Autistic stereotypes - movement and balance - "ministry of funny walks"!

I have come across a statement that one of the least considered and therefore addressed correlates with autism is problems with moving in a co-ordinated fashion, issues with balance and perhaps clumsiness.

This stereotype is somewhat played out in the media representation of the character of Astrid in the original version of the eponymous TV series.  The character walks with a somewhat "toe walking" fashion on their right leg...

I can personally remember that my movement skills as a young child didn't seem to quite match up with my peers - in very early gym classes for example.

As I've got older I have spent a lot of time thinking about and working on how to balance and move in a more effective way - I wonder therefore if this "special interest" has come about as a consequence of a perceived need to.

I am at an age when I want to give back and share more about this special interest and am contemplating whether aiming to share it specifically with adult autistic people would be a good and rewarding way to spend my energy and time.

In short, I wonder please if you good people reading this might like to discuss your autistic experiences on the topic of movement, balance, clumsiness and difficulty walking etc.?

Maybe some of you reading this are on the contrary especially gifted in this area and it is after all a stereotype that is made of autistic people?

Best Wishes

Parents
  • Thank you for the responses everyone :-)

    There seems to be a predominant response of movement, co-ordination and balance issues reported.

    There is also some indication that there is a desire for improving capability in the areas with a further subset of those having mastery by training.

    Either those who don't have problems in this area aren't interested in responding or the limited sample size doesn't give enough evidence.

    Anyway, I'm taking this as some evidence to support movement, balance and co-ordination work being potentially useful for adult autistic people.

    I'll carry on with that thought.

    All the best :-)

  • It could possibly also be dyspraxia that might coexist with autism. Myself and my eldest son (especially when he was young) had terrible coordination issues and I can’t catch a ball to this day, but my husband (who has more autistic characteristics than I) and ASD middle child have great coordination. My husband puts this down to his Mum constantly throwing balls at him when he was young Joy

  • Thanks  

    Yes, you make a good point about dyspraxia as a separate diagnosis.

    hehe yes practice helps develop skill!

    If autistic children don't engage as much with games with others that involve movement maybe that might have something to do with reduced skills too?

  • I am really pleased for you that you found yoga to be helpful  

    I was not particularly good at sports either.  

    I spent a long time training in martial arts and found when I returned to other sports I had significantly improved as I had "transferable skills" to apply to them.

    I wonder if you found yoga also helpful for emotional insight and regulation too?  It is part of that tradition of exercise as I understand it.

  • I did try and do all the things my friends did, but I was so bad even my friends didn't want me in thier team for school sports or playground games.

Reply Children
  • I am really pleased for you that you found yoga to be helpful  

    I was not particularly good at sports either.  

    I spent a long time training in martial arts and found when I returned to other sports I had significantly improved as I had "transferable skills" to apply to them.

    I wonder if you found yoga also helpful for emotional insight and regulation too?  It is part of that tradition of exercise as I understand it.