Does stuttering give you tics when you speak?
Stuttering can, at times, include physical behaviours that may resemble the types of tics seen in people with Tourettes or other neurological disorders. These types of behaviours, in people who stutter, are called secondary behaviours, and are often caused indirectly by their stutter.
Secondary behaviours often initially emerge as deliberate strategies to reduce the frequency or severity of stuttering. For example, a person may find that they are stuck in a moment of stuttering, but it resolves when they try some kind of physical bodily movement (such as leaning forwards, scrunching up their face, or clenching their hands into fists). Then, the next time that they stutter, if it again feels uncomfortable or like they are stuck, they may deliberately apply the same strategy (e.g. clenching fists). If this process repeats enough times, the individual may find that the behaviour becomes a habit, and it occurs without deliberate forethought..
These behaviours initially feel as though they help reduce the severity or duration of a moment of stuttering, but typically their helpful effects subside over time. Over time, as stuttering remains uncomfortable despite the development of their first secondary behaviour, some people begin to use new behaviours in addition to the first. These behaviours follow the same trajectory as their initial secondary behaviour. In this way, some people end up with noticeable movements (that may resemble tics in their speed and appearance), which no longer influence their speech but which have become automatic habitual responses to their stuttering.