Are there real physical differences with Aspergers?

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Hm, of the things that have shown up on studies I only have crooked teeth, a large head, and probably an androgynous brain. I wouldn't know about the lungs. I don't have any autoimmune disorders myself but they are very common in my family.

I do have a low body temperature, low blood pressure, very large tonsils (yeah, opposite of the others here), am nearly blind in one eye, and have never broken a bone.

I don't seem to age. I'm 31 and look 14. That's not just my claim - I get asked for ID to show I'm over 16 all the time (like when I sit in the emergency exit row on a plane). It's weird.

I look very young for my age, I have strong resilient bones and so on but I have to wonder if there is any real connection between any outward physical trait and autism, this all smacks of the pseudoscience of Phrenology.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phrenology

Must be neanderthal genes.

Youd make a good poster child for the 'neanderthal theory of autism' believers.

Damn!

Never heard of any of this!

Is this aspies, or autistics, or both?

The only thing I have listed in all of that is I have crooked bottom teeth. That's it.

It really confuses me because I've read somewhere that Down's Syndrome and Fragile-X aren't neurological conditions because it affects the whole body, but Autism is a neurological condition because it's a difference in the wiring of the brain, not so much affecting the rest of the body.


There are some things that people get confused between physical and mental, like hand flapping in Autistics. Hand flapping is still controlled by the brain, or is something to do with the person's cognitive behaviour or even characteristics. Walking along with a limp could either be physical (the person has hurt their leg or foot and has no choice) or mental (it's just the way the person feels comfortable with walking, regardless that it could be damaging their foot, therefore turns into a physical issue later on), or could be some physical defect they were born with.

I've also read that some people born with physical differences like Cerebral Palsy can have mental conditions that go with it, like Mental Retardation, learning difficulties, or Autism, or other disorders like that. But having Autism does not cause these. I have AS and I am physically normal, and so are my other Aspie friends that I know.

The only physical trait I believe may be related to AS is having inflamed ears. I'm not sure if that's to do with how the brain processes sensory issues or not, being so both ears physically feel inflamed. Might just be me though. I also have onset of Arthritis, but I don't link that with having AS at all. Most of my mum's side of the family have Arthritis, and I have been told it can run through a family, so I believe it's just genetic.

I have quite a few of these traits actually. Brachycephaly, asymmetrical facial features, high narrow palate, hypermobile joints, limited facial expressions, sandal gap toes, and prominent lower jaw. It's kind of weird, cuz I've always known I was a strange looking person, but didn't put two and two together until recently.

I believe I have some hypermobility in my fingers. I can lock them in a weird position. I have a weird yin/yang-esque thing with my right and left arms. My right arm is super sensitive to needles and I'll basically lock up in the most intense pain from having one break skin. However, my left arm seems to be completely numb to it. I don't know much else about my physical traits, I'm pretty oblivious to the things my body can do.

MrXxx, Do you have a link for this new study suggesting that an autistic brain has more neurons?

According to research most autistics have crooked teeth and asymmetric faces. We also have bigger heads, bigger brains, bigger eyes, longer eyes, more upward slanting eyebrows, broader noses and broader mouths than NTs. We are statistically shorter. We are more likely to be androgynous, and our brains does not have the sexual dimorphism NTs have. We have twice the amount of neurons (and I don't know how many times more synapses) and it shows in our superfocus. We are more likely to be RH negative. We are more likely to have heterochromia. We are more likely to have red hair. We are more likely to be hypermobile. We are more likely to suffer from a whole array of autoimmune disorders. We are more likely to have epilepsy. We are more likely to be allergic, especially to milk. Our gut flora is often different than NTs and we are much more likely to have problems there. We have a different lung structure.
Next time someone does a thread like this it would be fun if we posted all the research that has already been done too.


of th above list i have

crooked teeth
bigger head( have to wear mens hats)
attached earlobs
broader nose
shorter then average(5.2)
had RH as child.. possible autoimmune,, also gluten intolerance
food allergies
sensitive gut
heterochromia

other things i saw listed ihave
stiff joints
poor coorination and muscle tone
think like a cross between a man and a woman,( joke that ihave membership on both mars and venus)
small hands and feet???
basically ive always been different physically and it took until my 50s to figure out why,,

Thankfully I don't have any of the physical characteristics mentioned in this thread. I just mentally have Asperger's Syndrome, with mental co-morbids with it, like depression, anxiety, stress and social phobia.

Where is this mythical researched sourced, link?

I don't think I have any real physical differences.

[img][800:1600]http://oi41.tinypic.com/23sx8xc.jpg[/img]

Me at age 4 at the sea with a smiley smiley face. I don't see any physical difference between me and an NT child. If you see some, tell me what they are.

My husband doesn't have a diagnosis of autism and I don't think he would meet the criteria, although he does fit the bill for broader autistic phenotype. Our daughter is the only one of us who has a diagnosis of Aspergers. She gets a lot of it from me, but a fair bit of it from her daddy's side, especially when you take her late grandpa and uncle into account, who definitely had/have Aspergers (I can say that without a professional opinion as there's no-one more obvious than either of those two). Bending of the fingers back and sitting in the lotus position - well that truly belongs with my hubby's side. My daughter and I are quite stiff with high muscle tone. I can't even sit with my legs crossed and, despite practicing every day for years and attending ballet classes throughout my childhood, I still could not do the splits. My husband's also the one with stretchy skin (which is connected to hypermobility), whereas my daughter and I have skin that can't even be gripped between the fingers. Joe90, It's not so unusual that your mother might have some traits commonly associated with autism, even if you don't have those traits and she doesn't have autism. Notably there are plenty of people with autism who aren't bendy (my daughter included and me, if I do have autism). But, hypermobility is much more common among those with autism than it is in the general population. This appears to apply to family members as well, who don't have autism themselves. Just because it doesn't apply to you, doesn't mean it's not related to autism.

When I was young I had very low muscle tone despite the fact that I was active [exercise lways relaxed me]I was in my late twenties before I finally gained some muscle definition, which I would say peaked in my 40's.

I was also slow in losing my teeth, in my thirties before wisdom teeth tried to come in, a very late, but very explosive physical puberty. Also, I had almost no wrinkles, sagging skin, etc. until I got sick [when I caught up and then some] I was nearly fifty before I could "catch the beat" enough that I could dance. I was late in so many things and I wonder if that is something peculiar to Autistics, or just me.

I was born with OVERSIZED Tonsils, and double jointed knees.