Do you do the pigeon walk?

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Aspies are known for their unnatural or odd gait, and I am no exception. Others tell me that I rock back-and-forth when I ambulate; also when sitting. Not an unusual stim for an autistic. But the other one, the one that got me so sadistically victimised in high school and so brutally bullied, was what I call my "pigeon walk". It was pointed out by others (often unkindly) that when I walk, my head bobs back and forth just like you see pigeons doing.

Am I the only one who does this? Does anyone else out there "pigeon walk"? I would be greatly relieved to discover that I was not the only one who did this. Please give me your thoughts.

Why?

Why would you care if you were the only person that did something?

You should be comfortable in your skin and if you aren't, thats the bigger issue here. Not rather people think you do something odd or not. Its the things we do differently that people remember us by and its what creates character. Maybe you do do a pigeon walk but if I was you I would own that freaking pigeon walk.

That is my thoughts,

I bounce a lot when I walk. I don't believe that my head moves, but I suspect that if yours does then it's to help you to keep your vision 'straight' if your body is moving a lot. I believe that pigeons do it for the same reason, actually.

I think I 'bounce' as walking normally is very unnatural to me. If I'm in a situation where I'm not in control of my walk, I'm naturally up on my toes. Walking on my tiptoes is something I tend to do now when I'm in a new place or feeling particularly uncomfortable, and only really when barefoot, but most of the time I walk with the same basic 'posture' as most other people - heel to toe. However, because that's not natural for me, I end up bobbing along. People have commented on it, some just pointing out that I'm very bouncy and others saying "You seem very happy today!", when in fact it's just how I walk. When I was young I know that I consistently walked on my toes, at least until the age of 7, but I guess that somewhere along the line with people commenting and with me realising that it wasn't normal, I trained myself out of that.

My gait was once compared to a gorilla’s. I can only wish I had muscles to match.

With all due respect. I do NOT want advice. Ever. Well-intentioned or otherwise. Unless I clearly and specifically ask for it. Nor do I want evaluation. Nor counselling. Ever. My posts are always precision targeted to the kind of responses for which I seek. "All or nothing", in the best Aspie tradition. It never ceases to amaze me that people give advice even thought they have been asked respectfully to refrain and then continue of offer it even if they have been respectfully asked to refrain; they do not seem to realise that they are getting people's backs up and are not winning any friends.

My apologizes,

I hope you get what you want from this thread,

I bid my farewell,

My son and I have the same gait. It was pointed out to me so I'm not sure what it resembles. I walk on my toes a lot barefoot, but otherwise come down hard on my heel.

My Mum always told me that I have the same gait as her brother - and I know that it is odd because I've had it pointed out many times.

I'm a classic "toe-walker", and I also learned to walk without swinging my arms. So I bounce up and down, and side to side, a lot when I walk. I do sort of swing my arms these days, but only because I used to get self-concious about it - I can still go just as fast with my hands in my pockets as I can when swinging them.

Not so sure about the head-bobbing, but it makes sense that they would go together. It would be like a camera having "image stabilisation", so that the images from the eyes aren't blurred by the increased body movement. If you watch a pigeon, they don't really "bob" their heads. They keep their head stationary until they've made a stride, then the head "catches up" very quickly before the next step - just like the way that ice-dancers fix their gaze on one spot when they do a spin, then whip it round very quickly once per turn, so that they don't get dizzy.

I feel it is necessary to explain why I feel as I do about unsolicited advice. In the first place, I don't need to be told about autism pride―I made myself a f**king "Aspie Power/Autistic Pride" T-shirt for Ch***sakes. My pride includes my gait. When I ask questions like "Does anyone else here do the pigeon walk?" on this website and in these forums, I do so for the same reason that I asked similar questions when I came out as Gay 40 years ago. I started asking other Gay men, "Do you feel this way, too?" "Gosh, I thought I was the only one in the world who felt that way." I wanted to know if there were others who shared my lived experience so I wouldn't feel so alone in the world and to get some sense of community.

I ask these questions about autism because I was only diagnosed in 2014 and I want to learn more―all I can, all that is knowable and all that is learnable―about autism in general and my Asperger's in particular, just as I did when I came out as a Gay man in the case of homosexuality in general and mine in particular. People who give unsolicited advice and try to tell me what I should do come directly between me and my search for those whose experiences are similar or identical to mine own; they come directly between me and my attempts to learn more about autism in general and my Asperger's in particular.

I have a friend, a woman who is autistic, and she is constantly getting unsolicited advice from her NT friends on FaceBook even though she starts every post out with "I do not want advice. I am not looking for advice." She is quite capable of figuring it all out for herself. She repeats that she does not want advice; it comes anyway. There is an old saying that both NTs and people with autism ought always to bear in mind: "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions."

Now it would be a different matter entirely if I posted saying that I WANTED advice―then I would entertain responses from all quarters. Then it would be welcome.

I am not trying to be mean or snap at anybody, but there is only so much I can take before I boil over. Ever since I first joined Wrong Planet, I have intentionally gone out of my way to try to unconditionally support and respect everyone on this website and thank them for any input that they might give me, and I actually thought that everyone here would reciprocate. But that does not always seem to be the case.

And yes I even thank "dcj123" for any input, but you must realise that I am a person of many boundaries, and since I unconditionally respect the boundaries of others, in turn I expect others to unconditionally respect mine. If I do right by you, then you do right by me. Or, as Rabbi Hillel put it, "Do not do unto others what you would not have them do unto you" (Talmud Bavli, Tractate Shabbat: 31a).

My apologies, trying to learn. Posted in wrong area.

I did the tip-toe and when younger the hop everywhere instead of walk. Have seen the pigeon walk that you speak of a few times and it never bothered me in terms of being too unusual. However, many young NTs will search out for anything that stands out from the norm (even slightly) and verbally taunt or even physically bully due to a difference. That's too bad too...as Aspies have so much to offer this world and tend to be quite loyal friends, lovers, and/or workers.

Yes, "many young NTs will search out for anything that stands out from the norm (even slightly) and verbally taunt or even physically bully due to a difference". The story of my life. Bullying and teasing are the most damaging thing that can be done to autistic children. As a child, I wasn't the butchest thing on two heels. Clare Sainsbury in 'Martian in the Playground' aptly writes of people with Asperger's Syndrome that "We are largely immune to gender stereotyping and do not limit ourselves on the basis of what is deemed proper for girls or boys―but it can also be yet another cause for bullying and isolation" (p. 82). I was first called a f*ggot when I was 6 years old. I have no doubt that I possess the limp wrist and the mincing gait of a Gay man, but these were not my only characteristics. My autistic gait, my pigeon walk, the fact that I rocked back-and-forth while ambulating, all these things were placed by my NT bullies under the umbrella term of "f*ggot! f*ggot! f*ggot! f*ggot!" I was called f*ggot as much for my autistic traits as for my homosexual ones. I was universally hated by every single one of my peers all the way up to the day I graduated from high school at the age of 18. Now I realise that things may have changed a bit since the days when I attended school as a child. There are now, for example, anti-bullying provisions as well as Gay/Straight alliances in schools. I was born in 1955, one of the most reactionary periods in North American history, so I never had the benefit of these supports. But we don't just need Gay/Straight alliances in schools―we need Autism/NT alliances as well to protect autistic children from just this sort of thing.

I am sorry to hear that these boys and girls teased you mercilessly about things that don't really even matter....when all is said and done. Sometimes, when I'm alone, I'll sit and think about things and the thought "Much Ado about Nothing" crosses my mind. Am specifically thinking about things that NTs (and most certainly younger NTs) will choose to focus on in terms of popularity vs. unpopularity. And that often makes me scratch my head even more, because nothing is consistent...as years go by and what makes one person "cool" or "uncool" changes as often as the passing fads do.
Am sure it would have been much harder to deal with people bullying back then, as you are so right, now there are many anti-bullying campaigns and stringent rules/laws against this harmful and childish behavior.

Can definitely related also with what you've mentioned about not being strict in following the gender stereotypes, as I was always a bit of a "Tom Boy" and played/enjoyed many sports and outdoor activities. For what is worth, I have to read a lot of research due to my work...and was pleased to find that according to many studies people that are somewhat androgynous are actual healthier than compared with people that are very fixated on the gender role associated with their assigned sex at birth. That makes me very happy!! !!

No, I don't. At least not that I'm aware of. I think I'd have to look at a video of myself to be sure. But I have never gotten comments about it, so I'm assuming that I don't.

I tend to want to jump, bounce, or run instead of walking. And sometimes I walk on my toes. Or I stand on the sides of my feet. That's about all I know concerning the way in which I walk.

I'm guessing that the odd gaits that some of those with Asperger's and autism have are related to the poor proprioception and motor coordination that many have. I don't have those problems, however.

Only comment I have ever had is I can walk very rigid like a soldier.

Oh that brought back some memories. I can be pretty rigid and straight-limbed, but definitely nothing like a soldier!

When I was a young lad, I joined the Boys Brigade because one of my few school friends was already in it. This involved regular formation marching, sometimes with a band. I drove the drill instructor up the wall. I could follow the commands OK, and I could follow the rhythm of the marching band no problem, but over and over he would tell me that I didn't march properly, and to this day I still have no idea what I was doing differently. If we were being reviewed by superior officers, he would always make sure I was right in the middle of the formation, where I was least noticeable (which suited me just fine). I would be fascinated to see some video of it, but this was long, long before the days of everyone having a camera-phone in their pocket.