Nurvous of Heights/ladders climbing? is it an aspie 'thing'?

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i was just wondering if having a fear or at least being a tiny bit nurvous of climbing or heights effects alot of us with AS..
i tend to get a bit nurvous climbing a 3 step household ladder to put the star on my xmas tree or get a dish down from a high shelf. i can go up fine, but i dont like to look down...im afraid i will loose my footing on the way down. ive taken some bad spills going down stairs over the years. mabey its my co ordination?
Moving stair escalators worry me as well..ive got a fear of falling on them.
Does anyone else have these fears or finds climbing or heights uncomfortable?
Lisa

I am very nervous of heights, partly because my depth perception is very poor and I tend to misjudge things nad partly because I can't shake the feeling I am going to fall if I see how hgh up I am.

It seems not; the DSM-IV and peripheral writings do not seem to speak about phobias. Acrophobia, the fear of heights, is also one of the most common phobias around. But, is there a study, I wonder? AS might create phobias as a result of the social problems. For example, I have agorophobia, which is fear of large places. But I'm pretty sure that came from gym class during my teenage years (oh, no hell doth deeper than gym class be!). I think that was one of the reasons one of my misdiagnoses was "Generalized Anxiety" later. They put me on Buspar and it did nothing at all but make me sick. Same with Zoloft after being misdiagnosed as "Depressed".

The DSM-IV doesn't mention it, but that doesn't mean there isn't some corrollation.

Oh, I'm also really afraid of bees. But, that's cuz I'm allergic and... well... I just really don't like those darn yellow jackets! Get away... away... argghgh!!

A common fear.. not related to the condition.

You would not have liked to work at my theatre job. Going up open staircases or ladders up to 50 foot rafters carrying around 100s of pounds of weights trying not to fall in the open gaps. I didn't get paid well enough

I feel fine as long as I can hold on with one hand or lean agaist the ladder.

Sometimes i mis judge stepping off a curb side .. ive noticed my son - who is 5 has AS..is very 'clumsy' and falls down stairs as well and falls off curb sides too. he trips and stumbles. sometimes he will run accidentally into a wall near the doorway. his eyes have been checked and his vision is fine. he has no 'fear' of heights. i dont think i have depth preception problems, beucase i create artwork and alot of small detailing and if i had a depth perception perhaps i wouldnt be able to do that as well? im not knowledgable in the subject of depth..
i guess my problem with heights is just a condition that many in the human race..aspie or not..have in common?
Lisa

I have the fear of heights too and let me tell you, I'll never be caught up in a tree or in any sky scraper that's for sure.

I think that was one of the reasons one of my misdiagnoses was "Generalized Anxiety" later. They put me on Buspar and it did nothing at all but make me sick. Same with Zoloft after being misdiagnosed as "Depressed".

The DSM-IV doesn't mention it, but that doesn't mean there isn't some corrollation.

Oh, I'm also really afraid of bees. But, that's cuz I'm allergic and... well... I just really don't like those darn yellow jackets! Get away... away... argghgh!![/quote]


Ive been on those too..zoloft, zyprexa, ambien, prozac and buspar. they did nothing for me except one made me so tired i slept all day and another made me not able to sleep so they gave me the ambien to go to sleep at night. i finally stopped taking anti depressants and opted for weekly therapist appts.
i agree with you in that you think the buspar was the worst. they said i had 'dysthemic disorder', depression, socail phobia ect.
turns out all i had all along was AS!
i dont like yellow jackets iether. they nest in the ground and are fiercley protective of thier nest. they are also more likley to sting you when harassed. Yellow jackets are not bees, they are actaully in the wasp family..hence their 'short fuse' and willingness to sting. when i was walking through the woods as a kid i was unfortunate to step on a fallen rotten log that was part of their underground nest . i heard a loud HUMMMMM and they all swarmed about me. i ran as fast as i could but they had gotten inside my sleeves and were in my hair and clinging to my clothes. i jumped a fence and into the swimming pool. very tramatic incident. i ended up going to the hospital for all the stings. NOT pretty...

I share this fear with you. I cannot jump off the high dive at a swimming pool, and I don't like amusement park rides either. Apparently, though, the way I ride my bike can approach the foolhardy, but that's speed and dodging traffic, not heights! Plus, I control my bike unlike in the case of a roller coaster.

By the way, I forgot to mention that I do believe fears like this one are a real part of Asperger's syndrome despite not being named specifically in the DSM-IV-TR or ICD-10 criteria. We aspies are, by and large, a more fearful and behaviorally inhibited bunch.

I've oddly, been sort of the exact opposite, and sort of seek out high places. For instance, I enjoy going to the top of skyscrapers and looking out at the skyline. I also enjoy crossing high bridges that allow me to see for miles. I've always like sitting above a crowd, looking over everyone's head. As a kid, I loved climbing trees and getting several feet above the ground. My parents had a maple tree in the front yard I could get over the roofline of the house in. To me, you're not high enough till you break the treeline, and can see above the trees.

I only get skiddish of heights when the supporting structure is a little flimsy. My job entails climbing ladders, and I generally have no problem going up the standard 6 or 8 foot "A" style ladders to do work in suspended ceilings or something. I do get a little squeamish though when I need to climb tall, shakey scaffolding or other structures that shake and jitter. When it comes to heights, I ususally like to use the "Genie" lifts which are a platform that goes up and down like an elevator. While they shake around a little bit with your movement, there's usually little chance you're gonna come out the bucket unless you're reaching out too far or something.

I can't say that a fear of heights is an aspie trait, since I know of NT folks that are afraid to take 1 step off the ground!

This is my problem and why I always had to set up my own saffolding ,I have seen it fall before, In the past most jobs I had they were too cheap to rent lifts but when they did I loved them. I also have a problem of not being able to hold on think long planks over a pit.

I am mildly afraid of heights to an extent.
Might be a link because phobias come about with the AS but that link wouldn't be very strong.

[quote="NeantHumain"][color=#0D933B][b]I share this fear with you. I cannot jump off the high dive at a swimming pool, and I don't like amusement park rides either.

The only ride i really like at an amusmant park is the Carousel (merry go round) mabey its the spinning thing..who knows.
ive done alot of work with carousels..painteing and restoring the horses ect..
Lisa

I doubt they're related or that it's an "aspie thing". Everyone has their fears, practically noone is entirely fearless. As for heights, I was climbing trees since I was a kid. Broke my wrist and scratched my eyeball once when I fell from a tree in my grandma's backyard. No fear of heights here.