I have realised how much of a s^$%#y and neglectful parent I’ve been, I’m taking her to the doctors (I won’t be in the room) and plan to make an update post in a few days time
I realised how much of a downright awful and abusive mother I've been to my child through the reality check people gave me, (in reflection, it's honestly incredibly upsetting that people on the internet of all things was the one to make my realise how much of a horrible mother I've been).
I realised how serious the situation was and that my daughters life could be on the line so I took my daughter to the doctors, she was diagnosed with Tourrette Syndrome and the doctors think she may have ADHD but hasn't been diagnosed with anything in regards to that. (I was not in the room when she got the diagnosis but her father was).
I apologized to my daughter who forgave me, but I really don't think i can do anything to make up for the years of neglect I put her through but I know I can fix things now for the future.
My daughter suggested we take family therapy and also asked if she could have private sessions for herself which I thought was a great idea! (We started family therapy recently). I've joined a lot of groups that specialise in parenting children with tourettes and it has been really helpful in making me understand what my daughter is going through and how I can provide her with the best support possible.
Thank you so much to everyone who sent me DMs and commented on the post sharing their stories and those who offered to answer any questions I have, everyone has been nothing but helpful.
It's only been a few weeks since that post has been made and a person can only change so much during that time frame but I will continue to better improve my parenting for the sake of my three lovely daughters. Thank you so much!