13 Feb 2009, 3:22 pm
Lol I showed my husband the picture of the lady sitting wierd and he was like: 
Holy crap you've found your alien people!
Actually I dont remember his exact words but they were something similar to that which made me laugh 
13 Feb 2009, 4:14 pm
fiddlerpianist
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18 Jul 2009, 11:48 pm
ColdBlooded
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19 Jul 2009, 12:32 am
19 Jul 2009, 12:42 am
FrogGirl
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19 Jul 2009, 2:04 am
19 Jul 2009, 2:16 am
This guide to AS that I read also said that people with AS often will rest their head and other body parts on stable surfaces, because of poor muscle tone. I found that interesting, because I do this myself all the time. But I'd never heard before that it was a characteristic of AS, so I'm curious if others do this too. For instance, when I am standing I often turn my legs inward and make them cross around each other, so each leg supports the other. And when I am sitting, I like to be crouched so that my legs and body are all supporting each other. People often tell me I look like I'm in a very uncomfortable position, but I am actually very comfortable and would find their positions uncomfortable.
this is an exact replica of my situation. i have lax joints and muslces and I also bang into things a lot - i clip corners and edges of things constantly. i also slump and slouch. I also note that no matter how much exercise i do, i still have a low muscle tone and tenseness - in the lower half of my body but not the upper half. I actually find standing still and upright to be hellish. and i was often criticised at sschool for not keeping still when upright. it was just awful To this day, i avoid places where I have to stand for great lengths of time. (I am the woman at the edge of the crowd, twisting her back or doing stretches into weird positions, or i just sit down on the floor cross legged and say "to heck with everyone," while others are listening intently AND standing for ages.
I might add that not evryone with AS has a flat facial affect. Some of us with AS have the opposite problem - an inability to regulate facial expression - so that the expressions are quite strange and overly pronounced. THis is my gig. and I am embarrassed by it. I can appear like a cartoon character. I have done some digital fimling for my psych and it has been really upsetting to watch how rubbery my face is. It is the opposite extreme of the flat facial affect situation. and yes, it happens to some people with AS.
I do believe that people with AS tend to have unusual body positions and facial expressions, and I believe this results from a combination of what is said above (which also applies to me in full, ate the age of 5 I was actually diagnosed by a professional with a whole spectrum of physical problems including poor muscle tone all over my body, lack of spatial awareness, etc) and a lack of awareness of what the body and face are doing.
Because AS people are so absorbed in their own world a lot of the time, then don't actually have an awareness of their physical movements and expressions (whereas non-AS people seem to have a constant subconscious/conscious awareness of these things). This is my theory. I found that when I actively focus on my facial and body muscles, I can school my posture and expression into something resembling normality (I think), but it requires active constant effort and cannot be maintained 24/7.
I've had friends (who have seen me walk normally when in a focussed state) see me walk in my strange natural way due to mental exhaustion and actually ask me why I'm walking funny, and if I'm ok. I also need to rest my head a lot, it seems too heavy for my neck to hold up sometimes (I read an article once which said that autistic brains are larger than normal - which might explain that).
19 Jul 2009, 3:10 am
The picture is from the back of the book Women From Another Planet. I was actually totally surprised to see someone else sitting like that because I really thought I was the only one. I've never paid much attention to how I walk, but I tend to stand awkwardly because it's more comfortable. And all my life people have annoyingly told me to "cheer up" when I was perfectly content so there's at least something wrong with my neutral look. And I do sometimes have my mouth open a little but I don't know for how long because whenever I notice it I stop doing it.
I sit like that too!! !
I've never seen anyone else do that!I also have been asked what's wrong when my face is neutral lol
19 Jul 2009, 2:56 pm
19 Jul 2009, 3:32 pm
I have mild scoliosis too.. it was 4 degrees when I was 16, I haven't gotten it checked since.. at 5 degrees they make you go get X-rays, and I didn't want to do that. 
I also sit cross-legged. Indian style or like that picture.. also "butterfly," with my knees out and the bottoms of my feet together. I'm fairly limber. Lol, I like sitting ways that make people wince to look at me. I'm not good at sitting in chairs. If I sit in a chair I constantly cross and uncross my legs, and switch them. And sitting in chairs hurts my back. I sit on the floor, or I sit on a chair attempt to arrange my legs as though I was sitting on the floor.
I slouch a bit (and also frequently keep my back straight and lean forward.. I stretch a lot, stretching can be rather addictive. I stopped for awhile, but then I started again.. it feels goood! And I always crack things.. in addition to the knuckles in my fingers, I also crack my ankles and my back and my neck) but I try to sit up. I was in marching band in high school so I learned good posture.
I stand on my toes a lot too.. Heh, I have an obsession with dance shoes. *sigh* I wish I could actually DANCE.
19 Jul 2009, 3:55 pm
Demon-Chorus
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19 Jul 2009, 4:09 pm
20 Jul 2009, 4:20 pm
The picture is from the back of the book Women From Another Planet. I was actually totally surprised to see someone else sitting like that because I really thought I was the only one. I've never paid much attention to how I walk, but I tend to stand awkwardly because it's more comfortable. And all my life people have annoyingly told me to "cheer up" when I was perfectly content so there's at least something wrong with my neutral look. And I do sometimes have my mouth open a little but I don't know for how long because whenever I notice it I stop doing it.
I sit like that too!! !
I've never seen anyone else do that!Apart from the fact that I would have the foot of the 'upper' leg touching the floor, that's also almost identical to one of my sitting positions...
Both feet on the chair with knees up in front of me is another (I'm sitting like that now). Or one foot up and the other on the floor.
The doctor who diagnosed me wrote in his report that 'unusual' expressions often crossed my face. I've also been told I glare at people when I thought I was just looking at them with a calm, neutral expression.
I walk extremely fast and have a very long stride.
fiddlerpianist
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20 Jul 2009, 4:27 pm
The picture is from the back of the book Women From Another Planet. I was actually totally surprised to see someone else sitting like that because I really thought I was the only one. I've never paid much attention to how I walk, but I tend to stand awkwardly because it's more comfortable. And all my life people have annoyingly told me to "cheer up" when I was perfectly content so there's at least something wrong with my neutral look. And I do sometimes have my mouth open a little but I don't know for how long because whenever I notice it I stop doing it.
I sit like that too!! !
I've never seen anyone else do that!Apart from the fact that I would have the foot of the 'upper' leg touching the floor, that's also almost identical to one of my sitting positions...
Both feet on the chair with knees up in front of me is another (I'm sitting like that now). Or one foot up and the other on the floor.
The doctor who diagnosed me wrote in his report that 'unusual' expressions often crossed my face. I've also been told I glare at people when I thought I was just looking at them with a calm, neutral expression.
I walk extremely fast and have a very long stride.
I often sit on one of my feet, sort of like this picture (but not quite). It drove my mother crazy growing up. She wanted both of my feet on the floor, but I just didn't find it as comfortable.
I also walk extremely fast. No one passes me as I cruise down busy streets.
20 Jul 2009, 5:02 pm
elderwanda
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20 Jul 2009, 7:34 pm
