Do you look autistic?

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am one of those who is very obviously autistic and LD-people recognise it through behavior,actual look and disability/sensory aids,communication and the difficulties that experience,comments from the public happen every week,usualy from parents of young autistic kids who see their kids in the behavior/ look/communication/difficulties.

am thankfuly not abused for it where am living now though used to be called ret*d by scally youths in the old areas that lived in.

I think so, since a woman once asked my mother if I was autistic. I stim a lot, have staring eyes and I am as stiff as a poker. People can see that I am more than just shy. And people talk childishly to me so I can only guess. I can't control myself.

Last edited by IceKitten on 25 Jan 2014, 10:58 am, edited 1 time in total.

Double post.

I don't know...I don't think I really look autistic, at least not to the untrained eye. I'm not sure if most people would know what "autistic" looks like anyway.

I don't do any obvious stimming in front of people, but I do catch myself doing subtle things, like rubbing the material of my clothes or twirling a cord on my jacket. Everyone once in awhile someone will comment or ask about an odd gesture or facial expression I made. But I don't think it would occur to them that I might be autistic. I figure they just think I am odd.

When I watch videos of people with Aspergers, sometimes I feel like I am looking in a mirror. It's hard for me to pinpoint exactly what it is but there is something about the eye movements and gestures that reminds me of myself.

I know I tend to stare at things and at people but I thought that might be because I wear glasses, because it trains you to look through the middle of the lens and have fewer eye movements. The middle of the lens is where things look the best. People who wear glasses are more likely to turn their head to look at something rather than just moving their eyes in that direction.

I don't look autistic. I have trouble keeping eye contact, and I sometimes look vacant in my eyes, but I have largely trained myself to be NT (however uncomfortable). I was trained to "brighten my eyes" at a young age. I have weird habits inside my own home, but outside (or with company) I am very NT. Interestingly, through taking a Meisner acting class, I have learned how to read people's faces and also how to speak in a NT way. This was unintentional at first, because I have only recently learned that I am an Aspie. But now the class has proved very valuable to me and it could be of great value to other Aspies.

I find it interesting that you say you are stiff because I have always been as well. I was very limber when I was doing Martial Arts but I was still very stiff just walking and just when I was hanging around when not in Martial Arts practice. I can still be very stiff now. I do a lot of exercises to try to keep my body looser but I stiffen up very quickly. I wonder if this is common for Aspies. I guess it can also be related to anxiety.

I think it's very common for Aspies. And I guess it's because of anxiety, at least for me, because I'm not very stiff at home with my family.

I look like a member of the Bub race.

I look autistic to people who know how to recognize autism.

I look "different" or "off" or "odd" to people who do not.

I am awkward. I lot of people don't know about Asperger syndrome, so they think I am weird, gay, eccentric, foolish, idiotic, conniving, antisocial, avoidant, inventive, nerdy, strange, threatening, etc.

Some of the 'nerdy' things about me: I sometimes wear Star Wars, Transformers, Thundercats T-shirts. I like to read magazines like Astronomy and Discover, etc when I am bored and people notice it and question me about it. I have strange communication mannerisms. I have a large collection of model airplanes, and Star Wars figurines. Some people have said I remind them of that Sheldon guy from Big Bang Theory. I don't know if I do, as I have not seen much of the show.

What is the Bub race?

When i was in school..text book autism...

Now..no way anyone could guess..

I adapted..and blend in seamlessly..even more so than the so called normal folks..

at times..when i want to..

But i do not even care about blending in anymore...

Even though i do not look autistic..

I go spinning around..in the stores..dancing...

And doing whatever comes naturally...

per what i would have done much younger..if i wasn't terrified about

not being accepted by others...

Age is great..when it comes to adapting...given enough time..a human being..

can accommodate almost any change necessary to survive...

And oh my god..my entire life..is evidence of that...

Seriously not too much different..than Forrest Gump..except for making almost straight A's all the way through College....

and yeah..he was probably autistic..and so called... higher functioning for sure..

He just wasn't the stereotype good grade..type of Asperger person...

Which really isn't necessarily true anyway..it seems.. as in the larger population..some research..

suggests an average IQ at about 98..slightly below the mean..for the country....in standard measured intelligence....

I know I'm pretty awkward. I'm pretty matter-of-fact, hard to talk to. Never know where to put my eyes.

Apparently, though people never call me autistic unless I tell them. People don't know the name of my strangeness but I have been told they can tell I'm different. I can act normal for short periods of time but anyone who knows me knows I am odd.

no. i polish up well on the dance floor.


i would like to to learn russian cossack dancing in the near future

Well..while i realize this post is dedicated to behavior and not appearance..

the link here from this site shows me at 53 now with my wife..

http://www.wrongplanet.net/posts243616-start45.html

and me ..before at 13..in middle..school...

I have to wear sunglasses everywhere i go because of a nerve problem..even at night..

and i get the constant question of are you a cop...

i look like a cop i guess...as i hear this everywhere i go...

But at 13..there is not a doubt that i met all the requirements for Tony Atwood's..'Spot the Aspie' description...

AS i walk through Super - Walmart today...i still never come across anyone who looked as out of touch ..with the culture of the time..

how to wear my hair as a guy..the clothes i wore.. or even the ability to walk a straight line (motor coordination)..or anything as challenging as what i looked like from a casual observer...was ahead of me in REAL LIFE...

But the potential for human adaption..locked in our genetics..ready to open up with epigenetics..and the general process of neuroplasticicty..with enough challenges AND adaption in life..is truly Amazing..and yes my life is full evidence of that...

The worst thing of all to me..is the idea that there are certain limitations...and expectations..of what or what not a person can do based on a medical diagnosis..of any issue..the repression of that ..in reality..i think..can ultimately even be

deadly...

i believe anything is possible..

ergo..

almost everything IS POSSIBLE...at least for me...

THAT IS life's greatest personal lesson...
for me...

And i did not learn all of it..until 53..and am still finding things..in life's experience..
that i never considered even to be possible...

before in life...

The species..evolves slowly...

But we do continue adapting and evolving all the way across the life span..

or devolving.

it works both ways..both in classic evolution...

and epigenetics..and the process of neuroplasticity....