Do people with Asperger's look different?

Page 1 of 5 [ 65 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5  Next

Ganondox
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 7 Oct 2011
Age: 29
Gender: Male
Posts: 5,778
Location: USA

30 Nov 2012, 7:19 am

naturalplastic wrote:
Besides the third eyeballs in our foreheads, not really.


Of course, it's hidden under a thick layer of skin.


_________________
Cinnamon and sugary
Softly Spoken lies
You never know just how you look
Through other people's eyes

Autism FAQs http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt186115.html


lonelyguy
Sea Gull
Sea Gull

User avatar

Joined: 28 Sep 2012
Age: 40
Gender: Male
Posts: 216
Location: UK

30 Nov 2012, 8:29 am

I think maybe some of us have a certain look about us it might be facial expressions..that make us look a bit different from others.
Sometimes the way you hold yourself might make you look awkward....in my case i think sometimes i feel uncomfortable when i am around people and maybe they notice that..so sometimes you get the odd idiot that gives you a nasty comment. :evil:



Tyri0n
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 24 Nov 2012
Age: 38
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,879
Location: Douchebag Capital of the World (aka Washington D.C.)

30 Nov 2012, 10:44 am

One shoulder is higher than the other, and one ear looks a little different.

Otherwise, I think I am pretty good looking. 8)



Joe90
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 23 Feb 2010
Gender: Female
Posts: 26,492
Location: UK

30 Nov 2012, 12:53 pm

No, Aspies don't physically look different. It's just body language and posture that can look different. Well, my body language and posture just makes me appear as unconfident, not exactly different.


_________________
Female


Cuckooflower
Deinonychus
Deinonychus

User avatar

Joined: 4 Oct 2012
Age: 37
Gender: Female
Posts: 348

30 Nov 2012, 10:15 pm

Well, I don't know; some very highly autistic people do look odd.

But in general, I don't know. Obviously the facial expressions and gestures and postures and movements are different. I think autistic people move in a different way from NTs, like there's a barrier between an AS person and an NT person. I experience that way anyway.


Also; Does anyone else have any of this?

I have a lot of hyper extension of my limbs, bilateral co-ordination problems and I have weird feet. Little toe bends over onto the toe next to it. Both do.
And some webbing between some toes (sounds weird I know..)
Also, I do have a big head, sort of......Could just be general genes

I am particularly curious about the hyper extension though. I am convinced this a part of my autism.


_________________
Dime quienes son tus amigos y te diré quien eres


NutcrackerPrincess
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker

User avatar

Joined: 9 Oct 2012
Gender: Female
Posts: 62

30 Nov 2012, 10:16 pm

No



auntblabby
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 12 Feb 2010
Gender: Male
Posts: 114,800
Location: the island of defective toy santas

30 Nov 2012, 10:30 pm

Cuckooflower wrote:
And some webbing between some toes (sounds weird I know..) Also, I do have a big head, sort of......Could just be general genes

you have those features in common with the hyper-talented and hyper-intelligent high-functioning quasi-aspie by the name of dan ackroyd.



littlelily613
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 11 Feb 2011
Age: 41
Gender: Female
Posts: 3,608
Location: Canada

01 Dec 2012, 12:21 am

No real obvious characteristics that scream 'this person has autism". Sometimes by movements and lack of facial expressions or ones similar to my own, I can pick out people on the spectrum just by looking.


_________________
Diagnosed with classic Autism
AQ score= 48
PDD assessment score= 170 (severe PDD)
EQ=8 SQ=93 (Extreme Systemizer)
Alexithymia Quiz=164/185 (high)


Dillogic
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 24 Nov 2011
Gender: Male
Posts: 9,339

01 Dec 2012, 1:08 am

Depends on what you mean by "different".

Physical features? Not really (though there's some papers on this matter that point to some common features in some groups)

Outward physical appearance? Yes.



NarcissusSavage
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 2 Sep 2009
Age: 43
Gender: Male
Posts: 675

01 Dec 2012, 3:26 am

Not at first glance.

It isn't so much that autistic folk have a particular "difference" or unusual trait(s)... it is that they have a statistically relevant greater number of different minor traits, from a large pool of characteristics. None of which are exclusively autistic only.

So there is no give away, no tell tale sign. But by looking closely, and adding up the sum total of specific traits, then yes.

There is also the general mannerism, expressions, and behaviors. Those can be "seen" as well.

I'd post links, but someone has already done so earlier in this thread.

Personally, I have:
posteriorly rotated ears, small, one ear has small cartilage tab sometimes called a Darwin's Tubercle.
down slanted eyes (palpebral fissures)
hair whorls
tapered fingers
peculiar deep set nails, heavily ridged.
epicanthal folds
extreme joint laxity (hyper extensive/double-joined etc.)
youthful, naive looking, flat expression
nearly hairless (bodily), bizarre facial hair pattern (very little there too) {I'm always clean shaven though, else... yeah always}
extremely narrow skeletal frame (still have wide shoulders), long frame (6"4")
soft thin skin, more translucent than normal, prominent veins
several other physical, but not observable traits.

I'm told that I have an unsettling, eerie, unnerving appearance just as or more often than anything else. None of those traits are by themselves an instant give away, but when you add them all up, it suggests indeed I am.

When I add together the evidence that there are physical appearance differences from my traits, the traits I’ve observed in the few other autistic folk I’ve personally met, and/or observed on video and most importantly the case studies that show statistically significant differences… I know what answer works for me. Yes, we look different… but not obviously so.


_________________
I am Ignostic.
Go ahead and define god, with universal acceptance of said definition.
I'll wait.


Last edited by NarcissusSavage on 01 Dec 2012, 4:20 am, edited 1 time in total.

LabPet
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 4 Jan 2007
Gender: Female
Posts: 4,389
Location: Canada

01 Dec 2012, 4:05 am

No. But, that being said, our eyes are reported to have an "unfocused intensity." I take this to mean a far-away expression that is easily misinterpreted as something else. Paler soft skin can be associated with AS. And we do look younger. Hans Asperger wrote the children are so pretty.

Have you all seen this yet? Disclaimer: I do not (necessarily) purport this is true/accurate. Instead, it's an artists interpretation of Aspies, and beautifully done. Enjoy, even if just for the artistic merit. We are beautiful.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqGhDPhaRrc[/youtube]


_________________
The ones who say “You can’t” and “You won’t” are probably the ones scared that you will. - Unknown


whirlingmind
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 25 Oct 2007
Age: 58
Gender: Female
Posts: 3,130
Location: 3rd rock from the sun

01 Dec 2012, 6:10 am

Yes they can do. Which is scientifically proven, as per my previous post on this thread:

Quote:
Not usually so you'd notice, but according to research (and to the trained eye), yes:

https://sfari.org/news-and-opinion/in-b ... ose-autism

and

http://www.stat.missouri.edu/faculty/fl ... mun_12.PDF

There's lots more out there.

I put up a poll about this recently. I have the posteriorly rotated ears, flat malar region and reasonably wide set eyes.


_________________
*Truth fears no trial*

DX AS & both daughters on the autistic spectrum


AspieOtaku
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 17 Feb 2012
Age: 43
Gender: Male
Posts: 13,051
Location: San Jose

01 Dec 2012, 6:25 am

LabPet wrote:
No. But, that being said, our eyes are reported to have an "unfocused intensity." I take this to mean a far-away expression that is easily misinterpreted as something else. Paler soft skin can be associated with AS. And we do look younger. Hans Asperger wrote the children are so pretty.

Have you all seen this yet? Disclaimer: I do not (necessarily) purport this is true/accurate. Instead, it's an artists interpretation of Aspies, and beautifully done. Enjoy, even if just for the artistic merit. We are beautiful.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqGhDPhaRrc[/youtube]
Ive seen the vid it was originally uploaded by Mia on youtube very touching vid I must say though.And heres one of my eyes hehe [img][img]http://imageshack.us/a/img515/1966/picture8wz.th.jpg[/img][/img]


_________________
Your Aspie score is 193 of 200
Your neurotypical score is 40 of 200
You are very likely an aspie
No matter where I go I will always be a Gaijin even at home. Like Anime? https://kissanime.to/AnimeList


whirlingmind
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 25 Oct 2007
Age: 58
Gender: Female
Posts: 3,130
Location: 3rd rock from the sun

01 Dec 2012, 7:02 am

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3005119/

Quote:
This study was designed to examine morphological features in a large group of children with autism spectrum disorder versus normal controls. Amongst 421 patients and 1,007 controls, 224 matched pairs were created. Prevalence rates and odds ratios were analyzed by conditional regression analysis, McNemar test or paired t-test matched pairs. Morphological abnormalities were significantly more prevalent in patients with autism than in the normal control group and 48 morphological features distinguished patients from controls. Our findings show that morphological features are associated with autism. Exploring potential underlying genetic mechanisms of this association might lead to a better understanding of autism.


Of course this doesn't mean that every single autistic person will have any of the features, but there are clear physical differences in many more autistic people than there would be in the NT population equivalent.


_________________
*Truth fears no trial*

DX AS & both daughters on the autistic spectrum


Joe90
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 23 Feb 2010
Gender: Female
Posts: 26,492
Location: UK

01 Dec 2012, 11:47 am

I can tell if someone may be more severe, but I can't spot a person with mild AS just by looking at them. I already have two friends who I know they have got a learning disability of some sort but I can't prove if they are on the spectrum or not. I don't like to ask. I think people (especially females) on the mild end of the spectrum are better at hiding their condition. Also I don't happen to have any of the physical looks that's invented by members here.


_________________
Female


whirlingmind
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 25 Oct 2007
Age: 58
Gender: Female
Posts: 3,130
Location: 3rd rock from the sun

01 Dec 2012, 1:13 pm

I'm interested, which ones have been made up.


_________________
*Truth fears no trial*

DX AS & both daughters on the autistic spectrum