Is being 'clumsy' normal for ASD?

Post Reply New Topic

Dyspraxia is common is Aspies, so yes it is common for us to be clumsy.

I generally look like I'm wearing polka dots although the vast majority of my bruises are on my legs below the knees, as this seems to be the place which takes the brunt of me bumping into things.

I have way above average balance. I can succesfully do Handstand pushups and walk down my driveway doing handstands...

But I still manage to knock cups of tea etc over or kick over drinks that are on the floor because I didn't notice them etc. Or turn around with a hot pot or some thing in my hand and burn some one.... not realising there was some one behind me when i turn... it gets pretty hard to explain especially when I've burnt people more than once not realising they were behind me when i have turned aroudn with hot pots .... or chip baskets out of a deep frier...

I guess I'm lucky, never been bruised in my life, except my bones a few times.

I was actually quite well coordinated as a child and very physically active. As I got older, I got clumsier. I concentrated more on academics than on physical things. I have been quite clumsly lately and regularly get bruises on my legs.

I am only clumsy while eating spaghetti or drinking coffee when I wear a white shirt.

I'm a lot more clumsy now than I used to be.

I always like the conspiracy theorists.

I'm clumsy every now and again, but that's about it. I've always been really good with balance beams and The Balance Game (see who can stand on one foot the longest back when I was a kid). However, I trip over my own feet fairly often and I'll drop things every now and again.

I suspect we get even worse as far as clumsy goes as we get older and aren't playing outdoors like we did as little kids. I'd say climbing and running is what helps people learn coordination. But then you take an Aspie that gets excluded as a child from games and play with other kids so they withdraw and go inside and get on the computer. Or as adults we get to busy with work and life, etc to be active then all that coordination we did learn flies out the door. I'm sure I was much more coordinated the years I studied martial arts. But I wouldn't even attempt a reverse flying roundhouse kick now for fear of killing myself.

I'm rather clumsy too. Growing up, phys/ed classes were always tough. I write software for a living, but my fingers just can't keep up with my thoughts as I type. I still have a fear of heights which I now see is rooted in my awareness that I tend to loose my balance. In some cases, I've compensated for my clumsiness by just taking things real slow (e.g. working with power tools).

I've:

-Succeeded in breaking tupperware.
-Stabbed myself with almost every pencil I've gotten ahold of.
-Stuck a fork up my nose because I missed my mouth.

I've heard that it is a normal for us to be clumsy since we don't have the best coordination and most of us probably walked on our tip toes alot as a child.

I'm very clumsy and half terrible depth-perception/spatial relations issues. I've played music my whole life, on various instruments, but I always struggled with the finger stuff, which is probably one reason why I concentrated on composition. As a kid, I couldn't catch a ball to save my life, and I never could learn to dance. I drop things, spill things, and make horrible messes without trying. I've gotten pretty good at compensating for the depth-perception/spatial-relations stuff - after years of learning, I did eventually learn how to drive a car and get a license, but I'm still generally pretty bad in the basic motor skills department.

I was wondering if the clumsiness and lack of "rhythm" or dancing ability are closely related. I've always been fairly clumsy, and although I love to dance, I'm not very good at it. I was kicked out of an aerobics class because I was throwing other people off. It doesn't seem to be spatial perception, though - I have to think about the movement and then translate it to reproduce it. That sounds nutty, huh?

No, that is not nutty. It sounds about right to me. I always take a place in the back of classes like aerobics, martial arts, or dancing. I may be clumsy, but I try anyways.