Question about lack of Proprioception/Coordination.

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To start off with, I've read and understand the textbook definition of both coordination and Proprioception. I however, have some questions about a few things in my life that don't seem to make sense to me. Normally when I think of someone being uncoordinated or clumsy it seems that someone would just be entirely uncoordinated in all aspects, and not conditional to the activity being preformed. My roommate is a good example, she is self proclaimed "epicly uncoordinated". One trip between her room and the kitchen can involve tripping over her own feet, running into a door knob, kicking the trashcan and slipping on the kitchen floor (I use this as an example because she has done this exactly before). She is, unfortunately, this clumsy in all activities. Am I correct in thinking this way? Does any of this last paragraph make sense or am I rambling?

The thought I'm trying to convey is that I can be completely uncoordinated in some activities, but in others I have no issue coordinating my hole body to complete the task at hand, even complex ones. This seems like a pretty good contradiction to me. When I tried playing sports in the past I couldn't catch a ball to save my life. For that matter even trying to walk through a door can give me problems sometimes. I somehow manage to miss the center of the doorway and end up with my shoulder trying to knock the door frame out of the wall. (So far I've only succeeded doing that once >_>). I also have issues maintaining balance on one leg, or touching the tip of my nose if I close my eyes (Proprioception, correct?).

The part that is confusing to me is the fact that I can ride a sport motorcycle at racing speeds without any issue. I can drive my race car which requires using the clutch, brake, and gas all while at the same time steering, shifting, watching gauges, and paying attention to the road/track. I can also be very competitive in PC based online gaming (FPS shooters). How can someone be so uncoordinated and at the same time complete highly complex movements?

Is this normal to Asperger syndrome or am I just extraordinarily strange and contradicting in this aspect? Is there any way to train and improve coordination in the activities that are lacking? I very much appreciate any input, knowledge, or experience anyone on the board can offer me.

I dont really have much knowledge of this, but I recalled watching a boy on the tv who had Aspergers, who could not walk in a straight line down a corridor and would seem to go off centre and bump into things. They gave him tinted spectacles ( I believe the colour varies to the person ) and was suddenly able to walk in a straighter line.
It was very interestingr.

Sensory integration: A form of occupational therapy in which special exercises are used to strengthen the patient's sense of touch (tactile), sense of balance (vestibular), and sense of where the body and its parts are in space (proprioceptive). It appears to be effective for helping patients with movement disorders or severe under- or over-sensitivity to sensory input.

I feel, in the OP's case, that motivation and intense focus might play at least a small role in his proficiency at race car driving. He is able to focus narrowly on the mechanisms required for success. Perhaps, this narrow focus is not present when he does other things; hence, his clumsiness.

I can type quite well; but I run into lampposts. When I'm not focused intently on things, my clumsiness tends to increase.

I think you find this quite frequently in Aspergers: varying degrees of clumsiness, perhaps affected by focus/motivation.

I would concur with what Kraftie has said.

I'm also incredibly clumsy a lot of the time. Like the OP, I'm forever clipping door frames with my shoulders (I have a profound hatred of coffee tables for this reason too - my poor shins!). I also seem to get more coffee and sugar on the counter than in my cup, struggle to judge if my stride will reach the other side of a puddle, tie myself in knots when dressing and undressing, and many more...

If someone tries to show me how to do a gymnastic exercise, or how to tie a particular knot, I cannot translate what the other person is doing at all - their movements give me no sense of how my body should move, or what my proprioception should be sensing when I do it right. "You're showing me how to do it with your hands, but I have to do it with mine."

However, I can play several musical instruments, including drums, which involves coordinating all four limbs; and I learned how to control a vehicle quite easily (the reason I don't drive is because of my limited situational awareness, not physical co-ordination).

For me, the key to it is that I have to learn how to perform a task in my own time, mostly by trial and error; and I have to be able to focus on the task without distraction, at least while I'm first learning it. I'm also certain that I clip door frames etc. much more when my mind is occupied by other things, so that I'm trying to navigate my way around "on auto-pilot".

I'm waiting to hear at the moment about an Occupational Therapist referral for the sensory integration therapy that Noura4eva mentioned. I'm really looking forward to finding out if they can teach this "old dog" some new tricks!

I can fail to put something properly on the counter so that falls off--and catch it before it hits the ground!

^^I always have a little celebratory stim if I manage that - a little moment of joy because the accident was avoided!

Balance problems are more commonly related to vestibular processing issues, although proprioceptive issues could be involved as well.

It seems like a natural thing that a person might be very coordinated in some tasks and not others. I think there are degrees of motor-coordination problems. There are also different types of motor skills problems and more than one possible cause for each type. Plus, even a very uncoordinated person is likely to have less difficulty with something they do every day and have done for years than something they do sporadically, or are just learning to do.