Autistic posture and facial expression
Kajjie
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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....
I don't think we have a particular facial expression or posture in common, unless you count the "neutral" facial expression for the many of us who don't usually show much on our faces unless we're deliberately doing so.
The woman who originally diagnosed me said I had an unusually rigid body posture.
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SeizeTheDay
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I have really bad posture, I don't know if it related or not. If I'm standing, my head will be leaning down, and my hands will be together and my elbows always stick out. And as for my facial expressions, my mom says I always look like I'm zoned out if I'm not doing anything.
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It's hard to say anymore considering people used to be really anal about making kids sit up and have good posture and these days they don't bother. Most people have a weird posture these days.
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The blank face is pretty much the norm for those with an ASD [no matter the internal or external emotional state]. Some have developed somewhat appropriate facial expressions, or better, passable expressions, but it'll still be odd and different to the normal population. Odd postures are also the norm (it's a neurological disorder after all); this can manifest in several different ways.
I can smile, and I usually do such when I see someone that I like (I'm happy), or when I see something that's "bad" (a mangled corpse strewn across the road, for example).
I had scoliosis as a girl. I still have a slightly crooked back, but it's not noticeable. Mild scoliosis doesn't even require treatment. It's when the ribs or lungs get crowded that problems start. They do screenings for it in schools, around the time kids have growth spurts.
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Moop
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I have bad posture. For me, it is a result of being hypermobile. Apparently hypermobility is associated with AS, because we have vestibular and motor abnormalities, which affect things like posture, joint stability and awareness of body position. Or so I read in a guide to Asperger Syndrome, and it rang true for me. I'm clumsy and am often banging into things because I'm not fully aware of them and their distance from me. I find I either have a very bendy, floppy posture, or a very stiff posture, as I tense my muscles to try to compensate for the looseness of my joints. I spent many hours as a teen walking with a book on my head, to try to get a good posture, but it didn't work!
This guide to AS that I read also said that people with AS often will rest their head and other body parts on stable surfaces, because of poor muscle tone. I found that interesting, because I do this myself all the time. But I'd never heard before that it was a characteristic of AS, so I'm curious if others do this too. For instance, when I am standing I often turn my legs inward and make them cross around each other, so each leg supports the other. And when I am sitting, I like to be crouched so that my legs and body are all supporting each other. People often tell me I look like I'm in a very uncomfortable position, but I am actually very comfortable and would find their positions uncomfortable.
This guide to AS that I read also said that people with AS often will rest their head and other body parts on stable surfaces, because of poor muscle tone. I found that interesting, because I do this myself all the time. But I'd never heard before that it was a characteristic of AS, so I'm curious if others do this too. For instance, when I am standing I often turn my legs inward and make them cross around each other, so each leg supports the other. And when I am sitting, I like to be crouched so that my legs and body are all supporting each other. People often tell me I look like I'm in a very uncomfortable position, but I am actually very comfortable and would find their positions uncomfortable.
this is an exact replica of my situation. i have lax joints and muslces and I also bang into things a lot - i clip corners and edges of things constantly. i also slump and slouch. I also note that no matter how much exercise i do, i still have a low muscle tone and tenseness - in the lower half of my body but not the upper half. I actually find standing still and upright to be hellish. and i was often criticised at sschool for not keeping still when upright. it was just awful To this day, i avoid places where I have to stand for great lengths of time. (I am the woman at the edge of the crowd, twisting her back or doing stretches into weird positions, or i just sit down on the floor cross legged and say "to heck with everyone," while others are listening intently AND standing for ages.
I might add that not evryone with AS has a flat facial affect. Some of us with AS have the opposite problem - an inability to regulate facial expression - so that the expressions are quite strange and overly pronounced. THis is my gig. and I am embarrassed by it. I can appear like a cartoon character. I have done some digital fimling for my psych and it has been really upsetting to watch how rubbery my face is. It is the opposite extreme of the flat facial affect situation. and yes, it happens to some people with AS.
CleverKitten
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I tend to hold myself rather rigidly, with my back straight and head up.
This was because in the fifth grade, maintaining "correct posture" was part of my grade! And the teacher also said that little girls who sit up will have nice flat tummies when they grow up.
I do have a nice flat tummy now, but I doubt it was because of the way I maintained my posture.
People often tell me that I look very tense, and that I need to "relax." Actually, I already feel relaxed!
My "neutral" facial expression apparently appears to be a somewhat pissed off look, even when I am actually quite content. (My avatar is a picture of me with my neutral face.)
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nothingunusual
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I don't think my stance is especially unusual (although I used to always cross my arms when I was younger), but when I'm sitting I'm very hunched-over. I also have a 'gangly' gait and a quick pace.
My facial expression is quite neutral unless something has really amused me or stirred-up some other extreme emotion.
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Kajjie
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This guide to AS that I read also said that people with AS often will rest their head and other body parts on stable surfaces, because of poor muscle tone. I found that interesting, because I do this myself all the time. But I'd never heard before that it was a characteristic of AS, so I'm curious if others do this too.
I do that! But I've never thought I have any problems with my muscles.
As for the hypermobility - I think Aspies can have trouble with proprioception (the ability to know where parts of your body are in relation to each other), which is a cause of hypermobility as you wouldn't know when you'd bent a joint too far.
A lot of people are mentioning blank facial expression - the expression I recognised in the program isn't blank. It's sorta tense/concentrated, I think. The eyebrows are down rather than resting.
millie - I think I have problem with regulating facial expressions. People often seem a bit confused by my facial expressions. I've seen myself looking stupidly happy (maniac grin) or riddiculously sad.
CleverKitten - I think your avatar looks neutral.
People are also mentioning posture and back problems - I think maybe i get backache because I don't stand properly - I slouch loads. I also bend my head down more than others: I walk with my head down, I bend over more than others when I'm working at a desk....
There have been occasions in my past where people have actually gotten angry with me based on nothing but my facial expression. Sounds crazy, but it's happened more than once. Before now, I just wrote it off, believing that the persons involved had problems of their own and were externalizing them making moi the focus. Which, of course, has always prompted a quick "FO." Don't have time for idiots.
Now, however, I'm reconsidering. Maybe there IS something coming through with facial expression that I'm not aware of.
I've learned a blank, bland, or neutral expression though, and wear this one most of the time. Problem with that is, that what seems blank to me is often misperceived by others as something completely different. I feel as if I'm projecting NOTHING, and yet, somehow, observers see all kinds of things. Arrogance, aloofness, and egotism mainly. And oooohhhh boy, if I try to simply be dignified, people instantly label it in the worst ways imaginable. I'm inscrutable, unapproachable, even "intimidating." This stuff makes so little sense to me. I want to scream at them to get a spinal column and grow up and quit blaming me for their infantile insecurities. Because, in the end, I'm the one who pays for such idiocy.
After years of this nonsense, finally just gave up and decided to use it. If people are going to act like children, I'll treat them as I would a child. Sounds bad, but there are still yet some people who manage to amount to more than just another one to ignore.
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FrogGirl
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