repetitive behavior w facial tic, is it a stim?

My 14 month old son is very social, loves people, has great eye contact, will hand things on command, gives kisses, answers to his name, he does however have very limited speech, he does say dada but not at my husband, he not wave, clap, or point, he balances toys on his thumbs or anything for that matter anytime you do not have his direct attention.  He has a facial "tic"  that consists of closing his eyes, opening his mouth, clenching  his fists and cocking his head back all in a split second when he is over stimulated auditory or visually.  For example, if I open a drawer and put my hand inside and disturb the contents, he has 4-5 tics in a row. The latest thing that I could see that set his tic off was him visually seeing me stir a pot with rice, or seeing a large red and white "tow away" street sign while on a walk...He will also do it if someone whisles They happen from 10-30 times a day,   We are scheduled for various medical tests, he has already had an eeg which came back good, and had an mri today w and w/o contrast , but I do not believe it is a physical medical problem. Even his speech therapist has made comments on his obsessive behaviors with the hanging on the fingers thing.  She has asked leading questions like does he ever spin, etc...but then when I took him to a nuerologist he said he had stranger anxiety and good eye contact so it couldn't be autism, he said it was probably more on the lines of a tic disorder...  Could you please watch is video and please tell me in your opinion if it looks like a stim to you? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLBOZ-MgUuY   Any insight I could relay to his dr.s I would appreciate more than words can say..." Also he has had a hearing test, seen a developmental ped, ot/pt evals which they said he need nothing further.  A nuerologist as well, should the next step be a physcologist?

[Jessica L Thomason Sassi, Ph.D., BCBA-D]

Unfortunately, just watching a clip of a behavior won't reveal whether its a motor tic disorder or stereotypy ("stimming") - the two can look identical under some circumstances.  It sounds as though you have been very proactive in getting some assessments scheduled/completed, and that is the best thing you can do about the situation.  
Although repetitive and stereotyped behaviors are one of the diagnostic criteria for autism, those types of behaviors aren't restricted to just developmentally disabled populations - it's not uncommon for typically developing children to engage in stereotypy.  Although it is best to rule out neurological disorders, etc., the fact that he engages in those behaviors don't mean for certain that he has a neurological or developmental disorder.  So if other doctors (especially the developmental pediatrician) have indicated that no further testing is necessary, you may want to consider just continuing the relevant therapies (speech, etc.) for a while and watching to see whether the facial movements improve or not.  On the other hand, if you strongly believe that you are seeing other indicators of autism (delays in social development coupled with delays in delays in language), you may want to ask your doctor to see another developmental pediatrician or psychologist.

Best of luck to you