Do you Have an "Autistic Gait"?

Post Reply New Topic

I was out hiking yesterday with my family, and there were some other people at the lake we stopped at, with whom my mother stopped to talk. She told me afterwards that they said I looked about the same age as their granddaughter, who was thirteen (I get this all the time). My mom said no, I was 23, and that I have autism. The family said their granddaughter was autistic too, and that they could tell I was just by the way I walk. I've always had a slightly abnormal, slouching gait, which I've tried to correct with a combination of rolfing and some physical therapy, but I didn't know it was something people could use to pinpoint autism. Have any of you ever been told that the way you walk gives away your autism?

I've never experienced anyone identifying me by the way I walk, although I have a weird, sort of limping, striding or cat-like gait.

That's weird. I've never hear of that, or seen it. And I've worked with autistic kids and adults.

I've had people tell me that I walk funny, or that I look clumsy or awkward when I walk (I look clumsy/awkward doing many, many things). I spent time as a child trying to learn to walk more normally, but I still look odd, I guess. Swinging my arms is not natural for me, so I have to remember to do it, and then I only swing one. I don't think anyone would know I was autistic from that, though.

I have noticed that I walk slouched over, staring at the ground. I think this is because the world is too bright and busy, and the ground is calmer. I can't look up when I walk because EVERYTHING is there and it's too much, so I stare at the ground, and that makes me slouch. Wearing sunglasses helps some, but I also just have to remember to keep my back straight when I walk. I'm sure I look odd. But no one has ever said I looked autistic.

BTW, I also look younger than I am.

Yes, walking can be awkward for me, though I enjoy it and walk a lot. I've received charming comments like, "You have a gay walk." Whatever that is. My walk is like what others described above. Awkward, maybe--but it works for me

I've heard of the autistic gait thing (people have done research about it) but I don't know a lot about what it looks like.

I've never had anybody say I walk different, so I assume I probably have a normal gait.

Supposedly, people with autism walk on their toes.

...I have a crippled , hobbled , gait .....................

_________________
Renal kidney failure, congestive heart failure, COPD. Can't really get up from a floor position unhelped anymore:-(.
One of the walking wounded ~ SMASHED DOWN by life and age, now prevented from even expressing myself! SOB.
" Oh, no! First you have to PROVE you deserve to go away to college! " ~ My mother, 1978 (the heyday of Andy Gibb and Player). I would still like to go.
My life destroyed by Thorazine and Mellaril - and rape - and the Psychiatric/Industrial Complex. SOB:-(! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !!

Yeah

Not swinging arms
stiff posture

Those two are common in autistic people. Toewalking is more common in kids with it. Poor posture (slumped shoulders) is common too (adults and kids).

huh. Nobody connected it with autism, but I had to wear shoes built up on one side because I walked pigeon toed as a child. Later, I walked with a long, rapid stride with swinging arms, instead of walking in a ladylike-fashion. My mom called it my "Princess Leia walk". Now I hobble around a bit because of tendonitis in my feet, which may be result of years of not walking properly. I'm also very clumsy and tend to knock into walls and other objects, or trip over things. My cousin, also autistic, was a toe-walker.

yep.
slouchy and always walking too fast (which is funny on a short person. think dachshund or corgi).
when i run i don't have a regular stride and it's hard to describe but it just looks...awkward.
i have also been told it's an autistic trait, however i have known two different autists who i thought had perfectly regular gaits so idk.

No one has ever told me I walked funny, only comment I have gotten was I was going too fast and to slow down and wait for them and my mom will tell me "Am I right next to you?" to mean to wait for her and I am going too fast.

I walk on my toes regularly, but not all the time and I mostly do it when I don't have shoes on. I also tend to do a lot of the things described above like looking at the ground because it's easier, not swinging my arms often and sometimes swinging only one, and I have also been taken to a podiatrist a few times to try to correct some of my strange walking habits that are apparently not very good for my feet.

So yeah, my posture is very strange and I have received some comments about it.

I've been told so, yes. It's funny, though, I'm 22 and people always think I'm about 12!