physical problems

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Is there a connection between autism and physical problems?
What is the best way to help with it?

I am 27 and I have problems with walking. My dad has been working to try and help me. He has been trying to teach me to bend my knees with out falling. I find it more hard with walking down than up. This has been hard going and I am not making much improvement.
One of my sides is worse than the other and one of my arms always sits bent at the elbow and hanging at the wrist. The other one normally is also bent at the elbow but it flaps about as I walk. I have to turn on my side and take each step one at a time with using rail.
my limbs are very bendy and I have problems with low muscle tone and dislocations.
My dad has a theory that my autism mimics brain damage.
This is because when I walk I have to watch my feet and I have to think very hard on how to move them. He said that walking comes naturally to most people. But for me it is a lot of work and I have to be taught. He says it is like I resemble a stroke victim. But instead Autism is the reason. Is other people here having this difficulty? How to you fix it?

hiya SkyHeart welcome to the club. i wish i could help you. i've been clumsy all my life as well, and have been known to trip over my own feet. i have fallen down stairs all the way down to the bottom landing, all on my butt. but i'm thankful that at least i didn't break any bones all these years 'cept for once when i broke my little toe when i got it stubbed on a low piece of furniture that stuck out into the hallway. my muscle tone has always been subpar at best, which meant i had very little physical strength as a child and young adult and could easily be manhandled even by women.
physical/occupational therapy wouldn't help me too much because my problem is a lack of proprioception [having a feel for where my body boundaries are relative to environmental boundaries/protruberances] in addition to lacking presense of mind/attention span when i am distracted by something in the middle of a physical task, IOW falling down on the ol' "walking/talking/chewing gum" thing. for example, in the gym lockerroom i will forget or not notice that there is an open locker door above my head when i have bent down to pick something up that fell out of my locker, and then i get distracted by something else such as somebody calling my name, i've been known to precipitously get up and bash my head into the door without taking care to maneuver around it. if you were to shave off all my headhair you'd see lots of dents and dings. ouch.

your father's good-hearted efforts with you are commendable. but i believe that long-term professional multidisciplinary physical/occupational therapy would be the best thing for you. i hope you have access to state benefits for disabled adults, for you to receive this therapy.

My physical health has always been outstanding and I am usually fit as an athlete with very good coordination and dexterity.

I don't think there's any relation, and therefore, I'd recommend having a neurologist examine you to find out what's going on. It could be as simple as a vitamin B12 deficiency or something like that, to a serious condition that can be helped with the proper treatment.

We with autism & Aspergers sometimes can be clumsy with gross motor skills (I walk into doorframes, hit my head constantly on things like tree limbs and furniture), but strength and muscle tone are no problem. In fact I'm a former powerlifter and still am active in bodybuilding.

Charles

This is where I feel that the MMR vaccination has something to do with my AS, because every time a thread pops up about any ''physical differences'' I don't seem to have any of them, unless it's got something to do with the brain, like stimming of some sort or clumsiness or fast walking or having difficulties smiling, etc.

But I don't blame having a sinus problem or having small hands or having blue eyes or having size 5 feet or having a bunion or having lighter than average periods on having AS. That's just the way I am. Everybody's different.

Does lots of WP members think NTs are some sort of superhumans?

auntblabby: thank you for your reply. That sounds difficult. I also walk into things. But I think that is because I am always looking at my feet. thank you for your advice. I will talk to dad about it.

bruinsy33: That is good.

kx250rider. I do not think it is a vitamin deficiency. I have had the same problems all my life. Also dad says I have had a lot of blood tests. I should have been found out before now. I am 27. I am going to talk to dad about seeing someone. that is a good suggestion.

Joe90: I thought my problems could have something to do with autism. This is because when people see me they can tell there is something wrong with me by the way I move. How I walk. Sometimes people guess I am autistic by how I move. everybody is different but I think you would not like to so something about having physical difficulty that stop you from doing a lot of things other people can do. I have had 6 dislocations so far because of low muscle tone. The doctors tell me even if I can do strengthen my muscles it will be a case of when and not if I will dislocate again because even if my muscles are more strong my muscle tone will still be low. The first dislocation was my elbow it was from falling wrong on my arm, the doctors put it back in place but it kept falling back out on its own because of low muscle tone. The second dislocation I had was my knee cap it moved to the side of my leg ripping my muscles and tendons. To do this all I did was walk around a corner. I did not manage to keep my legs strait when I did this and that is what happened. I have to think hard about how I move all the time to avoid this. I know that there is much worse things. But I would like to know a reason for all of my difficulties. Maybe it is caused by my autism.

SkyHeart
It sounds to me like you may have hypermobility ("my limbs are very bendy and I have problems with low muscle tone and dislocations"). This is very common among people with ASDs, although it is not a given. Myself and my daughter are the exact opposite in this respect, although I'm pretty clumsy. I'd recommend you get this checked out as I'm sure you can be helped (not cured) with the right exercises.

thank you. that could be what is happening. I will find out more.