Not swinging arms while walking--was this a sign?

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At some point when I was a kid, my parents noticed I didn't swing my arms when I walked and started telling me to swing them. I know this can be a sign(?) of AS but does anyone know if it can also just be a phase that kids go through? Or a sign of something else? I'm 38 now and I swing my arms when I walk. I guess I started doing it when my parents nagged me about it and it became natural. I googled it and only found AS related info or completely irrelevant info on it.

Actually, I often see kids not swinging their arms when they walk, and it's actually quite common in kids. I even see teenagers walking along without swinging their arms. When I wait in the bus stop in the mornings I see teenagers walking to school and it's not unusual to see one walking with quite a bad posture and not swinging their arms.

So, yeah, I do think it's a phase kids go through. Well, not all kids, but it's definately not necessarily a sign of Autism.

Huh. Never thought it was a sign, although I do remember learning that it was very rare for a person to walk without reflexively swinging their arms. I don't swing mine and I lose my balance if I try. Friends have told me in that past that it's irritating to them to see me walking without swinging my arms. In the past few years I've tried to train myself to do so but I can't manage more than a very subtle swing. I'm 27, if that matters.

I have no idea if it's a "sign" or not, but it's nice to know I'm not the only one who does this. : )

I used to get insulted/mocked for not moving my arms when I walk...for a while, I tried forcing myself to do it, but I found it very difficult.

It's weird you just made this thread, because I went into the city last night and for a little while I paid attention to the people around me. I was surprised by the number of people whose arms weren't moving while they were walking...it made me feel a lot better about it.

I was told it was a sign of AS when I was a kid. My mum thought perhaps I would fit in more if I learnt to swing my arms when I walked too. At first when I did it I looked like I was marching, but now it comes naturally.

I didn't know anything about swinging arms until i was an adult. I realize I do swing my arms when I walk and I notice other people swing their arms too. I am not sure if I swung my arms as a kid or not. I never noticed nor paid any attention.

I tend to walk with one hand on my hip and the other around my bag. And when I sit I fold my arms or put my hands over or between my knees. I always seem to have to put my arms somewhere, they feel awkward just hanging there.

Often my arm stays in whatever position it was in when I last used it when walking short distances in my home. On longer distances I walk very deliberately, copying walking patterns from movies or other people, and when they swung their arms so do I.

I get what you mean. You know that kind of odd, hunched side-to-side walk that some men in hoodies do? They don't swing their arms. I say hoodies...but I dunno how else to describe them. Chavs?

I swing my arms too much when I walk (according to one person anyway).

Same thing happened with me, I really resented my dad for telling me how to walk. I got into the habit of swinging my arms but know I have stopped, partly as an act of defiance I guess.

I cannot swing my arms at all when I am walking, they are in some sort of "cramp" at the sides of my body and I also have a "wodden gait" as people told my from childhood on.
My psychologist told me that people with an ASD do not have a sort of proper "connection" of the corpus callosum, the structure connecting the two halfs of the brain, with the two halfes of the brain, which gives this "un-coordinated" way of moving in people with an ASD or ADHD.
I also think it is because of my sensory integration dysfunction, so I really feel highly stressed walking outside because of noise and visual integration dysfunction.

Last edited by Eloa on 01 Nov 2012, 7:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I don't think not swinging arms during walking is an ASD symptom.

I've noticed that NT girls like to cross their arms when they walk.

I actually used to never swing my arms when I walked...I had to be "trained" for like 2 years on how to do it properly lol.

On the topic of arm swinging.... For some reason every once in a while I'll get very focused on how my arms are swinging when I walk and then I'm totally unable to keep them synchronized with my steps.

Any one else ever experience this?

P.S.
Now I'm gonna be paying attention to my arms all day tomorrow!

Last edited by jetbuilder on 01 Nov 2012, 9:24 pm, edited 2 times in total.

I haaaaaate it when they do that! I would hold my arms perfectly still straight down at my sides. I wish I could remember how old I was when my parents noticed it. And I wish I knew if that was the first time I'd done it or just the first time they noticed. I also could not "skip" in kindergarten. All my other marks were high but that one was "needs improvement." I never feel like I know what to do with my arms if I'm standing or sitting (unless it's at a table, then I slump all over the table).