Autistic posture and facial expression

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-JR
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12 Feb 2009, 12:37 am

At school, I had horrible posture. I suppose that's normal for bored as hell teenagers though. At home, however, or in other situations, I was complimented on a regular basis for my posture.

My mother chided me when I was younger for walking with my head stuck out. She thought it insanely stupid looking, and remarked on this often. I basically lead my body with my head, even today. That's how it looks anyway.

I don't believe myself to have poor muscle tone as I used to wrestle. However, I do lean myself on things. Ever since I was a child I used to "tuck" myself into tight spots, or force my body into positions where I was "stuck." Example of this these days is my posture in whatever vehicle I'm in. Having my arms and hands in a way that there is "force" keeping my body in place. It's difficult to explain. :-/


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millie
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12 Feb 2009, 12:46 am

Quote:
Kajjie wrote:
Sometimes I notice I have an odd posture, and I've read this is a symptom of AS.
I looked at some photos of me in a play and noticed that I stand funny, and I wasn't aware of it (I'm looking at them now and thinking "I look riddiculous - do I really stand like that?").
Has anyone here been told they stand funny, or noticed that they do?

Also, a while ago, I was watching a documentary which mentioned a boy with an ASD, and they showed a picture of him, and his facial expression really strongly reminded me of a boy at my school who has AS. It made me wonder, is there an 'autistic facial expression'? Or maybe it's just a co-incidence about the boy at my school and the boy in the documentary....


some people with ASD's can have lax joint and/or low muscle tone. I cannot stand easily without leaning against something and i was the kid in the class leaning on the desk with slumped shoulder and head resting on arms etc.



Electric_Kite
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12 Feb 2009, 3:20 am

I tend to carry my head pushed a little forward and tilted slightly downward and to the right. I am not normally aware of it. School-photo photographers used to think I was doing it on purpose so I'd look like I was being hanged in my picture, and I now remember to straighten up when I encounter a camera.

I toe-walk. People made fun of me a lot for it in school, and I tried to stop, but I still do it most of the time.

I once walked in on my paternal grandmother, my step-mother, and my brother's wife all laughing about how their husbands do 'The Tyrannosaurus Walk' when they aren't feeling well. Toe-walk, tilt head forward down and to the right, draw your arms up to your chest with hands hanging limp from the wrists. They were imitating this around the kitchen wearing slack blank expressions and giggling, and saying how it was really useful because they could tell when their husbands were coming down with a cold before the husband knew it, and send him to bed. Grandmother noticed me and remarked that it's not useful when I do it because I do it all the time.

Actually, I don't do the arm thing much, as it really attracts negative attention, but last time I was ill I was totally tyrannosaurusing around the house for a couple of weeks.

Anyway, I seem to remember Danielismyname describing 'The Tyrannosaurus Walk' in some previous thread and saying it, and its components, are a neurological thing.



Stray-Ana
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12 Feb 2009, 1:12 pm

I have been told I look very animated at times - I have always felt off with my expressions and when I used to take the train to college and I was bored I would have music [earphones] on and do facial expressions like some sort of subconscious practising. I can only make sense of it in retrospect - at the time I just used to not make myself to aware or wonder why.

I can have a very flat expression on one extreme but my usual is just sulky or maybe a bit p!ssed off. Then there are times I am overly expressive - it's like all things I notice with me - not really any middle ground.

When I was little I became aware that when I was walking I used to hold my arm up but with my hand just hanging down / limp wristed and it took alot of focus to stop doing it when I realised it didn't look to good.

And I always hate sittng on a chair in the 'normal' way - I always like my legs tucked some way or another or I like to kneel but I don't like my legs just hanging there like they do if you sit the regular way.

Last thing I notice in many pictures of me I always have one shoulder higher than the other no matter how straight I thought I was standing. When I became aware of that I tried harder to not do it but still, in most cases, one shoulder is higher?



Stray-Ana
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12 Feb 2009, 1:35 pm

Electric_Kite wrote:
Actually, I don't do the arm thing much, as it really attracts negative attention, but last time I was ill I was totally tyrannosaurusing around the house for a couple of weeks.

Anyway, I seem to remember Danielismyname describing 'The Tyrannosaurus Walk' in some previous thread and saying it, and its components, are a neurological thing.


I wonder if this is what I described that I used to do all the time when walking? I have even referred to it as Tyrannosaurus arm!

Stray-Ana wrote:
When I was little I became aware that when I was walking I used to hold my arm up but with my hand just hanging down / limp wristed and it took alot of focus to stop doing it when I realised it didn't look to good.



mitharatowen
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12 Feb 2009, 1:38 pm

SamwiseGamgee wrote:
I usually sit like this woman:
Image

The picture is from the back of the book Women From Another Planet. I was actually totally surprised to see someone else sitting like that because I really thought I was the only one. I've never paid much attention to how I walk, but I tend to stand awkwardly because it's more comfortable. And all my life people have annoyingly told me to "cheer up" when I was perfectly content so there's at least something wrong with my neutral look. And I do sometimes have my mouth open a little but I don't know for how long because whenever I notice it I stop doing it.


I sit like that too!! ! 8O I've never seen anyone else do that!
I also have been asked what's wrong when my face is neutral lol



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12 Feb 2009, 1:52 pm

I was told by my mother, from the time I was a child, that I both sit and stand so straight, I look like I have 'a ramrod up the arse'. :lol:

Others have simply commented that I'm one of the rare tall females who not only wears heels all the time, but always stands super-straight.

All of this is massively ironic given the fact that I've got scoliosis and my right shoulder and hip are now a good inch higher than my left....



Kajjie
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12 Feb 2009, 4:47 pm

Electric_Kite wrote:
'The Tyrannosaurus Walk'


I like these names for things. I have named a set of movements Hummingbird thing, which is usually when someone's excited, and then run around on tip toes, with their upper arms by their side and their lower arms outwards and flapping. Like in that episode of the Simpsons where Apu stops sleeping and thinks he's a hummingbird. :lol:



RoisinDubh
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12 Feb 2009, 4:54 pm

The Hummingbird Thing? Would that look anything like this -

Image

Cos I still do this on occasion....





(Yes, as a matter of fact, I was almost as much of a ridiculous anachronism at 6 as I am now....and damn proud of it!)



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12 Feb 2009, 4:56 pm

My posture isn't too weird but it's not that good either, and I'm always bumping into stuff or losing balance.
I have a pretty normal walk although I used to walk on my toes. My face usually looks pissed off or like I'm deep in thought, I do smile though if I'm thinking about something funny


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Kajjie
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12 Feb 2009, 4:59 pm

RoisinDubh wrote:
The Hummingbird Thing? Would that look anything like this -

Image

Cos I still do this on occasion....





(Yes, as a matter of fact, I was almost as much of a ridiculous anachronism at 6 as I am now....and damn proud of it!)


Yes. I do it when I'm hyper. So does one of my friends. :)



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12 Feb 2009, 11:50 pm

Stray-Ana wrote:
I wonder if this is what I described that I used to do all the time when walking? I have even referred to it as Tyrannosaurus arm!

Stray-Ana wrote:
When I was little I became aware that when I was walking I used to hold my arm up but with my hand just hanging down / limp wristed and it took alot of focus to stop doing it when I realised it didn't look to good.


Sounds like it.

The Hummingbird Thing is what happens when I'm doing The Tyrannosaurus Walk and get agitated.



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13 Feb 2009, 12:11 am

I saw pictures of me at my sister's wedding. I looked like I wanted to kill people, which was odd because i was having a good time.


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13 Feb 2009, 6:03 am

Maditude wrote:
I saw pictures of me at my sister's wedding. I looked like I wanted to kill people, which was odd because i was having a good time.


I've been told my default expression looks like I'm on the verge of going on a murderous rampage, and I've seen a LOT of evidence of it in photos. Sometimes, I really AM on the verge of killing everyone, but not always. It's better, though, than what I look like when I'm forcing myself to smile for photos....I end up either looking mentally challenged, in pain, or like a complete psycho....which I suppose ALSO implies I'm going to kill people.



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13 Feb 2009, 6:47 am

RoisinDubh wrote:
Maditude wrote:
I saw pictures of me at my sister's wedding. I looked like I wanted to kill people, which was odd because i was having a good time.


I've been told my default expression looks like I'm on the verge of going on a murderous rampage, and I've seen a LOT of evidence of it in photos. Sometimes, I really AM on the verge of killing everyone, but not always. It's better, though, than what I look like when I'm forcing myself to smile for photos....I end up either looking mentally challenged, in pain, or like a complete psycho....which I suppose ALSO implies I'm going to kill people.


I get this and people asking what.. like I'm smiling or my eyes are and I don't notice. It got nothing to do with them or don't know what I'm thinking.



Kajjie
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13 Feb 2009, 3:13 pm

RoisinDubh wrote:
Maditude wrote:
I saw pictures of me at my sister's wedding. I looked like I wanted to kill people, which was odd because i was having a good time.


I've been told my default expression looks like I'm on the verge of going on a murderous rampage, and I've seen a LOT of evidence of it in photos. Sometimes, I really AM on the verge of killing everyone, but not always. It's better, though, than what I look like when I'm forcing myself to smile for photos....I end up either looking mentally challenged, in pain, or like a complete psycho....which I suppose ALSO implies I'm going to kill people.


Maditude that made me laugh!

Forcing smiles is hard. I've seen pictures where I've forced smiles, and sometimes it looks completely geniune (which always suprises me) and sometimes it looks really strange. Not like 'mentally challenged, in pain or like a complete psycho' (although I do the psycho grin naturally when I'm excited lol), just really strange and forced.