• Welcome to Autism Forums, a friendly forum to discuss Aspergers Syndrome, Autism, High Functioning Autism and related conditions.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Private Member only forums for more serious discussions that you may wish to not have guests or search engines access to.
    • Your very own blog. Write about anything you like on your own individual blog.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon! Please also check us out @ https://www.twitter.com/aspiescentral

Clumsiness (Is It Autism Or Do I Need To Work Out More?)

AuBurney Tuckerson

AuBurney Tuckerson

~GigglesTheAutisticHyena~
I've always been a klutz. I usually have to fight for balance when doing normal things (I.e. putting my pants on, washing my feet, etc.). I often walk into door frames or bump into people, especially on narrow places. I can't pick up or turn flat things like turning pages, separating pages, separating the flabs on a ziploc bag, picking up coins, picking up cards. It's difficult! And people don't notice because I'm usually alone when struggling with this stuff, not really in public or in front of people. It gets annoying. But I'm thinking that it could be an autistic trait. I don't know.. What do you guys think, cause if I tell my mother this, she will just brush it off as "anybody" having trouble picking up flat stuff or bumping into door frames. She did that when I told her that I think I'm a little under sensitive when it comes to tasting things as to why I stuff my mouth. I crave a taste for things I like. She brushed that off as "anybody" being oversensitive or under sensitive to certain things.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Maybe change the font colour, it's a bit difficult to read without highlighting it with a mouse.

I can be clumsy too. As a kid, I could have problems with coordination, although I was informed it was mostly because of my rapid growth (always the tallest in any class until the start of high school where some boys started to get taller), which caused problems with coordination. What helped me was yoga and balance training. Meditation, where you focus on being aware of your body (and its limits), was also helpful. It allows you to understand the size of your limbs. You don't have to do it every day, just 5 to 15 minutes would make a difference in time if done regularly. Just be mindful of how you do things, on the precision of movement, don't do things on autopilot - with time your body will learn to act with that precision instead of flapping around uselessly.

Or you can just stand on one leg for a few minutes, then on the other, trying to keep balance without any movement. If you do it every day, it really helps in the long run.

Dance helps as well, especially if you're really bad at it in the beginning (like I was).

I still sometimes walk into a stray lamp post but it has more to do with not focusing on my surroundings (getting distracted by noise, people or, guilty as charged, my phone) or judging the distance in a wrong way. That's still one of my problems - the awareness of the distance. Sometimes I will walk into a post despite being sure that I won't because the distance is different in reality than it was in my mind :oops::rolleyes:. Just a quirk of my brain, I suppose? Haven't found a way to work on that yet.

In the end, I don't know if clumsiness can be considered a trait of autism. I prefer to treat it as my own shortcoming - and learn how to control it.
 
I think clumsiness is associated with Autism. Including Dyspraxia. I am clumsy, and I don't think it's separate from poor judgement of distances, it's all linked I think. For example I can't catch a ball easily or play sports, am uncoordinated and bump into things. I drop things , and knock things over. Hard to take a cup from someone if it's full.

In the car as a passenger, I keep thinking things are nearer than they are and cringing. I don't drive, I found it hard to coordinate all the necessary movements and actions and didn't feel safe. None of this stops me doing much, I can get about fine and on the whole what does any of this matter?

It may also be worth noting that in my experience, aspects of parents that are irritating improve best after you move out. I mean, usually they don't improve, so moving out is the way to go!
 
I have also heard that clumsiness is an Asperger's/Autism trait, it's something I have always struggled with

Gym was by far my worst class, I struggle to throw a football properly, to throw a baseball properly, even to hit the baseball itself

My worst, most loneliest memory was my inability to make contact with a badminton birdy, thus I got to practice on my own around the corner from the gym, and still never figured it out...
 
Yes it can be a associated thing to Autism, i struggle with spacial awareness, often leave cu pboard door open so bump my head ect. on a regular basis and have found exercise classes and co-ordinating my body tricky, yoga has helped as has using a exercise ball to 'centre' my core/balance. Developing a personal acceptance has eased my embarrassment of people's comments of 'what have you done now!' I bump some bit of me so often i hardly react now much to the confusion of any-one who's with me.
 
Mine gets down to not concentrating. If l am not aware of my surroundings then l walk into things, drive into poles. Just ignoring whatever l need to ignore just due to pure boredom.
 
My gross motor skills are abysmal (I walk into walls, doors, door frames, if I try to stand still I can fall over LOL) but my fine motor skills are par excellence. Never could quite figure that one out. I can do the smallest, most detailed thing with my hands, no problem, then I promptly stand up to walk and trip over the chair.
 
SDRSpark said:
My gross motor skills are abysmal (I walk into walls, doors, door frames, if I try to stand still I can fall over LOL) but my fine motor skills are par excellence. Never could quite figure that one out. I can do the smallest, most detailed thing with my hands, no problem, then I promptly stand up to walk and trip over the chair.
Click to expand...
Same :D:oops:
 
I am a clutz. Always was. I could not throw a ball in school and I was teased for it of course I did not know I had Asperger back then so I though there was something wrong with me.
 
Clumsiness is attributed as an autistic trait. For me personally, I often walk into things: doorways, chairs, people, my pets. I have a habit of tripping over my right foot as it is more pigeon toed than my left foot. I gave myself a black eye and knocked myself out once in 4th grade running into a door frame full speed. My classmates found it hilarious, of course. I did gymnastics for 5 years though, and that allowed me to work out some of my issues, but not all.
 
I had trouble with balance until I started doing martial arts, that and cycling helped a lot. Also other things that helped including reducing my daily anxiety levels and modifying the way I did things I still run into stuff about once a week and I know that the higher my anxiety the clumsier I am.
 
My clumsy ways are worse when i'm stressed or uncomfortable as well and i've also found cycling and for me yoga has helped me with this.
 
Cross country running sounds fun, I’ve used a book from 0 to 20 mins and have done some jogging every other day, today I jogged 45 minutes it was very enjoyable, hoping to get to 10km
 
I dont think I’m clumsy. I’ve spent an excessive time cycling, skiing/snowboarding etc. but, it is hard for me to do any team sports, catching or throwing etc.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

New Threads

Top Bottom