Not swinging arms while walking--was this a sign?

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InTheDeepEnd
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01 Nov 2012, 8:00 pm

thomas81 wrote:
I don't think not swinging arms during walking is an ASD symptom.

I've noticed that NT girls like to cross their arms when they walk.


I haaaaaate it when they do that! I would hold my arms perfectly still straight down at my sides. I wish I could remember how old I was when my parents noticed it. And I wish I knew if that was the first time I'd done it or just the first time they noticed. I also could not "skip" in kindergarten. All my other marks were high but that one was "needs improvement." I never feel like I know what to do with my arms if I'm standing or sitting (unless it's at a table, then I slump all over the table).



Logicalmom
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01 Nov 2012, 8:05 pm

Oh, no ... now I am going to be thinking about my arms when I walk :lol:



nuttyengineer
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01 Nov 2012, 8:29 pm

I'm not sure if I did when I was little or not, but now I usually don't. I've always attributed it to taking several years of martial arts, but I suppose it might be a sign of AS.


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littlelily613
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01 Nov 2012, 9:03 pm

I don't swing my arms when I walk either. When I am out for a hike or a walk for the purpose of exercise, I force myself to do it because I can pick up momentum that way...but it is definitely a conscious decision that I have to keep thinking about or else they stop.


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btbnnyr
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01 Nov 2012, 10:11 pm

I usually keep my hands in my pockets when I am walking.



Rorberyllium
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01 Nov 2012, 11:09 pm

They're either perfectly still or moving really wildly and exaggeratedly.



hanyo
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02 Nov 2012, 3:40 am

I don't think I swing my arms when I walk. It seems like a waste of energy to me. I walk with my legs, not my arms.



ASS-P
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02 Nov 2012, 7:02 am

...Somehow , I'm remembering the Andy Griffith Show opening title sequence... :lol: ...........



SpaghettiSmuggler
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04 Nov 2012, 2:17 pm

People told me about not swinging my arms and leaning forward and looking down when I went to high school and I started to do it soon after,
although it requires a conscious effort. However when I walk and I am not interacting with anyone I very quickly begin thinking analytically
and replaying things that have happened to me recently, I believe that when I do this my arms stop and I look down and around.
I can only imagine how out of place it seems.

I tend to put my hands in my pockets when I walk now, this means that when I start thinking I don't have to worry about the weird walk.



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04 Nov 2012, 2:25 pm

InTheDeepEnd wrote:
At some point when I was a kid, my parents noticed I didn't swing my arms when I walked and started telling me to swing them. I know this can be a sign(?) of AS but does anyone know if it can also just be a phase that kids go through? Or a sign of something else? I'm 38 now and I swing my arms when I walk. I guess I started doing it when my parents nagged me about it and it became natural. I googled it and only found AS related info or completely irrelevant info on it.


I used to only swing one arm when I walked, and I noticed my dad did it too - I now believe he was on the spectrum. I made conscious efforts to try to swing the arm I used to hold still because I became aware it was unusual.


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howzat
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04 Nov 2012, 3:19 pm

I don't swing my arms infact they stay still by the side of my hips.



Chris71
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13 Nov 2012, 10:08 am

Back at University (that is 20 years ago) my colleagues in the dorm would call me "Robo" or "Robocop".
When I am stressed out or anxious about something then I walk really quickly with my arms completely still, just hanging there with no movement at all. Usually when that happens I'm daydreaming about something obscure, and look as if I'm talking to myself.

Apparently I've even been seen running with my arms & hands completely still.

Usually a few alcoholic drinks would get my arms moving naturally again. But on one occasion after having "remedied" my awkward gait (with my arms), after a night out, I walked into a tree branch that was hanging over the sidewalk, obscured by shadows. My response was to physically attack the tree, also with lots of swearing. Of course someone at the college saw me doing this and had great pleasure telling this as a funny story to the others at dinner times.



Swordfish210
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13 Nov 2012, 1:59 pm

Eloa wrote:
My psychologist told me that people with an ASD do not have a sort of proper "connection" of the corpus callosum, the structure connecting the two halfs of the brain, with the two halfes of the brain, which gives this "un-coordinated" way of moving in people with an ASD or ADHD.


I was told this as well when I was diagnosed. I still don't swing my arms and have a bad posture. I have really tried when I was a teen to rectify it, but it just was painfull and unnatural.

When I was in scouts, my leaders thought I did it on purpose and when we went for group hikes, they would tie my arms to strings and one person in front and another behind me would swing my arms for me :S I wasn't quite uncomfortable with it, but I think group pressure stopped me from speaking out.

They also taped my pockets shut because I used to stand with my hands in my pockets. (So no-one can see me fiddling) I guess they thought I was doing it on purpose. We had some kids with severe issues, and they didn't notice me having problems other than being odd...


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13 Nov 2012, 3:34 pm

I forget where I read it exactly, but there was some text that mentioned arm-swinging specifically as part of the "poor posture/abnormal gait" that is one of the DSM signs of AS, obviously not everyone with AS has that problem, but apparently it is one of the indicators, albeit a very small one. I don't swing my arms when I walk, my posture is terrible and I walk by basically falling forward with each step and catching myself with my other foot, so it sounds like I'm stomping when I walk.


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blue1skies
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13 Nov 2012, 8:55 pm

I don't know whether it's normal or not, but I never have swung my arms. It feels unnatural to me.



nuttyengineer
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13 Nov 2012, 9:54 pm

InTheDeepEnd wrote:
I also could not "skip" in kindergarten. All my other marks were high but that one was "needs improvement." I never feel like I know what to do with my arms if I'm standing or sitting (unless it's at a table, then I slump all over the table).


I just noticed this post. I find that very intriguing because I remember my 1st grade teacher told my parents that I couldn't skip and then they tried to teach me. I still can't do it.


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