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Feeling love, having both emotional and physical attraction to others, and seeking close companionship is a large part of the human experience. It is common for kids as young as five-years-old to begin talking about crushes they have on peers and becoming curious about relationships. However, these expressions may reflect feelings of closeness to their crush, rather than true romantic attraction. Young kids' ideas of relationships may come from movies, fairy tales, and the romantic relationships they watch play out for parents or other adults. Essentially, they understand that people want to spend time with their partners and like them as a person. At a young age, it is easy to confuse this for any close relationship they may have with friends, a babysitter, or even parents.

Since these evaluations are very detailed and comprehensive, they can take many hours to complete. It is likely that different parts of testing will occur on different dates, to preserve your child’s energy and allow them to engage to the best of their abilities on each stage.

The world of child and adolescent mental health evaluations can feel shrouded in mystery, especially when there is pressure to find the right kind of evaluation to best serve your child’s needs. It might feel like there are many options for assessment, and it can be hard to tell the difference between them.

Tics can be hard to understand, because our body and our voices are often something that we feel like we can control. Researchers also don’t know the exact reason or cause for tics, but many do believe that tics are a result of changes in the part of the brain that controls movement. Tics have also been linked to presence in biological family lines, indicating that they could have a genetic basis.

As a caregiver, it can be concerning when your child seems to engage in repetitive movements or sounds that you can’t quite understand. Children can often do things that seem funny or strange, and it can be easy to assume that their vocalizations or movements are a result of a choice that they are making. But if their repetitive movements or sounds persist over time, it is possible that they are tics, and these actions are not a choice.