Does anyone have problems with going down stairs?

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KingdomOfRats
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12 Feb 2014, 11:27 pm

am unable to use stairs because of lifelong physical impairment in legs which makes them jerky,not go where they are supposed to go and unstable,have to slide down on bum and have someone physicaly support self in front if am anywhere with no lifts.


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13 Feb 2014, 3:30 am

littlelily613 wrote:
I missed the last step thinking I was at the bottom and wasn't


I did that a couple of times where I live now and fell. Luckily so far I didn't get hurt.



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13 Feb 2014, 5:22 pm

pokerface wrote:
I suspect that having problems with stairs might have something to do with some sort of visual problem as well. I haven't worked it out yet. Can somebody enlighten me?


It's interesting, because I've always thought I had a bit of depth perception issue with stairs. I danced in high school and we would occasionally run stairs and people looked at me like I was crazy when I said I was scared to run down them. I, too, scooted downstairs until I was at least 10 or so.



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13 Feb 2014, 5:35 pm

I have trouble walking down hills that other people are fine with.



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13 Feb 2014, 8:00 pm

I can't use the railing, otherwise it makes me trip. No idea why...

I have to look down when going down the stairs. Up, too. I'm prone to missing a step. I usually don't fall down completely, but I do keel.

We have a cat, so when she's running up/down the stairs aside me, I stop completely so I don't trip over her or get distracted. As soon as I hear her paws on the stairs, I stop cold. I'm sure it's saved me from quite a few incidents.



AdamAutistic
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13 Feb 2014, 8:24 pm

yes. i walk down one step at a time.


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r84shi37
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13 Feb 2014, 10:07 pm

I stand on my toes when I ascend or descend stairs. No problems though.


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13 Feb 2014, 10:16 pm

I'm okay with going up. If the steps are not steep I tend to take two at a time. I am slower coming down though, especially if there is nothing to hold on to. It's a combination of balance/coordination problems and back problems, and one exacerbates the other. Part of why I have back trouble to begin with is because I have fallen so many times from losing my balance or losing my grip on something. And if I have lower back pain it is that much harder to keep my balance, because I have to walk more gingerly. Sometimes just stepping off a curb can set off nerve pain in my back.

The back porch at my parents' house is about 5 feet off the ground and the steps are brick with no railing. I am always afraid I will fall going down. The steps are almost 4 feet wide so they are plenty wide enough but I tend to misjudge where the edge is when I start going down. One time I feel off the side coming down and landed with my tailbone on the corner of one of the steps. So I hesitate coming down to make sure I am in the middle of the steps. Sometimes I have to come down sideways, putting both feet on each step.

I hate getting on/off escalators, but I am too impatient to just ride one so I usually take all the steps and hurry to get off. I am afraid if I just go along for the ride, I will start daydreaming and forget to step off at the end.



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13 Feb 2014, 10:19 pm

pokerface wrote:
Escalators are a real problem. Just can't do it. I Have to take an elevator instead or avoid places that have them.


I've never had trouble with stairs since I grew up with them, but now that you mention it, I used to feel very uncomfortable with escalators when I was a kid and also preferred to use elevators.

My NT sister used to have problems with going down stairs a few years back and had to walk down stairs backwards. But that turned out to be caused by a Vitamin D deficiency. The doctors diagnosed her with advanced rheumatoid arthritis (she is only 61), but she proved them all to be wrong and solved it by taking megadoses of Vitamin D. Now she goes up and down stairs quickly once again.



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13 Feb 2014, 10:27 pm

I don't have problems going down stairs... standing though... I often tumble as my balance seems to go elsewhere.



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14 Feb 2014, 12:35 am

I don't know if this is an autistic related thing or not but it continues to amaze me that these things show up on AS forums and I've never seen them mentioned anywhere else. I never heard of anyone else with this problem until I came across this thread.

I've always had problems with going down stairs. I have to go slowly and use the handrail and even then sometimes I misstep. Stepping onto a down escalator is a problem too. I even have to be be extra careful hiking downhill. OTOH I have no problem going up stairs, up the escalator or hiking uphill. I'm impressed how some people can run down stairs or down a hiking trail.

I don't feel it's a balance issue, just a movement that I never really mastered.



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14 Feb 2014, 12:45 am

I have a minor obsession with counting stairs so I always count them when I go up so I seldom make a mistake. Sometimes I miss a number and I find myself stepping and missing or stopping mid way realizing I am off a step. If the colors of the steps change also I mess up. I'm my building floors 5 to 2 contrast with the landing but floor 2 to 1 doesn't. So I often would land and try to step down on a flat ground only to stumble.



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14 Feb 2014, 1:31 am

I have to be very careful on stairs. Especially going down.
Most of the time a grownup is in front of me going down stairs just in case i lose it.



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14 Feb 2014, 5:28 pm

I'm strongly NT in the area of motor skills. The one quirk about stairs that I have, is a strict routine. I always have to step off a flight of stairs left foot first. I'll double step on the last level, if not doing so would mean stepping off right foot first. :D

I can take the first step down with either foot, but the step off always has to be left foot first.


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17 Feb 2014, 4:32 am

glasses with prism lenses, depth perception problems sometimes better



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17 Feb 2014, 9:06 am

Escalators are no problem but I do have trouble going down stairs. I can go up them all day long but coming down is scary. I can't go down them normally. I have to literally take one step at a time. Both feet need to be on the step before I can take the next, rather than each foot on an alternate step. And I cling to the hand rail for dear life.