Strength

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Is anyone feel like they are weak due to aspergers because aspergers affects muscle tone.

i don't see how it affects muscle tone, i would think however that aspergers might make it so you don't know how to use it like say on the job or something.

I didn't know AS affected muscles. Does it, really?

I guess because I'm so socially awkward (and maybe due to my poor coordination), I tend not to participate in anything, including some sports/physical activities etc. And that might be indirectly contributing to my rather not strong body.

Yes it does.

Why that explains a lot but I refuse to believe you until you cite some kind of source.

Aspergers does not affect muscle tone, there are no physical indicators of ASCs recorded, it is not part of the basic picture.

However, almost all people on the spectrum have some form of motor control issues comorbid with the ASC. Dyspraxia, now called developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is a common additional diagnosis, often given before the ASC diagnosis. This can cause low muscle tone.

There are several elements to the muscle tone issue and most of them are based in the sensory processing area. The main areas of difficulty are centred in the proprioceptor and vestibular systems.

If you have proprioceptor processing differences you will be finding it difficult to process the physical signals from your body - these may include things like hunger, pain signals, temperature, bowel and bladder signals, but also signals from your limbs and core body muscles may be either heightened or suppressed. This makes it more difficult to use them and control them and consequently you end up not exercising them properly.

Vestibular problems cause issues with balance and impact on the control of the body too.

There is a neurological basis for this - DCD is a neurological developmental condition - but I don't know the processes involved. However, they may also involve a chemical basis for the failure of muscles to work effectively in DCD. Whether this would be due to processing differences or the under-use of the muscles I'm not sure. I know someone whose central focus is fitness and he has excellent muscle tone but to keep it he is doing 4 hours a day, every day, in exercise classes, most people I know on the spectrum have low muscle tone even if they are skinny and get regular exercise at normal levels. I was an extremely physical child (probably ADHD) but still had low muscle tone.

Asperger's Syndrome doesn't effect ones muscle tone, but a lot of people with Asperger's Syndrome do have a low muscle tone. Cerebral Palsy is the condition that can effect muscle tone, and it can effect other things like facial expressions, facial features, the way that they walk, motor coordination and their intelligence quotient (a lot have an intellectual disability).

I think weakness is more about AS preventing you from properly practicing sports than directly affecting muscles.

No, I am even too strong, it's just that I can't control my strenght. It may come out all at once when it's not needed, and it may not come out at all what it's needed. I have an awful motor coordination, I don't have balance, I can neither grip a pen or fork correcly, but I do am strong. I also have a good stamina. This is what helps me with martial arts: my lack of coordination and balance is compensed from my strenght and stamina.

My problem involves the optimal use of force. I tend to write through several sheets of papers (sometimes breaking pens and pencils), slam doors (or, conversely, not close them completely), walk heavily, yet I sometimes drop dishes, cups and other objects because I failed to accurately determine how much force to use to maintain a grip on them.

i can squeeze with my hands a bathroom scale to 18 stones with a distressing effort.
i will film it if no one believes it.

I have this problem as well. I have poor coordination, and the combination makes me a general klutz.
Incidentally, I was a very puny, scrawny, weak, underweight kid. (I'm of basically average build as an adult.) I don't know if that was related to ASD or not. I disliked sports and most forms of exercise, which didn't help any matters.

applying a 'proper' amount of force is the bigger issue indeed.
i dont appear to be all that strong, and for intents and purposes, i am not; but if i feel the need to have more strength, i can summon a lot more. so much indeed that it scares me, i never dared to see how much i can actually summon, since i feel that increased strength makes me agressive as well (insert dragonball sayajin great ape reference).

as an example, i usually have trouble carrying a large bag of popatoes (like 5 kilos), but if i'm working, i can grab and carry a new beer keg (50 liter ones) on my own from storage to the bar without breaking a sweat

I never really had issues with coordination.But I used to have no upper body strength at all.I mean my bicep curl was 5 pounds the first time I went to the gym .Now I can curl 40.What is really weird is that I always had very broad shoulders.I look like a football player but I didnt have natural upper body strength.

Im guessing it was because I only exercised my thumbs from ages 5 to 16

Applying the "proper" amount of force is mainly due to the sensory feedback loop not being as effective as it should be - if you are not getting enough signals or the signals are delayed or not processed effectively your brain cannot determine how much force you are exerting and you end up either being unable to exert enough force or you over-do it. This is nothing to do with actual strength - the strength may or may not be there, it is how it is used that is the issue here.

Cerebral palsy can impact on muscle tone and coordination but it is not as common as a comorbid with AS as DCD is (CP much more common alongside Kanner's autism or PDD-NOS diagnoses) and is generally seen as the primary diagnosis when it does occur as the impact of CP can cause autistic traits. Autism itself does not lead to learning/intellectual disabilities but those disabilities can also be comorbid with ASCs - recent studies have shown that the spread of cognitive abilities is the same within the autistic population as within the NT population, ranging from impaired to exceptional with most people at an average level. Unfortunately there is a misconception that intellectual disability is part and parcel of an ASC but this is mainly because initially AS was not recognised as part of the spectrum so for many years the only people being identified as being on the spectrum were those with Kanner's autism and learning difficulties are more pronounced in that group, as are the severity of the impact of traits on daily living and functioning. We now know that even people with severe communication impairments, including those with little or no speech, can still have good levels of cognitive ability even though they may have no way of expressing their understanding - evidenced by the number of people who are now able to communicate on the web or through apps which weren't available at this level even 10-20 years ago.

news to me.

My muscle tone is fine and I make easy gains if i eat right