Hand flapping and toe walking

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I see this brought up a lot. Now I went to school with all autistic kids from kindergarten to the 6th grade (from age 5 to age 12). I don't remember ever seeing kids walking around on their tiptoes and flapping their hands, like imitating hummingbirds everywhere they went. But it seems like hand flapping and toe walking get talked about so much I should have seen that all the time. Frankly if I tried walking in my tiptoes while flapping my hands, I'd probably fall flat on my face.

Is there really all that much tiptoe walking hand flapping going on, or is it just something that people pick of a list of traits and focus on and talk about all the time because they sound unique to autism?

I've no idea how common it is. But I used to walk on my toes pretty much all the time, I do still do it but not when I have shoes on, not sure why but it feels strange when I walk normally(how I do with shoes on/not on toes) when in socks or bare feet. I do flap but not a whole lot I tend to move my hands side to side rather than up and down.

Ohhh. that could be why i don't see it cause the kids at school always have shoes on. I asked my dad about me and he says that around the house barefoot or socks, I always walk very quietly like a cat. That I tend to walk on the balls of my feet with my heels barely touching the floor. For the had flapping he says I do something like that except i rub my hands back and forth across my chest really fast sometimes when i get worked up.

toe walking with shoes on is tricky indeed, there is too much counterforce.

also, both toe walking and handflapping happen more often in stressful situations, and an all-autistic school sounds a lot less stressful then a 'normal' one, reducing the need for stimming behaviour

i walk on my toes. on the bottoms of my shoes, the front is all worn out while the heel is like new.

i don't flap my hands too often, but i feel the need to slap my arms into my sides.

I've never flapped my hands. I exclusively walked on my toes from when I learned to walk up until I was around six years old. Now I walk on my toes when I ascend or descend stairs and a few other specific circumstances.

from what I have been reading for most autistics hand flapping is when they are excited, no?
I agree with Tetris, they probably walk more on the toes when they are not wearing shoes!
also, maybe there is an exaggeration of the extent of those two stims, there is a great diversity of stims and maybe those two are more talked about as some type of stereotype like rocking back and forth. Could be it.

To respond to what linatet said, yes, I think it is mainly due to excitement. I used to "hand flap" all the time when I would get very excited and happy about something (though it was less of a flapping motion and more of a fluttering jazz-hands type motion while I shifted from foot to foot). I haven't done it in a long while though, since I've transferred it over to less obvious things.

As for toe-walking, I can't recall if I did it regularly. Now I do it if I'm not wearing shoes and walking on a wood or tile floor because I don't like the idea of my socks getting dirty. I also do it if I'm walking up, and sometimes down, stairs regardless of whether or not I have shoes on.

I can't say I've ever heard anyone claim they did both at the same time.

I've never specifically "walked" on my toes, but I do rock back and forth on my toes when I'm forced to stand in a que.

I've never overtly hand-flapped, but I do hold my key fob and flick my wrist up and down a lot when out in public, I think it's the same impulse.

The actual reality of these behaviors may not always fit the visual image you get reading about them - though I did know a kid in Junior High who did a classic nervous hand-flap almost constantly, it made him look like a big, gawky, awkward bird, like a spastic stork or something. Of course, I had never heard of autism back in those days, so never made a connection. I can only assume now, that's probably what it was.

I have only seen a toe walker once and that was when I was eight and it was in a daycare room at a fitness center. I wonder if the girl was autistic but I will never know. She didn't talk and she was still in diapers and looked to be about five or six. I asked her mom why she walked on her toes and she wouldn't tell me because she didn't know why and asked me why so I walk flat on my feet and told me some people walk on their heels. I walked flat on my feet because it's what everyone does. I was confused by what I saw because I saw something so different I had never seen before. The diaper part was normal because I grew up around that because I was always surrounded by special needs growing up and some of them were still in diapers. But not once did any of them walk on their toes and I never saw any hand flapping either.

its a steryotype, some autistics do it, i remember one kid in my old school did it, but i dont think it should be a go to thing. Hand Flapping is more common than tip toe walking.

I walk on the balls of my feet all the time, all of my socks get holes there.ive often scared people because of this,unwillingly sneaking up on them.like others have stated its usualy when i am not wearing shoes. Though when i am angry i will walk on my heels and also have learned to do it to announce my presence.cant realy remember ever flapping

I've never been a hand flapper, but I tend to rub my hands together. By the things people are saying in this topic, I think I should consider it a stim. But I do walk on my toes. I have as long as I can remember. I think it's a body/joint pressure thing, like popping knuckles is and like rocking may be.

What do you guys think?

With shoes on I have discovered that I keep the weight off of my heel although the space is rarely visible because the shoe's heel touches the ground because it is often loose thanks to my poor lace tying.

Charlesmabe wrote:

Not sure about the joint cracking,but the rocking probably is a stim.i loved rocking chairs and such, i felt like it was kind of soothing.

joint cracking is a stim too