Rigid Gait?

Post Reply New Topic

My sister once told me that with the way I walk, a typically quick and rigid gait, and the expression that is often on my face, I look like I am constantly on my way to kick someone's a**. Do any of you receive similar comments?

Um, more than one person have described the way I walk as "slow and floppy", but none of them answered me when I asked what they meant by "floppy". I think that the way I walk is probably very different from yours.

I was described as "hectical and unrelaxed/stiff" and still am seen that way from time to time.
I don't use my hands a lot when walking, my parents always pointed that out years ago, so I just started to put them in my pockets - problem solved.

An ex-boyfriend years ago told me I walked like the Softmint character (talk about bloody exaggeration!):

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lL6hkpJveM[/youtube]

Perhaps this is what people mean when they say you have a floppy walk. However, I've also been told that I have a very military (i.e. stiff) walk! Either way, I apparently have something wrong with my walk.

Last edited by whirlingmind on 14 Jan 2013, 8:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.

A lot of people see me as a likely bully.

Until I got a chronic pain condition then I often would receive similar comments... like I always walked as if I had a mission or, as you put it, like I am on the way to kick some ass. I don't walk in such a purposeful manner anymore because I end up in terrible pain if I do.

Haha, yes. I've gotten told that I look like I'm about to run someone over like a truck. I'm usually thinking that I want to because I walk very fast and get irritated about people in the way.

Yes, I often blast forward. I also like to punch doors and stamp my feet sometimes. "If you can hear a piano fall you can hear me coming down the hall" pretty well describes me.

I have never been criticised about the way I walk, and I do have a lot of NTs around me that would give me honest feedback. I used to walk a bit crooked when I was a teenager, but not with a rigid gait, just a little hunched and stiff. But my mum said that a lot of kids sometimes go through a phase where they walk hunched or something. My younger cousin is going through that now, he's 15 and he is a typical NT but often walks along with his head down, in a stooped sort of way.

But otherwise I walk OK, which is another reason why I can't understand people who randomly pick on me in the street....

Yes, in my case it seems related to visual/sensory overload or social anxiety since I don't do it when I am by myself in a quiet place.

yup, rigid and slightly hunched

I have mild, ataxic cerebral palsy. My gait is wide-based, which is typical for people with ataxia. I used to fall over a lot, but when I was diagnosed at the age of nine, my neurologist recommended martial arts, which helped me control my body more. I also grew into my feet, which helped a lot. The puberty-related rapid growth made me have a limp, though.

when I was a kid, I had a comment once that I "walked like a girl" whatever that really means.

I laugh about the comment now of course. But I tend to think my walking is unbalanced and unpredictable (though no-one has really commented on it in my adult life so maybe it's just me).

I've been told that I look "determined," "p*ssed," or "walk like an Ork." Perhaps it's a familial trait (everyone on my father's side has the same gait - in fact, a complete stranger asked me if I was related to a person based solely on "that walk." I told her that said individual was my father, to which she said "you guys all walk the same.") or perhaps it has something to do with joint discomfort from years of RA and a leg injury. Regardless, it has nothing to do with AS in my case.

It's been said that I look like I'm going into battle when I walk..

I haven't had anyone comment specifically on my gait, but this is how I feel when I walk. I also don't swing my arms much when I walk (how do people do that effortlessly and without thinking about it?).