Don't "look" like an aspie

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This forum is likely the single largest collection of people on the spectrum in the world. If everyone here were to post whether or not they matched that appearance, I think it would have some value in determining if there is a correlation between ASDs and appearance.

Red hair actually is a common trait.

But as Aspies can be any race, complexion is irrelevant.

Perhaps many of the caucasian people on the spectrum are also fair simply because they carry a redhead gene that's being partially expressed, for instance, I am really fair and my hair is brown with some red tones, but my Grandma was a redhead.

Otherwise, you see biracial children with red hair who aren't fair at all, an African person can carry the gene for red hair.

You may have the gene for red hair and not know it.

What are people saying by fair?

No one in my extended family has red hair.

Used to have blond hair, its brown now, have hazel eyes, and am left handed

I've met over 10 red-headed people in my life and they were all NTs.

No one in my family has red either. And honestly, I have never seen a full non-white person with red hair. I have never seen anyone who I knew was mixed with red hair either but my mom knew someone and I read a book where a boy who was not fully white had red hair, the book was based on a true story. Also, no one has "red" hair traits, and if anyone does, they are distance relatives (such as second cousins once removed).

Almost EVERYONE in my family has brown hair. Though there were some people who were blondes as babies, but I have heard babies often have lighter hair and light eyes. Mine were grey when I was born.

What you say is true to a certain extent but the problem is that if you start a thread asking 'do you have xxx?' or 'do you xxx?', the ones that do are much more likely to post than the ones that don't. I am fairly new to the forum so I have been going through a lot of old posts and the pattern repeats again and again.

It would be interesting to go through all of the old posts and make up a questionnaire that covers all of the more commonly mentioned traits including appearance, reading age, talking age, habits etc. If you then ask as many people as possible to answer it you may get a more realistic result. If anyone is willing to compile a list, I'll turn it into an on-line questionnaire.

Well, I just find it odd sometimes that a thread pops up saying something for example ''do Aspies have small mouths?'' then a few months later another thread pops up saying, ''Aspies have larger mouths than average'', so it's blatently obvious that it is just being made up from the top of one's head, and half the time a lot of posts on these threads say ''no I don't have this trait''. So it can't be a common trait in Aspies. You can get just as many NTs coming on, some saying they have this physical feature and some saying they haven't, so I don't quite know what the big idea is there.

Lack of normal social skills is a common Aspie trait, since it's always being brought up in WP and lots of us share this trait. Also sensory issues is a common Aspie trait, it is often being brought up here by almost everyone. I don't have many sensory issues, only with my ears, which I consider because of my AS. And special interests are a common trait too. Maybe not every Aspie has a special interest, but it is still a common Aspie trait. And apparently misunderstanding non-verbal language of other people is also a common Aspie trait. I don't have this trait, but again it is a common Aspie trait, it says in the Autistic diagnostic criteria something about that, and a lot of Aspies here bring it up and it makes sense that it is a common Aspie trait. Then there are things that can be possible in the general population but happen to be more common in Autistics, like anxiety issues, obsessive compulsory disorders, hyperactive behaviour, those sorts of things.

But physical traits, no. Sorry. It's never been mentioned anywhere, you can't tell if a baby is Autistic just by looking at it, whereas you can with a baby who is born with Down's Syndrome since it involves so many physical features, and it is commonly known to have physical features. But I was always told that people with AS don't have physical differences, it is just a brain disorder. I've been told that since I was diagnosed, I've read several different books about the spectrum and I've researched it over and over again on the internet, and the first time I have ever come across any physical features mentioned is when I came on here.

This does sound like a load of rubbish to me, sorry.. I can't see why there would be a connection. Most people on this board are probably white, hence the pale skin (duh!)

I have a big head, and look a few years younger than I am. But I don't think many people would think I have a mental "disorder". I make sure to have great posture, and I try to smile, I like to smile, but it doesn't always come naturally.

Every person I have ever seen and/or met that was on the spectrum had this really strange way of looking human.

Hmm, I've noticed that too.

Umm, well I can agree to the "young for your age" look, as I've been told by quite a few that I look younger than my age. O.o I have a fair skin tone with hazel eyes.

I've also never understood what is up with the "look" thing? Like people won't believe you have it unless you have a "look" in some cases. That's always been hard for me to understand.

I have red eyes, green skin, and blue hair. I guess i'm not an aspie because I don't have the look.

Maybe it's a side effect of the bleach cure? If the subject struggles too much, that stuff can get everywhere.

As others have already said, there really i no Aspie "look", with the exception of looking much younger than you are. I have that trait, as many people confuse me with the students that I teach. Yesterday, I had a pub bouncer guess I was about 23 years old before showing him my DL. He asked me "Do you have the fountain of youth or something?". I just laughed and said "It is a family curse.".

Looking back, my father had this young-looking trait until he became a cigarette smoker. Smoking quickly aged him twenty or so years in a very short time based on old pictures of him. He was also likely on the spectrum, as he did not socialize much with others, had a great ability at mental pictures (he was a self trained architect) and was a bit quirky sometimes with the way he acted. People were always wanting him to design their new houses for them when I was growing up. I did not know until much later that he was never formally trained in this ability that he had. He was just naturally good at it.

I have jet black hair and dark brown eyes
I don't think all Aspies should be exactly the same to be Aspie because if you're an Aspie it's just another trait in you and sharing a trait with someone doesn't mean you'll be identical to them. Also humans vary so much like how a Chinese person is different from a german but both are still humans.