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jk1
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22 Oct 2012, 5:35 am

Maybe some AS people with a motor skills/balance problem might be more scared of heights. I am certainly scared of heights. I don't like ferris wheel, glass-walled elevators, balconies etc. I often have dreams in which I am at a height (building etc) without any railing to protect me. Also, When I see on tv, a view from the top of a tower or from a helicopter, my palms start sweating.

Strange, though, that when I was a kid, I scared a neighbor by climbing the railing to be on the other side of it on the fourth floor of an apartment building. I wasn't scared at all. She couldn't tell me off right then because talking to me might have startled me and caused me to lose balance and fall. I can't imagine doing anything like that now.



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22 Oct 2012, 6:35 am

I had no fear of jumping off a one story building a few times as a kid, I still don't really

I have a fear of going up onto a ladder onto the one story building if I'm not wearing tightish fitting clothes

landing on my feet, falling properly is fine

I don't want to have something screw my style up though bu snagging onto things if I'm about to fall, and if it's tall

I'll just go hiss and spit at everything like a cat, in the corner... or start focusing on how the ground feels and have my nerves ready and rearing to go so that if something happens I'll be able to react faster than the speed of light

I tend to like getting a feel for "how the ground under me feels" and it's stress and all that, I can kinda "feel" it out and that's helped me get over some of my fears



InThisTogether
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22 Oct 2012, 6:38 am

oliverthered wrote:
I have a fear of heights I feel like I'm going to throw myself off of the edge. It's also activated when I look up at tall things. My friend is also like this.


I also fear throwing myself over the edge, or driving off of bridges. I am not suicidal in the least. I have a friend who also experiences this. He has ADHD, but no autistic tendencies.

My son has fear of heights, and I think it is largely due to gravitational insecurity, which is a sensory issue.


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Mummy_of_Peanut
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22 Oct 2012, 6:50 am

Certain conditions make me more scared than others. I don't have great balance and have position vertigo (which isn't affected by heights), which might account for some of it. I've been at the top of the CN Tower, looking down through the glass floor, although I didn't feel comfortable walking on it. I don't think I was scared at all. My daughter was lying on it, no fear whatsoever. (My Mum, was hugging the walls and shaking, even though she was perfectly safe.) My Gran lived in a multi-storey block of flats, on the 22nd floor. She had a balcony and, if I went out on it, I was fine. But, if I looked up at the sky, I had a really uneasy feeling, as if I wasn't secure, even though the wall was up to my shoulders. I think it was when I could no longer see the wall that I became unsettled.


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22 Oct 2012, 8:22 am

I can't stand heights. No good on a ladder or anything not bolted on or encased. I get very strange feelings in my feet when I see people climbing buildings or cliff faces. Don't mind planes and quite happy going up the Eiffel Tower say. As long as there is no risk involved.


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0utsideLookingIn
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22 Oct 2012, 1:21 pm

InThisTogether wrote:
I also fear throwing myself over the edge, or driving off of bridges. I am not suicidal in the least.


Same here. I also have a compulsion to step into traffic when I'm walking on a busy street and it terrifies me. It's so odd to have these feelings in the absence of any desire to commit suicide. It's a relief to hear that others have the same impulses!


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Tuttle
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22 Oct 2012, 1:53 pm

People with weak propioception are often scared of heights. Weak propioception is a sensory issue that can come along with AS.

I have weak propioception but am not scared of heights. My OT finds me a interesting case because of things like this.

(Propioception is the sense of your body's position based off of position of your joints. It's what lets you walk in the dark without losing your balance or drive a car (push pedals and steer while you look at the road.)

In my case, I can't actually walk in the dark without losing my balance.



thewhitrbbit
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22 Oct 2012, 1:58 pm

I've climbed up ladders, legg locked and let go of the ladder. Fun.



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22 Oct 2012, 6:18 pm

Sometimes, I get scared of heights.


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androbot2084
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22 Oct 2012, 6:38 pm

When I first entered construction bosses would almost call me mentally ill and fire me for wearing fall protection because that meant I was afraid of heights. Now that fall protection is mandatory a boss will fire me if i forget to wear fall protection.



Khyrean
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22 Oct 2012, 7:47 pm

I'm not afraid of heights as such - I like walking on glass floors or bridges - but I'm afraid of jumping down.
The lower the barrier is between me and the fall the greater becomes some strange urge to just jump - and I don't know why that is, I have never entertained any concrete suicidal thoughts and it's been like that as long as I can remember. Sometimes I have to hold on to the handrail to keep myself from climbing over.

But my mum has that as well, apparently. How would it be called if it's not acrophobia (fear of heights) but "fear of jumping down from heights"...?



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23 Oct 2012, 2:13 am

0utsideLookingIn wrote:
InThisTogether wrote:
I also fear throwing myself over the edge, or driving off of bridges. I am not suicidal in the least.


Same here. I also have a compulsion to step into traffic when I'm walking on a busy street and it terrifies me. It's so odd to have these feelings in the absence of any desire to commit suicide. It's a relief to hear that others have the same impulses!

I've experienced this occasionally, but at the train station; I'm afraid I'll throw myself off the station platform and end up getting clobbered by an oncoming train. I'm not suicidal at all. The thought is terrifying.



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23 Oct 2012, 6:18 am

FishStickNick wrote:
I've experienced this occasionally, but at the train station; I'm afraid I'll throw myself off the station platform and end up getting clobbered by an oncoming train. I'm not suicidal at all. The thought is terrifying.


I know that, too. I like looking at the tracks when I'm waiting but when the train comes in, I have to look away because I'm afraid I might jump in front of it.



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23 Oct 2012, 9:34 am

Oh yes, trains as well. When I see the train entering the station, I deliberately step way back (as everyone else is moving toward the entering train) because I get a little shiver of fear down my spine at the idea that it would be so easy to just step off the platform . . .


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Jayo
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24 Oct 2012, 6:56 pm

androbot2084 wrote:
When I first entered construction bosses would almost call me mentally ill and fire me for wearing fall protection because that meant I was afraid of heights. Now that fall protection is mandatory a boss will fire me if i forget to wear fall protection.


Whoa, when was that, the '70s?? I thought that mandatory fall protection had been around for a long time...
I can see that having happened once upon a time though, the whole macho dominated scene, and sure enough it didn't change until a few tragedies occurred.