Does anyone else get told about their "swagger"

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CambridgeSuperman
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15 Mar 2009, 1:54 pm

When i started university everyone I met always commented on the way I walked; apparently i have what they call a "swagger"

Before this my mum always told me i had an unusual way of walking. Naturally I find it very difficult to actually put my finger on what they are talking about. I simply walk like everyone else surely. My mum also complained about my poor posture; but then again who's mum doesn't!

Now I was wandering if an unusual gait is a characteristic of AS and whether anyone else has had this pointed out to them



buryuntime
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15 Mar 2009, 2:45 pm

yes, it is a characteristic of AS and I have the same problem but I've kind of taught myself to walk better but it's still noticeable.



dougn
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15 Mar 2009, 3:14 pm

My mother used to complain about how I walked but as you said, she was my mother ... that's sort of to be expected isn't it?

Nobody else has.



Maddino87
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15 Mar 2009, 4:01 pm

In high school I was told I walk like a robot.



CambridgeSuperman
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15 Mar 2009, 4:02 pm

buryuntime wrote:
yes, it is a characteristic of AS and I have the same problem but I've kind of taught myself to walk better but it's still noticeable.


how exactly is your gait abnormal. I think for me i don;t lift my feet high enough of the ground so i often end up catching the floor and tripping over a flat surface; highly embarassing!

I'd always just though it was a case of different people have different styles of walking...



theQuail
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15 Mar 2009, 4:30 pm

I think it has something to do with clumsiness in AS, i.e. gross motor dyspraxia. I have a bit of an awkward stiff gait myself.



Gwen1953
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15 Mar 2009, 5:02 pm

I used to have a habit of walking without swinging my arms which would attract bitchy comments from two girls I shared an office with years ago. My then fiance used to comment on it too. So I taught myself to walk, swinging my arms and it felt very strange for a long time. Now I do it it without thinking and am old enough in my fifties not to care anyway.



buryuntime
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15 Mar 2009, 5:10 pm

CambridgeSuperman wrote:
buryuntime wrote:
yes, it is a characteristic of AS and I have the same problem but I've kind of taught myself to walk better but it's still noticeable.


how exactly is your gait abnormal. I think for me i don;t lift my feet high enough of the ground so i often end up catching the floor and tripping over a flat surface; highly embarassing!

I'd always just though it was a case of different people have different styles of walking...

my feet were pointed outwards and I lean forward when I walk... I've got the feet part down to where I can point them straight and almost walk in a straight line but I still clutch my stomach and lean forward when I walk/run. And I don't move my arms. Sometimes I also just hold my arms out or up too. I'm going to assume those things are abnormal anyway, at least people comment on them.



Ethan211
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15 Mar 2009, 7:29 pm

Yeah, I walk funny too.
I slouched when I was a kid [who didn't, though?] but then in high school I started holding my shoulders lower, and I didn't realize I was doing anything unusual until an honest friend [bless those people] told me what I was doing, then I moved onto overcorrecting like I was in the military, and now I've sort of moderated that [trying to keep my spine straight but not putting the shoulders back] after getting mocked by a guy who walks like an ape but was nonetheless accurate in his criticism.
I also have trouble with walking into stuff, like when I'm trying to go past a chair or something I'll mis-calculate how far away from it my path needs to be and bump into it or have to somewhat contort myself to avoid hitting this object [or person, occasionally, but I tend to give them a wide berth because I can't stand non-intimate people being too close to me and I can't help but think that they feel the same way.]
I also usually have to pay attention when I'm walking next to someone, or I'll just sort of drift right into them without realizing it.



Ethan211
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15 Mar 2009, 7:34 pm

Ooooh, yeah, arm swinging too. I wouldn't do it at all sometimes, and I only swung my one arm for a while, but my one friend [a different one] told me I looked like a Nazi, so that one merited some swift corrective attention.
I swing my arms all the time now, it makes me feel stronger somehow.



dougn
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15 Mar 2009, 9:08 pm

CambridgeSuperman wrote:
how exactly is your gait abnormal. I think for me i don;t lift my feet high enough of the ground so i often end up catching the floor and tripping over a flat surface; highly embarassing!

Hmm, actually, I think I do that.

I trip rather a lot.

When I was a kid my mother's best friend nicknamed me "Crash and Burn" because I used to trip and fall so much.



ghostpawn
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15 Mar 2009, 10:30 pm

I went to see a podiatrist (for my flat feet) and he said I walk like a drunk.

I used to trip and fall 2-3 times a week before I did some judo. Now I still trip every so often, but I've only fallen twice in the last decade, and I don't drop stuff anymore either.


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dougn
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15 Mar 2009, 10:46 pm

I also have flat feet.



Averick
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15 Mar 2009, 10:59 pm

I hate it when people say I "swagger." It used to make me furious to hear that, but I guess it was part of something bigger and now I'm over it. Don't worry about it-- forget those who are oppressive.



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16 Mar 2009, 6:58 am

Gwen1953 wrote:
I used to have a habit of walking without swinging my arms which would attract bitchy comments from two girls I shared an office with years ago. My then fiance used to comment on it too. So I taught myself to walk, swinging my arms and it felt very strange for a long time. Now I do it it without thinking and am old enough in my fifties not to care anyway.


Same here. It hasn't been referred to as a swagger, but it HAS been referred to.



glider18
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16 Mar 2009, 7:17 am

No one ever told me that I walked differently than the so-called "norm," but I was watching old home movies of me when I was growing up, and I walked strangely (swagger-like). My wife said I walked like an "old man." So yes, I literally walked the Aspie walk as a child. As for now, I don't think I walk that differently than most people.


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