Aspergers and motor skills

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Why is it that there is a connection between aspergers and poor motor skills? Aspergers is defined as having deficits in social communication. What does poor social communication have to do with poor motor skills? Could it be that part of the problem with social communication is that aspies have trouble moving their face muscles to express themselves or to communicate nonverbal cues? Nonverbal cues also invlove the body so could "positioning yourself awkwardly" have to do with it?

Maybe I'm all wrong about this, but I'm just trying to find a connection between poor social skills and poor motor skills. Also, not all aspects of social skills require good control of muscle movement.

What do you think?

I can barely survive PE. Now I'm glad I'm becoming a sophomore because in my school, we only have to take PE for one year.

I hated any sports. I remember in grade 9, I was the slowest swimmer in my whole gym class (composed of a group of guys).

My motor skills are kind of strange - my fine motor skills are terrible (I posted a picture of my handwriting) but I tend to have a really good sense of balance and I mean I can count the number of times I've tripped and fallen in the past 20 years on one hand and I used to do all kinds of rather acrobatic things when I was a child and teenager (including on one occasion, literally climbing the walls).

On the other hand, sometimes I can't walk across a room without walking into every piece of furniture along the way, and I drop things or knock them over far too frequently.

Autism in all it's forms is considered by many professionals to be a neurological "impairment," and your neurological system affects your motor skills.

If you look at the diagnostic criteria, AS is not really a social deficit. It is a pervasive developmental disorder, so it is a collection of different traits that affect many functions (development), but they tend to most obviously affect social interaction negatively. There are those who have minimal social difficulty while coping with sensory or perception problems. Most often though, it hard to NOT have it cause moderate to severe social problems, at least in childhood.

My fine motor skills are fine, but I'm very clumsy and frequently run into things (like furniture). My handwriting was much worse than the girls in my class, but it was about on-par with the guys. With practice, it got better... and I think art and drawing has helped me out in this regard.

My fine motor skills are terrible. I have a tremor and have never been good at sports. My large motor skills aren't bad. It is all neurological not sure how it is all connected but it is something that I have always had.

I was going to have to take two years of PE, but I got out of that and only took one full year. Definitely the worst class ever.

In my case, clumsy was an understatement as a kid.

I ended up in a coma from playing dodge ball in gym class. Then when I got back to school a month later, during the very first gym class I got hip checked thru the door in the divider during floor hockey to the other side where they were roller skating. They let me keep score for the next 2 years.

Ahhhh high school PE, I do not miss you.

I have terrible motor skills (fine and gross). I can't draw by hand, but I can do it on the computer. I fall over easily, but as a result of practice, I rarely hit the ground .

I can learn about social skills, but I'm afraid motor impairment will always be with me. I can't tell you how many times I've cut people off walking due to my inability to walk a straight line.

My skills are horrendous! yah heard, but hey its not like i'm trying to be a rapper so its not so bad

I think poor motor skills is part of dyspraxia? and it's more common in ASDs. I had poor motor skills as a kid and now they are better now as an adult I say they are good. I bumped into people all the time and caused people to bump into me when I stop walking and kids get mad at me about it acting like I did it on purpose. I always said sorry but it was no use. My hand writing sucked too as a kid and now my hand writing sucks again but only because I have not written since high school so my hands are used to the keyboard. I can only write for a short period of time such as checks or when I sign in and out at work but my hand gets sore if I write a letter. My hand writing has started to suck again. I also used to bump into things a lot too as a kid.

I also hated sports too as a kid but I loved PE until middle school because they take away the fun stuff little kids do in PE. But yet I played softball and did soccer.

I have terrible fine motor skills. I can't write legibly for squat, I've got a constant trimmer, and I'm always bumping into things and tripping over my own feet. Alternatively, I have an excellent sense of movement, momentum and weight which helps compensate for my lack of balance. I think it's mostly reflex, though. For example. If someone says, "Hey, I'm gonna throw this ball at you in one...two...three..." I'll miss. If they say, "HEY CATCH!" I'll snatch it out of the air almost every time. Failing that, I swat it away. When I trip and fall, I rarely hit the ground. I'll somehow roll or twist until I'm in a standing position.

Example: I was carrying a box when I jumped out of the back of a pickup while talking with a friend. I landed on my bad leg, lost my footing and tumbled over. I rolled without spilling the contents of my box, stood up, and finished my sentence. I didn't even realize I'd fallen for a few moments.

I used to practice martial arts. I could easily kick someone's palm above my head, but some other things weren't as accurate. Since I quit, my overall coordination has gradually slipped. That said, I still balance and move a bit differently than most people.

What LeagueGirl said - dyspraxia. It actually defines quite a number of Asperger's traits YET one can be dyspraxic and not be autistic...