What's an autistic walk?

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I have slumped shoulders, which sometimes gets commented on. More and more I'm remembering to pull my shoulders back.

I used to be told that I walk like I have a broom stuck up my arse. That very image has made me try hard to walk more normal.

Often when watching TV, I'll sit back in the chair with my fist under my chin. Only reason I can think I might do this is to give my chin something to lean on. It's something I try not to do, unless I'm in the room alone.

My husband and 6 year old son both toe-walk quite often. That's the only weird thing my husband does when walking. My 6-year-old ... I'm not sure how to describe this so it makes sense ... it's like he swings his feet back and to the side with each step, and he tucks his elbows under his armpits, with his hands right in front of his chest. And sometimes he'll pull his hands back under his armpits - exactly like doing the Chicken Dance.

It sounds absolutely bizarre to describe. He doesn't do it ALL the time, but often enough that we're working on curbing it.

I hunch when I walk and look at the ground alot.

There is no such thing as "an autistic walk" that's absolutely ret*d. I walk like a macho I have been told.

Really Charloz? "ret*d"? That's your descriptive of choice? Of all the words in the English language, you could not have picked a more sensitive descriptive? I know you think I am picking on you but I am not trying to pick on you. You just offend me so much and so consistently that it makes me react. So I apologize if you feel I am specifically picking on you because that is not my intention.

Anyway, here are all the things Tony Attwood's book says about Asperger's and gait. I kind of like to think Dr. Tony might just maybe know a thing or two. This is why I don't think it's a myth.

I don't know why the one quote came out in reverse caps when I copied and pasted it but you can still read it. The quotes are as follows:

Asperger noted that they often needed more assistance with self-help and organizational skills from their mothers that one would expect. He described conspicuous clumsiness in terms of gait and coordination.

A movement disorder
A young child may be identified by parents and teachers as being clumsy, with problems with coordination and dexterity. The child may have problems with tying shoelaces, learning to ride a bicycle, handwriting and catching a ball, an unusual or immature gait when running or walking.

? Children with Asperger?s syndrome have the following characteristics:
° delayed social maturity and social reasoning
° immature empathy
° difficulty making friends and often teased by other children
° difficulty with the communication and control of emotions
° unusual language abilities that include advanced vocabulary and syntax
but delayed conversation skills, unusual prosody and a tendency to be
pedantic
° a fascination with a topic that is unusual in intensity or focus
° difficulty maintaining attention in class
° an unusual profile of learning abilities
° a need for assistance with some self-help and organizational skills
° clumsiness in terms of gait and coordination
° sensitivity to specific sounds, aromas, textures or touch.

1991)
aS MUCH AS PEOPLE WITH aSPERGER?S SYNDROME HAVE A DIFFERENT WAY OF THINKING, THEY CAN
ALSO HAVE A DIFFERENT WAY OF MOVING.fiHEN WALKING OR RUNNING, THE CHILD?S COORDINATION
CAN BE IMMATURE, AND ADULTS WITH aSPERGER?S SYNDROME MAY HAVE A STRANGE, SOMETIMES
IDIOSYNCRATIC GAIT THAT LACKS FLUENCY AND EFFICIENCY. oN CAREFUL OBSERVATION, THERE CAN BE
A LACK OF SYNCHRONY IN THE MOVEMENT OF THE ARMS AND LEGS, ESPECIALLY WHEN THE PERSON IS
RUNNING (GILLBERG 1989; HALLETT ET AL. 1993).

When examining general movement abilities of children with Asperger?s syndrome, there can be signs of ataxia; that is, less orderly muscular coordination and an abnormal pattern of movement. This can include movements being performed with abnormal force, rhythm and accuracy, and an unsteady gait. Observations of walking and running, climbing stairs, jumping, and touching a target (the finger to nose test) of children with Asperger?s syndrome indicate signs of ataxia (Ahsgren et al. 2005).

the research literature of adolescents with Asperger?s
syndrome developing a slow and steady deterioration in movement abilities (Dhossche1998; Ghaziuddin, Quinlan) and... ...freeze? during an activity, and at times may demonstrate a resting tremor, a slow shuffling gait, muscle rigidity and a flat, almost mask-like face. These characteristics resemble the movement patterns

Last edited by skibum on 25 Sep 2014, 2:21 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Ouch.

Obviously what I meant to say, and it's a shame this was misunderstood, is the following:

Some people on the spectrum do indeed walk a bit funny, but I would say that in most of us our style of walking is only so slightly 'off' that no one who is not a trained professional would be able to tell and associate the way we walk with being autistic. So for someone to say that "you walk autistic!" is a really, really silly and weird thing to say. Ridiculous.

A lot of people seem very upset by my usage of the R-word, especially on this site. I am not in the habit of censoring myself but this is the second or third time this has happened, and they say this thing about donkeys and stones, don't they? I'll try not to use it anymore.

I did not mean any offense by what I said. I was merely pointing out my absolute disgust and disbelief at the thought of some stupid as*hole saying to a member of this site (OP) that they walk "autistic". That statement itself offended me greatly in it's intense stupidity.

To clarify:

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS AN AUTISTIC WALK AND PLEASE STOP GENERALIZING ALL AUTISTIC PEOPLE!

Thanks everyone, most autistics seem to walk in a similar way as I read from the replies even if its not a similar walk its still not a 'normal' one,, I also walk with slump shoulders and sit, whenever I walk I have slump shoulders and a hunched back but sometimes I try to walk straight from all the lectures I get but later on without me sensing it my shoulders return slump and back returns hunched, its an unconscious behavior :p unlike walking straightly its just uncomfortable and makes me feel conscious about how I look

It's taken me years to correct my posture and walk.

I don't really know how I usually walk, but I'm sure it's pretty normal. Except when I go up and down stairs because it's hard on my knees. Sometimes I try to walk down stairs normally but I find it jarring and I'm worried I might fall. I'm flat-footed so maybe I walk funny in a way that only other people notice. I had to wear special shoes when I was a little girl to correct some walking problem where I think if I wore heels more than two centimeters high I'd twist my feet.

I often have my left arm horizontally across my belly by the bottom ribs with my left hand hanging down limp. That is more recent, I used to walk with both hands clasping each other behind me, but my parents got rid of that habit by taking us all hiking with large bags.
I apparently turn weird, or at least I used to. I used to get in trouble at school while walking down lines for being a "clown." This was doubly so at turns, I don't know if it was because the teacher stood there to watch the students make the turn or if it was because I turned weird more than walked weird.
I also seem to have a bit of a waddle when I walk, and I bump into things all the time.
Running is weird too, many people have told me I run weird. I don't run anymore.

Do you have to be so rude?

I now think its not just "swinging the arms". Its rotating the shoulders. You can swing your arms but still be slumped forward. Rotating the shoulders with the arms relaxed helps in walking more upright.

Apparently this is what you are suppose to do: Warning: Your brain will shrink

I do the slouching/no arm-swinging/looking-at-the-ground thing when I walk. I have no idea why; it just feels most comfortable.

I don't know if there's an "autistic walk," per se, but all the material on ASDs I've read suggests that an "awkward gait" (whatever that means) is common. "Common," of course, doesn't mean "universal," so it's like every other facet of ASDs--everyone has a different set of traits.

i do look slightly downwards while walking; also, my upper body is almost completely still while i don use the 'normal' heel-roll walk, but some awkward in-between, touching down with the entire foot at once (i toe-walked as a child, but they tried to unlearn that, they never really succeded, but now i cant do either).

there is no true single way how autistics walk, but there is the common factor that almost all of them walk differently then 'normal'

Never swing your arms when you walk, it's a primitive form of swagger.

Never stand up straight, so people underestimate your size.

Never look at someone, but in their general direction.