Physical Signs Summary 1. Toe walking 2. Facial expression may not match feelings 3. Monotone voice 4. Tics 5. Motor skills issues - fine and/or gross motor skills
I think he missed a big one: I remember reading autistic people have hyper flexibility, specifically being able to do the butterfly stretch without much effort. (I definitely did as a kid. I was immediately able to do it way better than the kids who had been stretching for months at Taekwondo. I could also hold myself up on the pull-up bar with hardly any effort, compared to stronger males, and I’m a female. But that might be a random oddity.)
I'm 56 and have been diagnosed with autism. I've been struggled my entire life trying to fit in and always knew there was something different about me, but even the doctors missed it. I zone out when I get anxious, I sometimes do it in the middle of conversations, I literally slip into this state where I glaze over and no longer aware of my surroundings. I have no control over it and people think I am rude or arrogant.. I struggle to read because of it, I can;t get through a page without drifting off into wherever it is I go. I also can't look directly at people when talking, me eyes are everywhere but in the direction they should be. Textures and sounds cause me a lot of problems too, they make me feel physically sick and anxious. I could go on forever writing about how it effects me but the worst thing for me is the emptiness and loneliness, I can't form relationships or make friends, I do peoples heads in because I talk to much to overcompensate for the amount of time I spend alone!
Omg, I am the very same. I'm nearly 60 but always Tried to " fit in". I have never been diagnosed with Autism, ASD , but only found out about Autism/ ASD when my son was diagnosed with ASD a few years ago. Wish I could find out how to go about getting a diagnosis. . I too "zone out" in the middle of conversations. I can't make eye contact with people when I am talking to them. I prefer my own company, instead of to trying to deal with people. Just found your channel and look forward to seeing your next video. 😊👍Oh and I definitely overshare also.I am so honest, its ridiculous. 😉😊
Nope. That’s not autism. It’s ALEXITHYMIA. You’re taking the effortless way out because of course you are by adopting a label that requires no further growth from you and makes you feel self righteous.
I first heard toe walking was a major sign of autism a couple years ago. prior to that, I had been doing a lot of research on autism and came to the conclusion that I was likely autistic, but that was the thing that made me feel confident in saying that I was. I do wish that was a more commonly known sign when I was a kid though, as it is a behavior that my mom had noticed my entire life. I even do it to this day, at 35.
50 and I a,ways walked on my tip toes. My oldest daughter and youngest son did the same thing. I thought it was the middle two that were the odd ones because they stomped around the house all the time.
Dan, your channel has been a life changer for me. Some of the older viewers may find some benefit in a video I found on "Autism from the Inside" about late diagnosed autism/Asperger's in seniors. I'm 74. I just forget the name of the video but it features seniors who have lived their whole life not knowing why life has been so difficult for them. Once they knew they were on the spectrum everything changed for the better and began to make sense.
I have two children with high-functioning autism. The most obvious sign they manifested was the inability to look anyone straight in the eye when talking. My son-in-law, who is ADHD, cannot stand still while engaged in a conversation; he paces back and forth, even though he is obviously enjoying the conversation. But he is also greatly relieved when the conversation is done. It is a palpable aura he exudes while talking, so we try to keep the conversations short for his sake. He often has to retreat to his video games after even a short conversation just to settle down.
What you describe also identifies as addiction. Do not underestimate how addictive these screens are. Screens = the tv, computer, and phones. The very intentional by design, black screens.
My partner and I almost never look each other in the eyes. I am so glad we work well together because this is often taken as a sign of inattention and rudeness but for us it's just a matter of comfort.
@@edie4321 Speaking as someone who has also struggled with what a lot of people would consider an "addiction" to games but recently found out they actually have ADD/ASD, it's extremely poor form to diagnose somebody you've never met with that, especially if you know that person has one of those. Folks with those conditions often require the "right" level of stimulus in order to feel comfortable, and videogames are an easy way of delivering that. That's not an addiction, that's an effective coping mechanism. I'm not trying to be rude by correcting you, I just find this a serious issue that people tend to be very cavalier about. If I'd followed the advice of people who assumed I had an addiction I'd be in meltdown city right now, and I'd have lost my favourite hobby. As for OP's son-in-law, if it becomes a problem that's affecting his life (which we don't know, because they never said that) it's likely that all he has to do is find more varied coping mechanisms. They're different for everybody, I carry a fidget cube and some strong-smelling peppermint oil for when I'm understimulated, and I'm getting those loop earplugs to adjust volume so I have more control when I'm overstimulated. That's what works for me, he might just need mental exercises but he also might not need anything. That's something for him to explore, and if he decides it's too big an issue then he can talk to a professional for help.
@@edie4321 That may be; perhaps it's part of the equation, getting a little dopamine hit when he's too anxious to deal with people. But other than that, he's a hard-working construction guy, a good guitar player, and a up-and-coming real estate broker. He's also my retirement plan!
I was late diagnosed with autism 9 years ago, growing up was very difficult I tried to fit in it never worked I did things differently to everyone else I also I couldn't express feelings very well which ended up with me been put into care system, now I'm older I have given up trying to fit in I have learned a lot about autism. I may not be very good at some things but I love creative things, I'm a make up artist I work with special effects on TV film and theater, I'm a carpenter and joiner, so in a way I turned what I thought was a negative into a positive, and I always say people with autism are aliens because we are just awesome. I look at the world differently and I like that.
As a child I walked solely on my tip toes, my first word was ‘pajamas “ at 3 years old. I twirled around a lot. I touched everything and very curious. The adults around me would often remark about these traits. I thought I had holes in my brain because some math skills and problems with left and right. Lots of learning was super easy for me as long as I stayed away from the “holes”. I was horribly shy. I have never been diagnosed with Asperger’s but I believe I may be. My siblings to my surprise thought I was right. I thought they would mock me for thinking so. Too late in the game to pursue any diagnostic validation, just wanted any input you could give. Thanks
It's never too late to get your diagnosis my friend. I was diagnosed at age 47. Some sooner, some later. The REAL obstacle of course is money. I was set back when I was diagnosed, but it was worth it!
@@thed.a.4939 getting late diagnostic depends on te country you're in also.... and the doctor's attitude... tried it in my country and was sugesed to get a schizophrenia diagnostic instead, if i want to retire early. When i said i don't want to retire then they were like... why would you waste your time if not? and they kinda shoo'd me out
@@FEARLESSParaKNOWmal You're right on both counts. In my case, I was born in a time when ASD was not in the mainstream like it is today. My family's pediatrician didn't believe my mother at all when she began noticing the warning signs and said flat out that she was an abusive parent. No testing; nothing. Just imagine what that does to a young mother's mind.
@@thed.a.4939 my daughter growled. She toe walked. She twirled. She hated to be kissed or hugged. She became upset if her father and I kissed and would push us apart. From infancy she would avoid eye contact and turn away. But her doctors thought I was the problem and all she needed was more spankings with wooden spoons!
I'm 29 and just found out that I have ASD. I never realized it and those around me including my parents never saw the signs. I knew I was different but didn't think there was more to it than just being unique. I wish I would have found this out so much sooner. I have actually ruined very meaningful relationships of mine because of my "blank face" when I should have shown some type of emotion at the moment.. but it takes me a bit longer to process my emotions when I'm put on the spot.. I've been forced to feel guilt for that, and many other things that I now know is because of my ASD... I finally have some forgiveness for myself after years of questioning what's wrong with me and why I am the way I am.. I just wish I would have known sooner so I could have explained my faults 😔
Defff not alone.. I feel you 🙏🏼 I’ve felt craazy for people constantly thinking I don’t care when I care sooo much! & have felt very alone not knowing who I can talk to about these things. I found out at 32 But we know now🎉 & there’s a world of people like us :)
@@cindykq8086 I'm 74 and recently self-diagnosed. I told my doctor who asked me "Now that you know what should we do about this?" I said I don't want to do anything about it. After watching Dan's videos and several other channels I decided I like being on the spectrum. Everything makes sense now and as you say Cindy, it really is a comfort.
My son was diagnosed with autism as a 2 year old. His early years were really difficult. However, he really became social, and developed of love of music and has perfect pitch. He went to a performing arts high school and is now a music major in college . He wants to sing opera and has a prodigious memory for words and music. He also plays bass and guitar and seems to have fine motor skills, except his handwriting. I do notice that he is a frequent toe walker, running to do things. He also has some tics like clearing his voice or nodding his head to one side. He also talks to himself, more like his committee, whenever he's alone. And whenever he says something, he repeats it to himself copying the intonation. He's had no medication or intervention except tutoring. My concern is that opera involves acting, and his emotional side is always buoyant. Maybe opera doesn't require nuance of feelings, but it seems limiting in a way. I couldn't ask for a better kid! Thanks for letting me share your observations.
I have some of the toe walking and the tics. But probably my biggest physical sign of autism is I almost always walk with my head down, looking at the ground, because I have so much trouble making eye contact with strangers.
I tip toe walk sometimes but only at home. I also have a habit of standing with one hip elevated - like flat foot on right side and tip toe on left side. Anyone else do or see that in other ASD peeps?
If it bothers you to walk with your head down train yourself to look over their shoulder or if in a conversation look at their forehead some people notice it but an amazing number miss that you're not really looking at them.
I have Nonverbal Learning Disability/Disorder and we share many of the traits of the autism spectrum. The one that I can immediately think of that we don't is that we are very verbal- in fact, we tend to talk too much in order to mask our deficiencies in other areas. For example, I have a severe math problem (dyscalculia) which, when paired with the visual spacial deficiency is very troublesome things like measuring or estimating as well as making things even or level. It also makes it excruciatingly difficult to offer any kind of consistency in things like work, wherein we usually go by a strict script and when the situation deviates even a little, we are lost. Thanks for your hard work and for putting out these videos!
I try putting more emotion into my voice and face sometimes. Very often I mess up and the reaction I get is different from what I anticipated. It took me ages to figure out the reason the reaction was off was because I expressed myself wrong. Another thing that happens is that people just get annoyed at you not expressing a lot of emotion and try to push your buttons just so they can see you act like a human for a change and then you meltdown and they all think you’re crazy. If it sounds too specific, yeah…
too specific and too relatable, pretty much my relationship with my dad. he would even punish me for not reacting aversely to difficult situations or happily to happy situations, etc. And whenever he DID try to push all of my buttons JUST to get a reaction, he would punch me for reacting.
I've been toe walking since I was old enough to have concrete memories, and my mom would often delightedly point out that she thought I was like a ballet dancer. I also definitely have had tons of experiences where I felt frustrated that people seemingly didn't seem to notice how I was feeling, only to catch my reflection somewhere and note that I looked as blasé as ever. I was (sorta??) diagnosed with Asperger's before the name was changed, and this kind of stuff wasn't exactly mentioned then. To learn about it here like this was certain a surprise.
Best thing about toe walking~ strong, defined calves! I had a bodybuilder friend who was blown away by the split up the center of my calf muscles and said he had been trying to achieve that in the gym his whole adult life. I don’t go to the gym. I told him to walk around on his tippy toes
HI Dan, thanks for an awesome vid. Another trait of autism especially noticeable in adults is that when they walk they often don't swing their arms and their arms will be rotated slightly so that the palms face towards the rear. This was something that was brought up in a class I took on the treatment of autistic children.
My 41 year old son has Aspergers and he rubs the fingertips of his hands together. Not touching the hands together, but separately, with his hands at his sides, rubs the tips. I have noticed this with others who have Aspergers. In fact, it's one of my first clues.
I'm tactile. I am touching everything everywhere. Walking along with my hand feeling the wall or whatever. Never was aware of it until someone pointed it out. It's not a tic. It's perception.
I do that when I'm anxious or stressed or overwhelmed. I rub the tips of my fingers with my thumb on each hand I keep them by my side so others don't notice
My wife will regularly ask me to stop doing this when I'm driving. She can't stand the sound it makes when the dry skin of my fingertips rubs together and I don't even realize that I'm doing it until she points it out.
I did not swing arms when walking. I used to walk with my arms by my side. My big sister helped me to 'train' my arms to swing so that I wouldn't look so weird😆. I am 50 now and if I am in a hurry I sometimes still forget to move my arms.
Oh, I know! It takes so much energy to look and act enthusiastic all of the time. I actually always found that interesting about cooking shows, and wondered how they don't look strained while acting so bubbly and excited.
My youngest tippy toes still at 14. My mother made me stop as a teen. My second daughter has tics. The rest is spread out evenly among each of us at different times. I have been told to not use “that tone of voice.” Etc. still trying to figure out how all these things were missed for long. Thanks for educating us. It helps to understand myself better and accept who I am as a whole.
When I was a kid I'd get in trouble for "that tone of voice". Also because when I got really angry or sad I'd start using an angry or sad voice (which most people do, even NT) but the problem was I had no control over it and I couldn't even notice what type of voice I was using. This is one of the things I'm still quite annoyed about how I was treated as a child, it made my childhood heaps more confusing and frustrating then it needed to be
@@shadowkyber2510 exactly. Same thing happened to me with my mother. Then my husband but we are realizing that we both have our differences neurologically. He has ADHD like I do but not autism though he has a brother and some nephews who may be on the spectrum. Crazy how you are attractive to similar people as you.
I was diagnosed at age 30 last year with Autism and ADHD. It is amazing to now know why I have the habits I do. Finally makes sense after all these years. Like the tiptoe thing. I do it all the time, since I was a child. Everyone in my house looks at me weird (with the exception of my mom). 😆 I also have terrible motor skill and motor tics. Now I know why.
Joint hyper-mobility, digestive disorders, mast cell activation and connective tissue disorders like EDS are major comorbidities for tics/ASD/OCD/ADHD/anxiety/BPD.
I'm 43. I've never been diagnosed but the more I study about autism the more convinced I am that I'm on the spectrum. Sometimes I wonder how my life might have been different if I'd been diagnosed early on.
I'm of a similar age, and have found that it's only in the past few years that certain social things are clicking into place, I think I definitely have some autism and high functioning autism traits, but see a label as academic now, given that I'd still have my mind, and things seem to make more sense than they did do. We can only live from where we are now. 🙂
I'm high functioning high IQ (Diverse skillsets due to diverse life experiences.) and it sort of bothers me that society seems to now view anyone that is actually functionally good at anything has to be on 'the spectrum'. What I do find interesting is that I can adapt down to interacting with people on the spectrum to a point due to being able to hold a large number of sub-topics and contexts in conversational cue and thus keep up with the often erratic thought processes that people on the spectrum can have. Still gets exhausting with some though.
@@lauramcclain8651 If she is truly that smart maybe she can explain to you how the intelligence bell curve works, both on and off the spectrum, and now 1 near the top end does not equal all or represent all everywhere else.
I could go on and on about my grown son who has Autism, but I'll try to keep it as short as possible. I was a very young wife/mother and we had all 3 of our sons by the time I was 22 years old and my husband was 25. They were so close in age that at certain stages they looked like triplets. My oldest was not diagnosed as autistic until he was 30 years old, but he had all of the physical signs listed. Oddly enough the so called professionals didn't catch it, not his doctors, school psychologists, teachers, no one. They simply said he was "slow" and had a problem with "hand-eye coordination" and possibly had "ADD'. Some teachers even said he was "lazy minded". Even my husband (ex) would get frustrated and angry with him because he always had trouble tying his shoes and buttoning and zipping his clothes. He would also get angry with him and call him "ungrateful" and "unappreciative", because when he would receive a gift for his birthday, or Christmas he wouldn't 'jump for joy', or get excited like his brothers would. His expression never changed and he would simply say "Thank You". Everyone would say "Well don't you like it?". He would say "Yes, I like it a lot", but still... his expression never changed. I always defended him, because as his mother I could look into his eyes and see there was something else going on in there. Even though I felt relieved the day he was diagnosed, I take no pride in saying "I was right". Because the pain he endured being bullied in school and being ridiculed by teachers and even family members has left many scars that still remain.
I agree about the toe walking...I have a son, a nephew and a younger brother who are all on the spectrum and while they are all different, one thing they all had in common as children was toe walking. My son is now an adult and has a tick in his jaw. Great insights here, thanks!
Thanks Dan for another AWESOME video! I have always walked on my toes or balls of feet and I never knew why? I feel uncomfortable placing my whole foot on the floor. I also have trouble balancing myself on my feet. I cross one foot over another to get a better balance. People have asked me why, but I have no answer. I also have trouble with motor skills. I can't screw lids back on and end up dropping the who jar. I drop things a lot, several times a day. It is very frustrating, and causes me to break down and cry because these things (standing, walking, screwing lids back on and not dropping them) are SO EASY for eeryone else! Life is so hard. Making friends is impossible. I always tell myself to not talk to people about things that interest me, or just about current events because I talk too long because I get excited about something I think is very interesting and amazing that I am learning about, I think it will be interesting for other people. I realize when they leave, that I have made a huge mistake and have isolated myself further from the world by revealing how weird I am. I live alone since my parents died. I perfer being alone, but when I encounter people, which we all have to, I wish I could at least not leave them with the memory of just how weird or crazy I am. Thank you again Dan for your precious time. Bless you always and thank you for reading the words exposing my insanity.
I said a prayer for a kind friend to come into your life. No matter what Jesus loves you and he will never let you down. Look up Roman 10:9-10. God bless you 🤗.
You're weird and crazy because you think you're weird and crazy. Stop that. Think of yourself and uniquely beautiful. It works. You know thaty you are a good person. I literally hated myself for years because of the abusive environment that I was raised within. I was the "hard headed son of a bitch" and believed it. I still encounter people everyday that are insensitive and rude. 2 days ago a co-worker told me I was weird. I simply cut her out of my daily routine and she doesn't exist for me any longer if she chooses to be rude. Live for yourself, not others. Live in the moment. I suggest transcendental meditation. Sit down in a comfortable position, relax and focus on nothing but the feeling of the air going in and out of your nose. Do this for as long as you can and for me once I'm there, a smile comes across my face and I am truly in the moment. Don't get hung up on the past and don't fret about the future because you only live in the moment.
Bless you for being a wonderful human with insight. My son is Aspie and seems to prefer hiding himself from the world. I’d love for him to go on and on about anything.
OMG this was me as a child - ugh this is too interesting. I have high body awareness though, sports professional level reflexes (medically tested) plenty of repetitive exercises increase dexterity but it’s learnt for me eg gaming. Monotone talking , yes, if you read Dr suess books it helps you create rhythm and modulation, @10 I had a baby brother to read to - it helped amazingly
That's bizarre, I never knew walking on tip toes was related to autism. I do it less these days, but when I was younger I'd walk around the house on tip toes constantly. I just thought it was something I did.
Tip toeing can also be caused by other things (having flat feet for instance), it is not necessarily a sign of autism. But combined with other autistic traits, it can be significant.
Interesting. I have come across a lot of Asbergic people in the course of my work. Fortunately through experience and observation I was self taught in dealing with sufferers. One guy was getting really bad and his behaviour was getting more bizarre by the day. I realised that nobody would listen to or speak to him. Anyway I let him tell me about his interests and his knowledge of his subjects was profound. As I listened, his conduct improved as did his aggression. The result was a more responsible job for him. Thanks for the toe walking tip, I wasn't aware of it.
John, on behalf of everyone, thanks a lot for showing that insight and consideration...I really appreciate there are people that will take steps like that rather than assume and make knee-jerk responses. And I'm sure, not only did he benefit, sounds like you gained a lot from having not just solved an HR problem, but actually got a better employee in return.
My whole life people have called me misery. Even when I,m happy which is often, people say I look miserable. I,m nearly 60.Life has been harder than it needed to be.My frown is painted to my face.
Sick X tattoos! I didn’t realize you were sxe Dan! Sobriety was one of the best decisions I ever made for myself. Us Autistics and ADHDers are especially vulnerable to addiction and the pressure to use substances to fit in socially. It’s good to see other neurodivergent folks on the same path. Forever True ⚒️⚒️⚒️
I have tiptoed all my life. My mom jokingly called it having raptor feet and said I was ready to run before I was walking. I was always clumsy, and still am. I am 30 years old and received my diagnosis of autism only 3 months ago. My family never had me tested, so I did it myself.
@@annagiousi9518 ask your doctor (any doctor) about "Neuropsychological Testing for Autism Spectrum Disorders" & surely they'll direct you to a professional. it's rather long process
My husband and I are slowly realizing that autism is even a thing, and our son (in his thirties) shows many aspects of it. We’re thinking of talking to him about it but we are afraid of making him feel judged or hurt… we’ve never spoken about it. So I’m asking you…In your opinion, would you have been offended if your parents had talked to you about it? Also, is there a benefit to being formally diagnosed? Thanks.
Diagnosed with Autism at 36… I always had vocal tics. Made little noises along with stimming by rubbing my feet together or playing with strings on my clothes. I also drop things a lot and have spacial recognition issues. Bump into walls, door jams, people…. My mother bought me a leash as a kid that went on a harness and my bf pulls on my coat when he sees me about to run into anything. The signs were always there, but I was misdiagnosed my whole life. Good to finally have a better understanding of how Im wired.
Thanks for confirmation. My parents thought something was really wrong with me when I came home after a long stay in the hospital. The doctors told them that the high fever that I had sustained may have left me brain-damaged. I came home very joyous, but with a straight face calm on the outside, happy on the end. It was the beginning of my masking. When my mother cried and thought something was wrong with me, a voice told me in my head, you better run around like a little fool, or they’ll put you back in that place. So that’s what I did, and they laughed and seem to be all right. It took me decades to come out of that. Thank you for this video and the information that you share with all of us to find out. Who we really are.❤❤😂
LOL!! I was at the other end. A high IQ and bored-to-death kid. When I saw the spaztic kids getting away with murder at school I took up their ticks in order to get out of class work I saw no purpose in. It drove my teachers and parents nuts but they couldn't do anything about it without having to uphold the same rules for everyone at the same time. As for breaking out of it, it was just an act I used at school and nowhere else which just bothered them more.
I toe-walked, it was so i could walk quietly without disturbing anyone else. My big tic used to be shaking my head, it was to relieve pressure that would build up in my neck. I deal with that other ways now. I got pretty good at guitar, but I recall having issues moving my fingers around as quickly as other guitarist friends. Later I moved to drums and the foot I used for the kick drum was always somewhat lazy.. it took a transformation in how I viewed myself to make a difference there..! Not sure I ever had the monotone voice as a proper thing I did, tho I may not be recalling my past effectively.. I sure was a very avid reader. Facial expressions too, yes, I recall at the dentist as a kid the dental nurse was showing me the dentist tools, one squirted water, I enjoyed seeing them all, but apparently the nurse told my Mum that she thought I didn't seem very interested in seeing the things. I might have started to focus a little more on my facial expressions from then perhaps... Thanks for sharing your experiences, Mr Aspie, and the other commenters too. ❤
I walked and ran on my toes when I was a kid. I also used to speak monotone and hardly move my mouth when I talked. As for the facial expressions, I still have a hard time. Everyone thinks I'm mad all the time. My dad would get so mad at me for these when I was a kid, I got in trouble for being me all the time.
I toe walk often and someone told me it was an autism trait, and I thought they were making that up 😅 I owe them an apology! I also am monotone and have bad motor skills
This is a very interesting video. I’m not on the autism spectrum but I find it‘s so helpful to know how to better interact with and understand people from all walks of life
I have a very odd gait. When I was young, peers used to ask if I was in the military. Unfortunately, I also go through shoes rather quickly because of this. Tic wise, as a kid in particular, I used to say "huh" after every sentence. It drove my parents crazy. I'm told I still do this sometimes even to this day. I don't think I speak in monotone though.
I know that pain :( the shoes. I mean i know i can gothrough shoes fast becaue, mayb its because som still locopedic stuf i did have, an no not diagnosed then, but that as definitly and i still wear out the heel part pretty easy. Also i guess toe walking was common, through i guess out ogf sho an a noisy floor, but happened, still. i mean io sometimes test an area with the toe tippig food area??!
46 years. I continue walking on tiptoe, it's my natural way of walking, I feel super light and the balance is perfect. I often walk and run barefoot in the woods, it's the natural way of doing it. No diagnosis.
After being aware that I was likely on the spectrum for nearly 3 years, I finally decided to embrace and accept that part of me a couple of months back, and took the first step with an adhd diagnoses! Once I can afford autism screening I'll be able to move foreward with that as well. But the walking on toes as a kid and even now thing was one of the major facts that helped me accept it, because I would always blame my mental symptoms on other things or just say I sucked at being a human. Physical signs are so significant in my journey and probably other people's as well, cause it's sort of an "evidence" you can roll with. I checked all 5 of these signs on this video, other than the added point of dyslexia. Thank you for making content like this for those who are questioning or still learning, you're doing important things ♡
I'm curious, why do you feel the need to get diagnosed with ADHD and later Autism? Personally I would go for the Autism diagnosis and just be satisfied yourself that you have ADHD. After all, ADHD is a common comorbidity of Autism and doesn't really warrant its own diagnosis. You don't get extra points for having diagnoses for two similar conditions.
Interesting. When I was in my 20s my monotone speaking came to my attention by listening to someone else who was very monotone. I found I struggled to understand them so I went on a mission to change my monotone for good. Another thing is I've always had a secret fixation with my fingernails. I struggle with that as well. I hide it as much as possible but I find that when I'm under stress it actually helps me level out.
Toe walking is also a strong indicator of CMT. If you are a toe walker, and have very tight achilles, and/or high arches, you might have CMT. Also, lack of patellar reflex is a sign. I used to kick my leg out whenever I was tested (with the little hammer) because I thought I was supposed to, not understanding the concept of reflex as a kid.
Good to know. Might have to mention this to my doctor. My Achilles tendons have always been very tight. In middle school they put me in leg casts for months trying to lengthen them by preventing me from relaxing them and walking on my toes. Didn't work. I barely have the range of movement to walk "normally" so rarely do so.
I’m diagnosed with Asperger’s, but the only ones of these that I have are ticks (blinking and couching when I’m uncomfortable) and awful fine motor skills😊
I've heard of the toe-walking thing, but has anyone heard of walking or standing on the sides of the feet as being an autistic trait? I think I heard that one somewhere and it's apparently also a sign, although less common than toe walking. I do that a lot, sometimes when I'm standing around or even just sitting down I often have just the sides of my feet touching the floor. And my shoes always get worn out on the outer part of the sole first too. Oh and it makes me trip a lot. I also just generally have a stiff gait, which I actually had no idea about until very recently. My SIL joked that I walk like I'm marching. I also have terrible handwriting and my sister used to make fun of me when I was a kid because I could never colour inside the lines
I did that as well. Yeah, it think flexible ankles may be a thing. I walked on the knuckles of my toes and inverted my feet when standing because I could I guess.
I walked on the sides of my feet as a kid too, and anytime I was standing still I was standing on the sides of my feet 😂 Nowadays I don’t use my toes, I don’t know what’s up with that, but if I’m standing I can’t keep my toes on the ground. Not sure what I do when walking.
It used to be called Pigeon-toes/pigeon-toed and if it was often attributed to having had to wear really cheap undersized shoes when very young. Not always, but it had a strong correlation with kids from poor/very cheap families that didn't get their kids good footwear when young. As an adult, I am still slightly that way from when I was growing up and I literally didn't get new shoes until I had worn the old ones out so bad that my feet started sticking through someplace and when I did get new shoes they were the cheapest most uncomfortable crap mom could find in town.
People always blamed me for sneaking around cuz of my toe walking and the fact that I'm a real lightweight which is resulting in making no sound while moving around 😂
Great video! I was diagnosed w/ ASD at the age of 47, but the symptoms you described surprised me, for I have 'em all and didn't even know it when I was a child. The toe walking was a good one especially, for it's also one of those symptoms that can be looked at and "corrected" over time. In my case, I had two factors that were involved: The first was my father (God bless him) who noticed me toe walking and worked with me walking heel-to-toe. The second was being in the military; marching everywhere and if you were out of step, the Drill Instructors would ensure you don't forget your "mistake." Again, great video! Looking forward to your next one! Peace! 😎
How did you get diagnosed ? 25 and have been suffering from all of the ASD symptoms since I can remember. I don't know where to find a diagnosis since I stopped going to therapy as a child
@@babyinvasion I went to see a neuropsychologist. Dr. Noah Kauffman was his name. After six plus hours of testing, and a hefty fee, he was able give me an excellent diagnosis. He is considered one of the best, so his fee was WORTH it! Every penny!
Toe-walking is actually kind of good for us. This is how we would tend to walk in ancient times, barefooted in the forest. Heel-to-toe is what we do because of shoes and many of us develop heel & knee problems as a result, haha! But anyway, glad you had an awesome helpful Dad. Are you introverted, like my Aspie son? He’s wonderful (and 38, never diagnosed officially) but never volunteers information about himself. Also, is it beneficial to get an official diagnosis. Does it help in some way? Thanks.
@@greenbrain8725 That's interesting. I wouldn't believe that toe-walking could be good for us. Then again, I remember my Dad got me two ninja books when I was a boy when he came back from a trip to Japan 40 years ago. They both said exactly the same thing! Toe-walking to aid in stealth. Go figure! My dad along with a friend of his introduced me to the world of martial arts. Something else, martial arts training is very beneficial for us Aspies. In answer to your questions, yes, I am an introvert. I don't like being around people for too long. It drains me and "small talk" just gets on my nerves. Secondly, it IS helpful to get an official diagnosis for when you know what you're dealing with, you can take the appropriate steps to seek help and be better prepared. That's all for now, and thanks for your kind words. I know my father is smiling right now. Peace! 😎
The monotone voice one is interesting, and something I've never heard before. In my head, I sound very expressive when I'm talking. But if I hear myself recorded, I don't sound like that at all.
Please keep in mind that these signs are mostly assigned male at birth signs. Because let me tell you, a lot of behavioral issues are trained out of assigned females. Look me in the eyes, was a constant gripe with teachers, I learned early that you can look at people where their brows meet and glance at their eyes periodically. Being monotone is different for girls because we're constantly trained to be subservient (not trying to say anything political just this was my truth and I still see it today) when emotional reactions don't express what I am actually feeling, I get accused of being cold or distant.. I have never jumped up and down in excitement but I have cried when I seeing dinosaur skeletons. Now, athletic abilities, unless it's one of your hyper focus, is a non gender "problem"
Never jumped up and down with excitement. Never screamed on rides. Never liked to look at the camara. Hated points. Paper corners, knives, needles etc.. People kept saying it was a phobia. I always said that I'm NOT afraid of them, they hurt my eyes.
I do a decent amount these. The more stressed out I am the more klutzy I get… I hate awkward textures on my feet so if I’m not wearing socks and shoes like I usually am even in my own house no matter how small as it is then I will tiptoe like crazy because too many textures and that throws me all the way off and I noticed that but my girls do a few of these.
I’m clumsy, dropping things, bumping into things, eye-hand coordination is atrocious, when using sharp/kitchen knives I’m extra careful or else I’ll slice my hand open. Anyone else got that?
Toe walking but also other types of distinct walking that differs from most. As a pre-teen I was experimenting with different walks, until some classmates pointed out that I "walked funny". I settled in something that worked for me, and numerous people have pointed out that I walk and move almost identically to my dad. Guess who I'm suspecting was autistic too...
The things I relate are I do find myself more often then not walking on my tiptoes. When it comes to ticks the closest I can think of is biting on uneditable objects, I don’t think I have ticks as much as stimming which for me it’s mostly walking back and forth when I’m waiting and or in deep thought, and more often then not skipping, while I used to flap my hands when I got excited I don’t think I do it as much but occasionally due to masking for years. While I recently got my drivers license I do still struggle with my motor skills. Like taking me a while to know left from right. Driving help me cause I remember that if I signal right I go up and left for down on the signal. I also have to look at my hands often cause I was taught my left hand makes an L.
Yeah, I definitely toe-walk about half of the time (especially when I don't have shoes on) and I don't know why I do it. I also have vocal ticks when I am under a lot of stress (especially if I am forcing myself to keep going when my body is telling me to stop). And I also have to admit that my fine motor skills suck. It isn't fun trying to get my debit card out of my purse. I always feel rushed whenever I pay for something, because it's as if nobody wants to wait for you to put your debit card back into your purse 👛, and even zipping it up after. I may just need to get a better purse for that.
One thing else i noticed is signs of stress in unknown situations, like a pale face and a tensed up posture in combination with the toe walking (i don't know if i do this but i know someone who does it). I think this are things you can see in neurotypical people too, less often and only if the stress gets unbearable but they show more facial expressions at lower levels of discomfort. Maybe the toe walking is a sign of a flight response because i do it if i am in the mood to run away. When i was in school i used to take of my shoes because it felt like my feet were bigger than my actual feet and it got much better as soon i could move my toes. Sorry for my poor english skills . i am still working on it maybe some words i use are outdated (blame it on Jane Austin and Shakespeare) the rest of it is my poor understanding of grammatical correctness 😅.
I relate to 2,3, and maybe 4. People think I’m mad or unhappy a lot of times. I just explain I have resting b*tch face, which I do have so maybe that doesn’t count. Trying to remember to smile is distracting. What’s funny is when I get really into something and forget… all of a sudden the person I’m conversing with looks upset all of a sudden and it took me a hundred years to realize they were reacting to my sudden serious face! Then me reacting to their reaction and everybody going quiet and to their separate corners confused. Now that was so distressing til I figured out what was going on. But I still forget and don’t realize til later. One time I was meditating and feeling very serene and centered… passed by a mirror and saw I looked unhappy. It was so incongruous I bust up laughing til I was crying. When I was a kid my mom told me my voice was low monotone and sounded like I was mumbling. She told me a lot to stop mumbling. I learned to modulate but it’s also kind of distracting. I forget sometimes and make random sounds in front of people but more often alone if that’s considered a tic, I don’t know. I don’t have a formal diagnosis… I just relate to so many things. Realizing I’m autistic has made sense and gives me clarity so that’s just that. I’m too old to be diagnosed anyway it seems like but I do know what I am and am not! I don’t try to discuss with my family anymore because they think I’m just making excuses. I’m depending more and more on the autistic community for comfortable fellowship, which in turn is helping me, through understanding, how I can fare better in general pop too 👍 TBH I’m wondering if I should post this since I don’t have a formal diagnosis but if it helps anybody that’s my goal.
Being mono tone is awesome. I always get told I sound so laid back 😂 I remember when I started tip toeing. I found everyone else’s foot steps loud and outgoing and I didn’t like that. So I started walking on my toes. Now I’m 6 foot and accidentally startle people way to often lol
This has nothing to do with the video but when i heard "facial expressions" that just reminded me of how i can't make a socially acceptable smile in pictures and people point it out And you knoww what? WHO CARES, NOT ME
I find toe walking to be a lot more comfortable on my ankles. I often forget to put on an emotional face if I’m concentrating on other things - like when I’m teaching I won’t naturally smile. That only comes with a lot of extra thought. My boss even pulled me up on it. It was one of the things that made me get diagnosed.
I really relate to the facial expression thing, I usually smile when I hear something sad and look kind of grim when I'm happy. And I have always been bad at ball sports #diagnosed
Interesting about the fine vs gross motor skills. I've always had good fine motor skills. I've always been into making things, I learned to embroider when I was about eight, and learned sewing, knitting, painting, and so on. Fiber arts are still my thing. But gross motor skills? I always felt like -- like I was too big for my body is how I usually explain it. When other kids were turning cartwheels, I could only put my hands on the ground and kind of flap my feet in the air. My family went skiing and all I did was re-learn the snow-plow on the bunny slope every year and never got the hang of it. I couldn't dive off a diving board, no matter how much I rehearsed it in my mind. My mom made me take ballet for a year (for some reason she decided that I wanted to) and all I remember is trying to do the foot positions and skipping around in a circle and getting told over and over again that I was doing it all wrong. I wanted to be athletic, but I just didn't have the coordination and quick-thinking needed for team sports. I'm not the graceful gazelle prancing around the track, I'm more like a plodding elephant. If I could have gone for weightlifting, I might have done okay. (It's only as an adult that I finally found my sport: Dragon boat racing, where all I need to know is the stroke and staying in time with the leads). I need to dig out my baby book that my mother kept -- I know she recorded things like when I first spoke and when I learned to read (at three and a half -- hello, hyperlexia), and so on. If I was tip-toeing, it might be in there. I know the time at age three or four when I did a face-plant into the brick hearth is in there.
I'd say my fine and gross motor skills are only just good enough to get by and be able to work (thank god for zipper boots, I painfully tie the shoelaces once, when I first buy then and never again.) But I magerly struggle with most sports like you, on top of team sports being very confusing because I can't understand the social acpect of what I'm meant to be doing to help my team. I've recently go into rock climbing but, atleast on the easier walls you don't need to much cordination, I can kinda just brut force my way up lol, and I'm not worried about getting to a really high level, I just do it for fun. I wanna try a marchal art but I don't know how successful I'd be
I also practiced ballet as a kid, my dream was to be a dancer, I think I was good dancing alone, but my teacher said I couldn’t be on time with my classmates, I never paid attention to her, and that’s why I don’t like ballet anymore
These are great! For me, one of the tell tales signs is when people are fidgeting with their hands and rubbing their finger tips against each other! Seriously, this is a big one! I do it all the time. Also when peoples gaze is constantly flickering or when they stare too long at just one point in space even when you're having a conversation with them.
Great video! My son is on the autism spectrum, and in fact toe walks everywhere. He's 20 now, still does it, and my dad even noticed. My comment is to not consider it a disability, but to realize that it's just a different way of processing information, and that you can use it to your advantage. (Yes, I'm on the spectrum myself, and can use my brain in a way that benefits me, like my eidetic memory, which I used to impress professors on my Master's Degree exam.)
I tip toe walked until I was 16 and only really stopped when I got to college and someone pointed it out and I got embarrassed by it. I disguised it by skateboarding which essentially requires being on your toes a lot anyway so it was never picked up on. That was 13 years ago and today in my house I will often do it. I agree with the monotone voice when concentrating but I think I’m quite good at being animated because I paid a lot of attention to inflection. I have various tics and genuinely assumed they were the side effect of drug use in my teens until my mother confirmed I had several of them from around age 10 (that she noticed). Very informative video and you’ve given me more things to add to my profile for my upcoming autism assessment. The only one I don’t relate to at all is fine motor skills. I’m extremely mechanically minded and love to fiddle/build/deconstruct things so I’d say they’re quite sharp. Thanks for the video 🙂
I do toe walking a lot, the facial expression thing would explain why people flip out on me a lot, I think the monotone depends on my mood but over all I do it less, and I tic during colds a lot. I fight them a lot but eventually they go away... only to return when I'm sick or stressed.
I’ve always wondered about hand tapping. My great uncle, his brother (my grandfather) and my dad, and myself, all have a habit of tapping or slapping our hands. For example when sitting in an armchair, our hands will subconsciously slap against the arm of the chair. We all do it, and it drives my mother crazy. I don’t think we’d even be aware of it if she hadn’t brought it to our attention.
I’ve been told that people’s can’t tell whether I like something or not. Apparently I say I like everything, even when I don’t like it. I’ll say I like something sarcastically when I don’t like it, and I’ll say I like something genuinely when I do like it - but my sarcastic tone and genuine tone are exactly the same. I never realized I did this until a coworker pointed it out to me; she said, "You have such a flat ‘affect’ when you speak that I can’t tell whether you’re being sarcastic or not." I’ve purposefully tried to move away from doing this, but I’m never sure if I’m successfully getting my feelings across.
I've thought for some time that I'm somewhere on the spectrum, but I know for certain that it's not far. Patterns, numbers, and routines are something I've always played around with, but I also deeply understand people and emotions, though I think that has more to do with the fact that my parents were abusive and I had to adapt, so I learned to read people. I was never good at it, as a child.
I can relate...learning to read and understand others actually became a special interest of mine. I majored in Sociology in college & get lost in anything having to do with psychology or neuropsychology. I had always considered myself excellent at reading people, and for the most part I am. What caught me off guard is recognizing how much of a disconnect I still have regarding how MY behavior impacts other people. I sometimes offend people or create a weird situation somehow and have absolutely no ability to acknowledge or understand how or why until much much later when I'm able to examine the situation from a third party's perspective.
I have noticed I've got a few tics. One of them is trilling like a cat (I probably learnt that from my cat though lol), I also shake my hands often. This may be related to fine motor skills but I got sent out of science when I was younger for "messing around" with my pen too much because I kept dropping it but I'm just useless at keeping hold of stuff and directing my physical self. This is a great video, thank you!
Does anyone know what the toe walking is all about? I've been doing that as long as I can remember but not all the time, only on a hard floor (as opposed to carpet) if I don't have shoes or slippers on, which is why I pretty much always have some kind of footwear on. One of my college flatmates laughed at me once for toe walking -- I didn't even know it was weird until then.
You hit most of the signs . people need to know this. After wiring 21y with children on the spectrum, I can't help but notice people on the spectrum almost everywhere.. If more people become aware of the signs it would make life easier for the families. Be kind.
I've had all that except problems with motor skills.. Well, at first I had issues a bit but school forced me into sports and I got better. I adapted quickly. I was gifted in school and didn't really fit in. And I got bullied by guys that bullied other disabled people. And I didn't really understand people.
I’m 68 and was finally diagnosed with autism 12 yrs ago. My eyes have always been dilated causing me great pain in bright sunlight and flash camera photos. I have never looked people in the eyes when talking to them causing people to believe that I am either sneaky or shy or both . I did have many episodes in the past of great and uncontrollable anger set off by almost nothing. I have since learned to remain calm in almost any stressful situation. My senses of touch, taste, and smell are enhanced which limits my wardrobe to “soft” clothing. When I do go shopping it’s always in the early morning as crowds can cause me to become light headed to the point of passing out.
Thank you for the comment I hope that I could be of some help. I grew up In the 60s where my condition was not all that common and I was just labeled as the weird kid. My advice to you would be to embrace your condition and not look at as a negative. I can see very well in the dark and have awesome math skills. My generation was taught to face your fears and overcome them. Whether it be public speaking, asking a girl out, or requesting a well-deserved raise. I know it’s hard but it’s better than being a hermit.
OMG - my aspie partner toe-walks. I never knew it was associated with being on the spectrum. I've often wondered why he has such a noticeably odd gait!
I share most of those traits. I used to toe walk into adulthood. It took a lot of conscious effort to walk more normally. I’m 55 and never had a formal diagnosis. Back in my youth I was just considered weird and defective. I’d never heard of autism or anything about mental health in general. There’s pros and cons. On one hand, I wasn’t able to externslize the sense of defectiveness and it being a person failing. I used to say my sense of shame was inoperable, from being too intertwined with myself. On the other, not externalizing the flaws made me alone responsible for dealing with them. I spent decades writing in journals, trying to untangle my mind. Finally after five decades I feel like I’m pretty familiar with the neighborhood in there.
Thank you for this video I’m still trying to figure out if I’m autistic and I can’t get diagnosed since I’m 13 and my parents would laugh at me for the idea and I’d be made fun of for it but I honestly do believe I am autistic and another reason is adhd is found in people with Austin’s a lot and vise versa and everyone I talk to on a regular basis do believe I have adhd (again, can’t get tested but I’m working on it) anyways, to whoever read this thank you and I hope you have/had a good day :3
Wow! So many of these actually fit me! I've never given it much thought, but I do tend to make little squeaks and noises randomly. Someone pointed it out and was confused by it, but thankfully they said they found it endearing. I always worried others find it weird so I try to be aware and minimize doing it, but if I'm tired or super focused on something, it slips.
On these five: check, check, check, ummm no (I'll explain) and a BIG check on fine motor skills. So, explanation on why I don't monotone talk, it's because I am masking. I watched A LOT of TV shows and movies as a kid and young adult. I copied the speech patterns of actors I liked in certain scenes. A prof picked up on this in college and placed me on the speech team (she didn't ask, just said "You will do this."). Anyways, in my 40's, I was in a large church choir and was asked to be the choir chaplain. As such, I had to give a five minute speech each week on how certain bible phrase ties into how we are living our lives. And then I was asked to voice over work in the puppet ministry and also asked to be in the church drama ministry. At that point I realized that I missed my calling in life-to do voice over work in animation and other projects. Doing research on that, I found that first, you have to be young to get started, and second, it is very cliquish, which is why you have to start young.
"tip-toe walking" is actually how you are supposed to walk naturally, and while ive not been tested for autism, this is actually how i walk since becoming a fulltime barefooter since 2016
Toe walking is such a biggie. My bro and my son both did/do this. With my son we make it fun and call it tippie toes and I do it with him. My bro was completely discouraged from it even though it wasn’t anything causing him harm. As for my chronic resting b face, yeah. That’s a real thing.
My son was given a weighted backpack in elementary school; it helped him be more aware of his surroundings and was used for safety so that he didn’t run out into the street. He wouldn’t toe walk then. Whenever he toe walked he always seemed to be in his own thoughts, happy but disconnected.
Having been diagnosed as an adult, it's interesting to learn new things about Autism and how many signs there were when I was a child. I still walk on my toes, though it's more of a toe to heel walk. Also, the monotone way of speaking fits me to a T. Thanks for the video! Going to subscribe to keep up!
This list reminds me of how many autism traits I hid, or masked, even from myself. My current understanding is that when I intentionally hide these traits, and give myself the support and extra recovery time I need to keep myself functional, this is fine, and generally makes me seem more 'likable'. However, doing it unconsciously, not understanding why, for decades of my life, has caused severe damage to my body and mind and the overall trajectory of potential for my life. I can only move forward, processing what I learn. I share because I think many people could suffer less if we understand more about our own wiring and underlying patterns.
I’m glad this spectrum of human behaviour is getting so much more attention and acceptance. It’s sad a person like you had to mimic neuro-typical behaviours just to fit in, and then suffer in silence with no support. It’s like autism puts us into a cage imposed by society. I hope you are okay.
One other cause of toe-walking in ‘normies’ is a compressed L5 or sometimes L4 nerve root that buggers up the plantar reflex. I toe-walked a lot, my toe walking went away after a L4 nerve root decompression surgery. I still have audio processing difficulties in busy social settings and organizational issues which seem like mild “spectrum” issues.
Toe walking is one of mine I do all the time, also the monotone talking as well, I have some small tics as well, these are how I learned that I was on the autism spectrum. Thank you for making this vid, it’s helpful and informative!
Wow, the more I learn about asd the more symptoms I can relate to. Now I can add toe walking and poor motor skills to the list. My parents always tried to make me use my whole foot, and now I try to remember it my self. And my big motor skills are quite bad. Especially anything involving balance, throwing and catching. I was 33 when I realised that the wrist should be used when throwing a frisbee 😄
Physical Signs Summary
1. Toe walking
2. Facial expression may not match feelings
3. Monotone voice
4. Tics
5. Motor skills issues - fine and/or gross motor skills
My ADHD thanks you 🤣
@@thetorontogirl ha me too ASd and ADHD. was thinking I would have to watch video again as I forgot straight away. Thanks for list Camellia!
I think he missed a big one: I remember reading autistic people have hyper flexibility, specifically being able to do the butterfly stretch without much effort. (I definitely did as a kid. I was immediately able to do it way better than the kids who had been stretching for months at Taekwondo. I could also hold myself up on the pull-up bar with hardly any effort, compared to stronger males, and I’m a female. But that might be a random oddity.)
Definitely Monotone voice and people thought I looked sad when I was happy.
2 outta 5. Odd, monotonous voice and Moto skills
anyone else struggle with opening small sealed bags?
I do!
YES ME ALWAYS!! Thank you so much for the comment! Make sure you are subscribed and have the notifications turned on :).
Oh yeah. The bag thing. You people are sick. JOKING!
Yes! I often say opening some bags are like breaking into Fort Knox… But maybe Fort Knox is not locked up anymore, lol.😊
Omg, yesss!
I'm 56 and have been diagnosed with autism. I've been struggled my entire life trying to fit in and always knew there was something different about me, but even the doctors missed it. I zone out when I get anxious, I sometimes do it in the middle of conversations, I literally slip into this state where I glaze over and no longer aware of my surroundings. I have no control over it and people think I am rude or arrogant.. I struggle to read because of it, I can;t get through a page without drifting off into wherever it is I go. I also can't look directly at people when talking, me eyes are everywhere but in the direction they should be.
Textures and sounds cause me a lot of problems too, they make me feel physically sick and anxious. I could go on forever writing about how it effects me but the worst thing for me is the emptiness and loneliness, I can't form relationships or make friends, I do peoples heads in because I talk to much to overcompensate for the amount of time I spend alone!
As long as there are sites/communities like Dan's, you are NEVER alone. 💗
Omg, I am the very same. I'm nearly 60 but always Tried to " fit in". I have never been diagnosed with Autism, ASD , but only found out about Autism/ ASD when my son was diagnosed with ASD a few years ago. Wish I could find out how to go about getting a diagnosis. . I too "zone out" in the middle of conversations. I can't make eye contact with people when I am talking to them. I prefer my own company, instead of to trying to deal with people. Just found your channel and look forward to seeing your next video. 😊👍Oh and I definitely overshare also.I am so honest, its ridiculous. 😉😊
Ohmygosh ! I do all that TOO ! 😱
Nope. That’s not autism. It’s ALEXITHYMIA. You’re taking the effortless way out because of course you are by adopting a label that requires no further growth from you and makes you feel self righteous.
Same!
I first heard toe walking was a major sign of autism a couple years ago. prior to that, I had been doing a lot of research on autism and came to the conclusion that I was likely autistic, but that was the thing that made me feel confident in saying that I was. I do wish that was a more commonly known sign when I was a kid though, as it is a behavior that my mom had noticed my entire life. I even do it to this day, at 35.
I do this.
Me too. On the stairs is where I toe walk the most.
Both my dad and brother had a distinct toe walk… and would raise up on toes during their stride.
Wow🎉 My bro-in-law is autistic 😮that’s my conclusion 😂 .. I’ve referred to him as a fairy for how he walks
50 and I a,ways walked on my tip toes. My oldest daughter and youngest son did the same thing. I thought it was the middle two that were the odd ones because they stomped around the house all the time.
Dan, your channel has been a life changer for me. Some of the older viewers may find some benefit in a video I found on "Autism from the Inside" about late diagnosed autism/Asperger's in seniors. I'm 74. I just forget the name of the video but it features seniors who have lived their whole life not knowing why life has been so difficult for them. Once they knew they were on the spectrum everything changed for the better and began to make sense.
I have two children with high-functioning autism. The most obvious sign they manifested was the inability to look anyone straight in the eye when talking. My son-in-law, who is ADHD, cannot stand still while engaged in a conversation; he paces back and forth, even though he is obviously enjoying the conversation. But he is also greatly relieved when the conversation is done. It is a palpable aura he exudes while talking, so we try to keep the conversations short for his sake. He often has to retreat to his video games after even a short conversation just to settle down.
What you describe also identifies as addiction. Do not underestimate how addictive these screens are. Screens = the tv, computer, and phones. The very intentional by design, black screens.
My partner and I almost never look each other in the eyes. I am so glad we work well together because this is often taken as a sign of inattention and rudeness but for us it's just a matter of comfort.
Yeah, prolonged eye contact makes me uncomfortable and can even be said to cause me physical pain. And it caused me to blow a job interview! :(
@@edie4321 Speaking as someone who has also struggled with what a lot of people would consider an "addiction" to games but recently found out they actually have ADD/ASD, it's extremely poor form to diagnose somebody you've never met with that, especially if you know that person has one of those. Folks with those conditions often require the "right" level of stimulus in order to feel comfortable, and videogames are an easy way of delivering that. That's not an addiction, that's an effective coping mechanism. I'm not trying to be rude by correcting you, I just find this a serious issue that people tend to be very cavalier about. If I'd followed the advice of people who assumed I had an addiction I'd be in meltdown city right now, and I'd have lost my favourite hobby.
As for OP's son-in-law, if it becomes a problem that's affecting his life (which we don't know, because they never said that) it's likely that all he has to do is find more varied coping mechanisms. They're different for everybody, I carry a fidget cube and some strong-smelling peppermint oil for when I'm understimulated, and I'm getting those loop earplugs to adjust volume so I have more control when I'm overstimulated. That's what works for me, he might just need mental exercises but he also might not need anything. That's something for him to explore, and if he decides it's too big an issue then he can talk to a professional for help.
@@edie4321 That may be; perhaps it's part of the equation, getting a little dopamine hit when he's too anxious to deal with people. But other than that, he's a hard-working construction guy, a good guitar player, and a up-and-coming real estate broker. He's also my retirement plan!
I was late diagnosed with autism 9 years ago, growing up was very difficult I tried to fit in it never worked I did things differently to everyone else I also I couldn't express feelings very well which ended up with me been put into care system, now I'm older I have given up trying to fit in I have learned a lot about autism. I may not be very good at some things but I love creative things, I'm a make up artist I work with special effects on TV film and theater, I'm a carpenter and joiner, so in a way I turned what I thought was a negative into a positive, and I always say people with autism are aliens because we are just awesome. I look at the world differently and I like that.
As a child I walked solely on my tip toes, my first word was ‘pajamas “ at 3 years old. I twirled around a lot. I touched everything and very curious. The adults around me would often remark about these traits. I thought I had holes in my brain because some math skills and problems with left and right. Lots of learning was super easy for me as long as I stayed away from the “holes”. I was horribly shy. I have never been diagnosed with Asperger’s but I believe I may be. My siblings to my surprise thought I was right. I thought they would mock me for thinking so. Too late in the game to pursue any diagnostic validation, just wanted any input you could give. Thanks
It's never too late to get your diagnosis my friend. I was diagnosed at age 47. Some sooner, some later.
The REAL obstacle of course is money. I was set back when I was diagnosed, but it was worth it!
@@thed.a.4939 getting late diagnostic depends on te country you're in also.... and the doctor's attitude... tried it in my country and was sugesed to get a schizophrenia diagnostic instead, if i want to retire early. When i said i don't want to retire then they were like... why would you waste your time if not? and they kinda shoo'd me out
@@FEARLESSParaKNOWmal You're right on both counts. In my case, I was born in a time when ASD was not in the mainstream like it is today. My family's pediatrician didn't believe my mother at all when she began noticing the warning signs and said flat out that she was an abusive parent. No testing; nothing.
Just imagine what that does to a young mother's mind.
It is never too late.
@@thed.a.4939 my daughter growled. She toe walked. She twirled. She hated to be kissed or hugged. She became upset if her father and I kissed and would push us apart. From infancy she would avoid eye contact and turn away. But her doctors thought I was the problem and all she needed was more spankings with wooden spoons!
I'm 29 and just found out that I have ASD. I never realized it and those around me including my parents never saw the signs. I knew I was different but didn't think there was more to it than just being unique. I wish I would have found this out so much sooner. I have actually ruined very meaningful relationships of mine because of my "blank face" when I should have shown some type of emotion at the moment.. but it takes me a bit longer to process my emotions when I'm put on the spot.. I've been forced to feel guilt for that, and many other things that I now know is because of my ASD... I finally have some forgiveness for myself after years of questioning what's wrong with me and why I am the way I am.. I just wish I would have known sooner so I could have explained my faults 😔
You don’t have faults. You’re just right.
@@curiouscanuck Thank you 🥺
Defff not alone.. I feel you 🙏🏼
I’ve felt craazy for people constantly thinking I don’t care when I care sooo much! & have felt very alone not knowing who I can talk to about these things. I found out at 32
But we know now🎉 & there’s a world of people like us :)
I'm 65 and never officially diagnosed but it's pretty obvious. It's such a comfort not to be the only "weird kid."
@@cindykq8086 I'm 74 and recently self-diagnosed. I told my doctor who asked me "Now that you know what should we do about this?" I said I don't want to do anything about it. After watching Dan's videos and several other channels I decided I like being on the spectrum. Everything makes sense now and as you say Cindy, it really is a comfort.
My son was diagnosed with autism as a 2 year old. His early years were really difficult. However, he really became social, and developed of love of music and has perfect pitch. He went to a performing arts high school and is now a music major in college . He wants to sing opera and has a prodigious memory for words and music. He also plays bass and guitar and seems to have fine motor skills, except his handwriting. I do notice that he is a frequent toe walker, running to do things. He also has some tics like clearing his voice or nodding his head to one side. He also talks to himself, more like his committee, whenever he's alone. And whenever he says something, he repeats it to himself copying the intonation. He's had no medication or intervention except tutoring. My concern is that opera involves acting, and his emotional side is always buoyant. Maybe opera doesn't require nuance of feelings, but it seems limiting in a way. I couldn't ask for a better kid! Thanks for letting me share your observations.
I have some of the toe walking and the tics. But probably my biggest physical sign of autism is I almost always walk with my head down, looking at the ground, because I have so much trouble making eye contact with strangers.
I tip toe walk sometimes but only at home. I also have a habit of standing with one hip elevated - like flat foot on right side and tip toe on left side. Anyone else do or see that in other ASD peeps?
@@LaniRai1744 I do stand exactly like that too. It's most comfortable position for me.
If it bothers you to walk with your head down train yourself to look over their shoulder or if in a conversation look at their forehead some people notice it but an amazing number miss that you're not really looking at them.
@@qnkendra1523 that’s what I always do
I have Nonverbal Learning Disability/Disorder and we share many of the traits of the autism spectrum. The one that I can immediately think of that we don't is that we are very verbal- in fact, we tend to talk too much in order to mask our deficiencies in other areas. For example, I have a severe math problem (dyscalculia) which, when paired with the visual spacial deficiency is very troublesome things like measuring or estimating as well as making things even or level. It also makes it excruciatingly difficult to offer any kind of consistency in things like work, wherein we usually go by a strict script and when the situation deviates even a little, we are lost. Thanks for your hard work and for putting out these videos!
Yes!
I try putting more emotion into my voice and face sometimes. Very often I mess up and the reaction I get is different from what I anticipated. It took me ages to figure out the reason the reaction was off was because I expressed myself wrong. Another thing that happens is that people just get annoyed at you not expressing a lot of emotion and try to push your buttons just so they can see you act like a human for a change and then you meltdown and they all think you’re crazy. If it sounds too specific, yeah…
too specific and too relatable, pretty much my relationship with my dad. he would even punish me for not reacting aversely to difficult situations or happily to happy situations, etc. And whenever he DID try to push all of my buttons JUST to get a reaction, he would punch me for reacting.
This is what im going through right now!
I've been toe walking since I was old enough to have concrete memories, and my mom would often delightedly point out that she thought I was like a ballet dancer. I also definitely have had tons of experiences where I felt frustrated that people seemingly didn't seem to notice how I was feeling, only to catch my reflection somewhere and note that I looked as blasé as ever. I was (sorta??) diagnosed with Asperger's before the name was changed, and this kind of stuff wasn't exactly mentioned then. To learn about it here like this was certain a surprise.
Best thing about toe walking~ strong, defined calves! I had a bodybuilder friend who was blown away by the split up the center of my calf muscles and said he had been trying to achieve that in the gym his whole adult life. I don’t go to the gym. I told him to walk around on his tippy toes
@@royr1016 Mhm, I learnt not to walk on toes anymore because of that.
HI Dan, thanks for an awesome vid. Another trait of autism especially noticeable in adults is that when they walk they often don't swing their arms and their arms will be rotated slightly so that the palms face towards the rear. This was something that was brought up in a class I took on the treatment of autistic children.
@@andrewkash7273 That is clever and very self aware and starting at a young age! Awesome!
My 41 year old son has Aspergers and he rubs the fingertips of his hands together. Not touching the hands together, but separately, with his hands at his sides, rubs the tips. I have noticed this with others who have Aspergers. In fact, it's one of my first clues.
I'm tactile. I am touching everything everywhere. Walking along with my hand feeling the wall or whatever. Never was aware of it until someone pointed it out. It's not a tic. It's perception.
I rub my fingers too
Drew Miller I also touch everything as well.
I do that when I'm anxious or stressed or overwhelmed. I rub the tips of my fingers with my thumb on each hand I keep them by my side so others don't notice
My wife will regularly ask me to stop doing this when I'm driving. She can't stand the sound it makes when the dry skin of my fingertips rubs together and I don't even realize that I'm doing it until she points it out.
I did not swing arms when walking. I used to walk with my arms by my side. My big sister helped me to 'train' my arms to swing so that I wouldn't look so weird😆. I am 50 now and if I am in a hurry I sometimes still forget to move my arms.
My son is the same. I suppose arm-swinging is a form of physical self-expression he feels afraid of. He’s a wonderful person. I’m sure you are too.
I also had this problem,
If it wasn't for masking, no one would ever know I was happy. I have the same expression for every emotion, unless I'm "performing"
Oh, I know! It takes so much energy to look and act enthusiastic all of the time. I actually always found that interesting about cooking shows, and wondered how they don't look strained while acting so bubbly and excited.
My youngest tippy toes still at 14. My mother made me stop as a teen. My second daughter has tics. The rest is spread out evenly among each of us at different times. I have been told to not use “that tone of voice.” Etc. still trying to figure out how all these things were missed for long. Thanks for educating us. It helps to understand myself better and accept who I am as a whole.
When I was a kid I'd get in trouble for "that tone of voice". Also because when I got really angry or sad I'd start using an angry or sad voice (which most people do, even NT) but the problem was I had no control over it and I couldn't even notice what type of voice I was using.
This is one of the things I'm still quite annoyed about how I was treated as a child, it made my childhood heaps more confusing and frustrating then it needed to be
@@shadowkyber2510 exactly. Same thing happened to me with my mother. Then my husband but we are realizing that we both have our differences neurologically. He has ADHD like I do but not autism though he has a brother and some nephews who may be on the spectrum. Crazy how you are attractive to similar people as you.
Thanks!
❤️❤️
I was diagnosed at age 30 last year with Autism and ADHD. It is amazing to now know why I have the habits I do. Finally makes sense after all these years.
Like the tiptoe thing. I do it all the time, since I was a child. Everyone in my house looks at me weird (with the exception of my mom). 😆 I also have terrible motor skill and motor tics. Now I know why.
Joint hyper-mobility, digestive disorders, mast cell activation and connective tissue disorders like EDS are major comorbidities for tics/ASD/OCD/ADHD/anxiety/BPD.
I'm 43. I've never been diagnosed but the more I study about autism the more convinced I am that I'm on the spectrum. Sometimes I wonder how my life might have been different if I'd been diagnosed early on.
I'm of a similar age, and have found that it's only in the past few years that certain social things are clicking into place, I think I definitely have some autism and high functioning autism traits, but see a label as academic now, given that I'd still have my mind, and things seem to make more sense than they did do. We can only live from where we are now. 🙂
I'm high functioning high IQ (Diverse skillsets due to diverse life experiences.) and it sort of bothers me that society seems to now view anyone that is actually functionally good at anything has to be on 'the spectrum'.
What I do find interesting is that I can adapt down to interacting with people on the spectrum to a point due to being able to hold a large number of sub-topics and contexts in conversational cue and thus keep up with the often erratic thought processes that people on the spectrum can have. Still gets exhausting with some though.
Adapt down to people with autism ? Really ? My daughter is on the spectrum me has an iQ of 143. Maybe she can adapt down for you !!
@@lauramcclain8651 If she is truly that smart maybe she can explain to you how the intelligence bell curve works, both on and off the spectrum, and now 1 near the top end does not equal all or represent all everywhere else.
I could go on and on about my grown son who has Autism, but I'll try to keep it as short as possible. I was a very young wife/mother and we had all 3 of our sons by the time I was 22 years old and my husband was 25. They were so close in age that at certain stages they looked like triplets. My oldest was not diagnosed as autistic until he was 30 years old, but he had all of the physical signs listed. Oddly enough the so called professionals didn't catch it, not his doctors, school psychologists, teachers, no one. They simply said he was "slow" and had a problem with "hand-eye coordination" and possibly had "ADD'. Some teachers even said he was "lazy minded".
Even my husband (ex) would get frustrated and angry with him because he always had trouble tying his shoes and buttoning and zipping his clothes. He would also get angry with him and call him "ungrateful" and "unappreciative", because when he would receive a gift for his birthday, or Christmas he wouldn't 'jump for joy', or get excited like his brothers would. His expression never changed and he would simply say "Thank You". Everyone would say "Well don't you like it?". He would say "Yes, I like it a lot", but still... his expression never changed. I always defended him, because as his mother I could look into his eyes and see there was something else going on in there. Even though I felt relieved the day he was diagnosed, I take no pride in saying "I was right". Because the pain he endured being bullied in school and being ridiculed by teachers and even family members has left many scars that still remain.
I agree about the toe walking...I have a son, a nephew and a younger brother who are all on the spectrum and while they are all different, one thing they all had in common as children was toe walking. My son is now an adult and has a tick in his jaw. Great insights here, thanks!
With tics... always good to rule out pans/pandas
And tourettes tics too me
I'm weird and its torment and I go to the Lord about it. He's helping me. No meds
All kids walk on their toes, dum dum
@@kxkxkxkx who you calling dum dum? 😃 😊
How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop?
Then we see who is dumdum 😃
Thanks Dan for another AWESOME video! I have always walked on my toes or balls of feet and I never knew why? I feel uncomfortable placing my whole foot on the floor. I also have trouble balancing myself on my feet. I cross one foot over another to get a better balance. People have asked me why, but I have no answer. I also have trouble with motor skills. I can't screw lids back on and end up dropping the who jar. I drop things a lot, several times a day. It is very frustrating, and causes me to break down and cry because these things (standing, walking, screwing lids back on and not dropping them) are SO EASY for eeryone else!
Life is so hard. Making friends is impossible. I always tell myself to not talk to people about things that interest me, or just about current events because I talk too long because I get excited about something I think is very interesting and amazing that I am learning about, I think it will be interesting for other people. I realize when they leave, that I have made a huge mistake and have isolated myself further from the world by revealing how weird I am. I live alone since my parents died. I perfer being alone, but when I encounter people, which we all have to, I wish I could at least not leave them with the memory of just how weird or crazy I am. Thank you again Dan for your precious time. Bless you always and thank you for reading the words exposing my insanity.
I said a prayer for a kind friend to come into your life. No matter what Jesus loves you and he will never let you down. Look up Roman 10:9-10. God bless you 🤗.
Try to look for some association/job with people have Asperger. I think it will be easier to connect with that kind of people and make friends...
You're weird and crazy because you think you're weird and crazy. Stop that. Think of yourself and uniquely beautiful. It works. You know thaty you are a good person. I literally hated myself for years because of the abusive environment that I was raised within. I was the "hard headed son of a bitch" and believed it. I still encounter people everyday that are insensitive and rude. 2 days ago a co-worker told me I was weird. I simply cut her out of my daily routine and she doesn't exist for me any longer if she chooses to be rude. Live for yourself, not others. Live in the moment. I suggest transcendental meditation. Sit down in a comfortable position, relax and focus on nothing but the feeling of the air going in and out of your nose. Do this for as long as you can and for me once I'm there, a smile comes across my face and I am truly in the moment. Don't get hung up on the past and don't fret about the future because you only live in the moment.
You're NOT alone, there are many people like us!
Bless you for being a wonderful human with insight. My son is Aspie and seems to prefer hiding himself from the world. I’d love for him to go on and on about anything.
OMG this was me as a child - ugh this is too interesting. I have high body awareness though, sports professional level reflexes (medically tested) plenty of repetitive exercises increase dexterity but it’s learnt for me eg gaming.
Monotone talking , yes, if you read Dr suess books it helps you create rhythm and modulation, @10 I had a baby brother to read to - it helped amazingly
That's bizarre, I never knew walking on tip toes was related to autism. I do it less these days, but when I was younger I'd walk around the house on tip toes constantly. I just thought it was something I did.
Tip toeing can also be caused by other things (having flat feet for instance), it is not necessarily a sign of autism. But combined with other autistic traits, it can be significant.
Interesting. I have come across a lot of Asbergic people in the course of my work. Fortunately through experience and observation I was self taught in dealing with sufferers. One guy was getting really bad and his behaviour was getting more bizarre by the day. I realised that nobody would listen to or speak to him. Anyway I let him tell me about his interests and his knowledge of his subjects was profound. As I listened, his conduct improved as did his aggression. The result was a more responsible job for him. Thanks for the toe walking tip, I wasn't aware of it.
John, on behalf of everyone, thanks a lot for showing that insight and consideration...I really appreciate there are people that will take steps like that rather than assume and make knee-jerk responses. And I'm sure, not only did he benefit, sounds like you gained a lot from having not just solved an HR problem, but actually got a better employee in return.
My whole life people have called me misery. Even when I,m happy which is often, people say I look miserable. I,m nearly 60.Life has been harder than it needed to be.My frown is painted to my face.
Sick X tattoos! I didn’t realize you were sxe Dan! Sobriety was one of the best decisions I ever made for myself. Us Autistics and ADHDers are especially vulnerable to addiction and the pressure to use substances to fit in socially. It’s good to see other neurodivergent folks on the same path. Forever True ⚒️⚒️⚒️
I have tiptoed all my life. My mom jokingly called it having raptor feet and said I was ready to run before I was walking. I was always clumsy, and still am. I am 30 years old and received my diagnosis of autism only 3 months ago. My family never had me tested, so I did it myself.
I'm 28 years old and I think I might be autistic too. May I ask where did you go to get that checked? Is there a specific doctor for it?
@@annagiousi9518 ask your doctor (any doctor) about "Neuropsychological Testing for Autism Spectrum Disorders" & surely they'll direct you to a professional. it's rather long process
@@necrosadotor thank you very much for your help!
@@annagiousi9518 no prob take care
My husband and I are slowly realizing that autism is even a thing, and our son (in his thirties) shows many aspects of it. We’re thinking of talking to him about it but we are afraid of making him feel judged or hurt… we’ve never spoken about it. So I’m asking you…In your opinion, would you have been offended if your parents had talked to you about it?
Also, is there a benefit to being formally diagnosed?
Thanks.
Diagnosed with Autism at 36… I always had vocal tics. Made little noises along with stimming by rubbing my feet together or playing with strings on my clothes. I also drop things a lot and have spacial recognition issues. Bump into walls, door jams, people…. My mother bought me a leash as a kid that went on a harness and my bf pulls on my coat when he sees me about to run into anything. The signs were always there, but I was misdiagnosed my whole life. Good to finally have a better understanding of how Im wired.
I’m also medicated and one way I can tell when my meds have worn off is my verbal ticks come back.
Thanks for confirmation. My parents thought something was really wrong with me when I came home after a long stay in the hospital. The doctors told them that the high fever that I had sustained may have left me brain-damaged. I came home very joyous, but with a straight face calm on the outside, happy on the end. It was the beginning of my masking. When my mother cried and thought something was wrong with me, a voice told me in my head, you better run around like a little fool, or they’ll put you back in that place. So that’s what I did, and they laughed and seem to be all right. It took me decades to come out of that. Thank you for this video and the information that you share with all of us to find out. Who we really are.❤❤😂
LOL!! I was at the other end. A high IQ and bored-to-death kid. When I saw the spaztic kids getting away with murder at school I took up their ticks in order to get out of class work I saw no purpose in.
It drove my teachers and parents nuts but they couldn't do anything about it without having to uphold the same rules for everyone at the same time. As for breaking out of it, it was just an act I used at school and nowhere else which just bothered them more.
I toe-walked, it was so i could walk quietly without disturbing anyone else. My big tic used to be shaking my head, it was to relieve pressure that would build up in my neck. I deal with that other ways now. I got pretty good at guitar, but I recall having issues moving my fingers around as quickly as other guitarist friends. Later I moved to drums and the foot I used for the kick drum was always somewhat lazy.. it took a transformation in how I viewed myself to make a difference there..! Not sure I ever had the monotone voice as a proper thing I did, tho I may not be recalling my past effectively.. I sure was a very avid reader. Facial expressions too, yes, I recall at the dentist as a kid the dental nurse was showing me the dentist tools, one squirted water, I enjoyed seeing them all, but apparently the nurse told my Mum that she thought I didn't seem very interested in seeing the things. I might have started to focus a little more on my facial expressions from then perhaps... Thanks for sharing your experiences, Mr Aspie, and the other commenters too. ❤
I walked and ran on my toes when I was a kid. I also used to speak monotone and hardly move my mouth when I talked. As for the facial expressions, I still have a hard time. Everyone thinks I'm mad all the time. My dad would get so mad at me for these when I was a kid, I got in trouble for being me all the time.
Now I remember when my teacher told me that I have to move more my mouth while talking
I toe walk often and someone told me it was an autism trait, and I thought they were making that up 😅 I owe them an apology! I also am monotone and have bad motor skills
Happy Christmas. Thank you for your videos xx
This is a very interesting video. I’m not on the autism spectrum but I find it‘s so helpful to know how to better interact with and understand people from all walks of life
I have a very odd gait. When I was young, peers used to ask if I was in the military. Unfortunately, I also go through shoes rather quickly because of this. Tic wise, as a kid in particular, I used to say "huh" after every sentence. It drove my parents crazy. I'm told I still do this sometimes even to this day. I don't think I speak in monotone though.
My version is clearing my throat. It's like I'm psyching myself up to talk.
My son walks with his toes pointing outwards away from each other. Think Charlie Chaplin, but not that pronounced. And he's the fastest walker I know.
Interesting. Thank you so much for the comment!
I know that pain :( the shoes.
I mean i know i can gothrough shoes fast becaue, mayb its because som still locopedic stuf i did have, an no not diagnosed then, but that as definitly and i still wear out the heel part pretty easy.
Also i guess toe walking was common, through i guess out ogf sho an a noisy floor, but happened, still.
i mean io sometimes test an area with the toe tippig food area??!
46 years. I continue walking on tiptoe, it's my natural way of walking, I feel super light and the balance is perfect. I often walk and run barefoot in the woods, it's the natural way of doing it. No diagnosis.
After being aware that I was likely on the spectrum for nearly 3 years, I finally decided to embrace and accept that part of me a couple of months back, and took the first step with an adhd diagnoses! Once I can afford autism screening I'll be able to move foreward with that as well. But the walking on toes as a kid and even now thing was one of the major facts that helped me accept it, because I would always blame my mental symptoms on other things or just say I sucked at being a human. Physical signs are so significant in my journey and probably other people's as well, cause it's sort of an "evidence" you can roll with. I checked all 5 of these signs on this video, other than the added point of dyslexia. Thank you for making content like this for those who are questioning or still learning, you're doing important things ♡
I'm curious, why do you feel the need to get diagnosed with ADHD and later Autism? Personally I would go for the Autism diagnosis and just be satisfied yourself that you have ADHD. After all, ADHD is a common comorbidity of Autism and doesn't really warrant its own diagnosis. You don't get extra points for having diagnoses for two similar conditions.
Interesting. When I was in my 20s my monotone speaking came to my attention by listening to someone else who was very monotone. I found I struggled to understand them so I went on a mission to change my monotone for good. Another thing is I've always had a secret fixation with my fingernails. I struggle with that as well. I hide it as much as possible but I find that when I'm under stress it actually helps me level out.
I only really do toe-walking when I'm barefoot outside on the ground. Sometimes inside when the floor is cold. Mostly because it feels comfortable.
thats the correct way to walk barefoot outside so you can feel for things not to step on.. barefoot community calls it "fox walking"
I think its great that you ,having Autism, explain to us about Autism..Great job. I enjoyed that and understood a lot. Thank you.
Toe walking is also a strong indicator of CMT. If you are a toe walker, and have very tight achilles, and/or high arches, you might have CMT. Also, lack of patellar reflex is a sign. I used to kick my leg out whenever I was tested (with the little hammer) because I thought I was supposed to, not understanding the concept of reflex as a kid.
Good to know. Might have to mention this to my doctor. My Achilles tendons have always been very tight. In middle school they put me in leg casts for months trying to lengthen them by preventing me from relaxing them and walking on my toes. Didn't work. I barely have the range of movement to walk "normally" so rarely do so.
what is CMT
I’m diagnosed with Asperger’s, but the only ones of these that I have are ticks (blinking and couching when I’m uncomfortable) and awful fine motor skills😊
I've heard of the toe-walking thing, but has anyone heard of walking or standing on the sides of the feet as being an autistic trait? I think I heard that one somewhere and it's apparently also a sign, although less common than toe walking. I do that a lot, sometimes when I'm standing around or even just sitting down I often have just the sides of my feet touching the floor. And my shoes always get worn out on the outer part of the sole first too. Oh and it makes me trip a lot. I also just generally have a stiff gait, which I actually had no idea about until very recently. My SIL joked that I walk like I'm marching. I also have terrible handwriting and my sister used to make fun of me when I was a kid because I could never colour inside the lines
I did that as well. Yeah, it think flexible ankles may be a thing. I walked on the knuckles of my toes and inverted my feet when standing because I could I guess.
I walked on the sides of my feet as a kid too, and anytime I was standing still I was standing on the sides of my feet 😂 Nowadays I don’t use my toes, I don’t know what’s up with that, but if I’m standing I can’t keep my toes on the ground. Not sure what I do when walking.
Yes! I did that, to a problematic degree.
It used to be called Pigeon-toes/pigeon-toed and if it was often attributed to having had to wear really cheap undersized shoes when very young. Not always, but it had a strong correlation with kids from poor/very cheap families that didn't get their kids good footwear when young.
As an adult, I am still slightly that way from when I was growing up and I literally didn't get new shoes until I had worn the old ones out so bad that my feet started sticking through someplace and when I did get new shoes they were the cheapest most uncomfortable crap mom could find in town.
@@russianbot4418 I thought pigeon toed was walking with your feet turned toes inward?
People always blamed me for sneaking around cuz of my toe walking and the fact that I'm a real lightweight which is resulting in making no sound while moving around 😂
Great video! I was diagnosed w/ ASD at the age of 47, but the symptoms you described surprised me, for I have 'em all and didn't even know it when I was a child. The toe walking was a good one especially, for it's also one of those symptoms that can be looked at and "corrected" over time. In my case, I had two factors that were involved: The first was my father (God bless him) who noticed me toe walking and worked with me walking heel-to-toe. The second was being in the military; marching everywhere and if you were out of step, the Drill Instructors would ensure you don't forget your "mistake."
Again, great video! Looking forward to your next one!
Peace! 😎
How did you get diagnosed ? 25 and have been suffering from all of the ASD symptoms since I can remember. I don't know where to find a diagnosis since I stopped going to therapy as a child
@@babyinvasion I went to see a neuropsychologist. Dr. Noah Kauffman was his name. After six plus hours of testing, and a hefty fee, he was able give me an excellent diagnosis. He is considered one of the best, so his fee was WORTH it! Every penny!
Toe-walking is actually kind of good for us. This is how we would tend to walk in ancient times, barefooted in the forest. Heel-to-toe is what we do because of shoes and many of us develop heel & knee problems as a result, haha!
But anyway, glad you had an awesome helpful Dad.
Are you introverted, like my Aspie son? He’s wonderful (and 38, never diagnosed officially) but never volunteers information about himself.
Also, is it beneficial to get an official diagnosis. Does it help in some way?
Thanks.
@@greenbrain8725 That's interesting. I wouldn't believe that toe-walking could be good for us. Then again, I remember my Dad got me two ninja books when I was a boy when he came back from a trip to Japan 40 years ago. They both said exactly the same thing! Toe-walking to aid in stealth. Go figure! My dad along with a friend of his introduced me to the world of martial arts. Something else, martial arts training is very beneficial for us Aspies.
In answer to your questions, yes, I am an introvert. I don't like being around people for too long. It drains me and "small talk" just gets on my nerves. Secondly, it IS helpful to get an official diagnosis for when you know what you're dealing with, you can take the appropriate steps to seek help and be better prepared.
That's all for now, and thanks for your kind words. I know my father is smiling right now.
Peace! 😎
How is toe walking so terrible?????
The monotone voice one is interesting, and something I've never heard before. In my head, I sound very expressive when I'm talking. But if I hear myself recorded, I don't sound like that at all.
Please keep in mind that these signs are mostly assigned male at birth signs. Because let me tell you, a lot of behavioral issues are trained out of assigned females. Look me in the eyes, was a constant gripe with teachers, I learned early that you can look at people where their brows meet and glance at their eyes periodically. Being monotone is different for girls because we're constantly trained to be subservient (not trying to say anything political just this was my truth and I still see it today) when emotional reactions don't express what I am actually feeling, I get accused of being cold or distant.. I have never jumped up and down in excitement but I have cried when I seeing dinosaur skeletons. Now, athletic abilities, unless it's one of your hyper focus, is a non gender "problem"
Never jumped up and down with excitement. Never screamed on rides. Never liked to look at the camara. Hated points. Paper corners, knives, needles etc.. People kept saying it was a phobia. I always said that I'm NOT afraid of them, they hurt my eyes.
Thank you for being so forthcoming about yourself and your experiences. You have a great way of expressing your material.
I do a decent amount these. The more stressed out I am the more klutzy I get… I hate awkward textures on my feet so if I’m not wearing socks and shoes like I usually am even in my own house no matter how small as it is then I will tiptoe like crazy because too many textures and that throws me all the way off and I noticed that but my girls do a few of these.
I’m clumsy, dropping things, bumping into things, eye-hand coordination is atrocious, when using sharp/kitchen knives I’m extra careful or else I’ll slice my hand open.
Anyone else got that?
Toe walking but also other types of distinct walking that differs from most. As a pre-teen I was experimenting with different walks, until some classmates pointed out that I "walked funny". I settled in something that worked for me, and numerous people have pointed out that I walk and move almost identically to my dad. Guess who I'm suspecting was autistic too...
Alot of signs apply to me
Toe walking, had been since a child, monotone talking much, facial expressions, tics (I made squeals and small noises)
The things I relate are I do find myself more often then not walking on my tiptoes. When it comes to ticks the closest I can think of is biting on uneditable objects, I don’t think I have ticks as much as stimming which for me it’s mostly walking back and forth when I’m waiting and or in deep thought, and more often then not skipping, while I used to flap my hands when I got excited I don’t think I do it as much but occasionally due to masking for years. While I recently got my drivers license I do still struggle with my motor skills. Like taking me a while to know left from right. Driving help me cause I remember that if I signal right I go up and left for down on the signal. I also have to look at my hands often cause I was taught my left hand makes an L.
Yeah, I definitely toe-walk about half of the time (especially when I don't have shoes on) and I don't know why I do it. I also have vocal ticks when I am under a lot of stress (especially if I am forcing myself to keep going when my body is telling me to stop). And I also have to admit that my fine motor skills suck. It isn't fun trying to get my debit card out of my purse. I always feel rushed whenever I pay for something, because it's as if nobody wants to wait for you to put your debit card back into your purse 👛, and even zipping it up after. I may just need to get a better purse for that.
One thing else i noticed is signs of stress in unknown situations, like a pale face and a tensed up posture in combination with the toe walking (i don't know if i do this but i know someone who does it). I think this are things you can see in neurotypical people too, less often and only if the stress gets unbearable but they show more facial expressions at lower levels of discomfort.
Maybe the toe walking is a sign of a flight response because i do it if i am in the mood to run away. When i was in school i used to take of my shoes because it felt like my feet were bigger than my actual feet and it got much better as soon i could move my toes.
Sorry for my poor english skills . i am still working on it maybe some words i use are outdated (blame it on Jane Austin and Shakespeare) the rest of it is my poor understanding of grammatical correctness 😅.
I relate to 2,3, and maybe 4. People think I’m mad or unhappy a lot of times. I just explain I have resting b*tch face, which I do have so maybe that doesn’t count. Trying to remember to smile is distracting. What’s funny is when I get really into something and forget… all of a sudden the person I’m conversing with looks upset all of a sudden and it took me a hundred years to realize they were reacting to my sudden serious face! Then me reacting to their reaction and everybody going quiet and to their separate corners confused. Now that was so distressing til I figured out what was going on. But I still forget and don’t realize til later. One time I was meditating and feeling very serene and centered… passed by a mirror and saw I looked unhappy. It was so incongruous I bust up laughing til I was crying. When I was a kid my mom told me my voice was low monotone and sounded like I was mumbling. She told me a lot to stop mumbling. I learned to modulate but it’s also kind of distracting. I forget sometimes and make random sounds in front of people but more often alone if that’s considered a tic, I don’t know. I don’t have a formal diagnosis… I just relate to so many things. Realizing I’m autistic has made sense and gives me clarity so that’s just that. I’m too old to be diagnosed anyway it seems like but I do know what I am and am not! I don’t try to discuss with my family anymore because they think I’m just making excuses. I’m depending more and more on the autistic community for comfortable fellowship, which in turn is helping me, through understanding, how I can fare better in general pop too 👍 TBH I’m wondering if I should post this since I don’t have a formal diagnosis but if it helps anybody that’s my goal.
Being mono tone is awesome. I always get told I sound so laid back 😂 I remember when I started tip toeing. I found everyone else’s foot steps loud and outgoing and I didn’t like that. So I started walking on my toes. Now I’m 6 foot and accidentally startle people way to often lol
This has nothing to do with the video but when i heard "facial expressions" that just reminded me of how i can't make a socially acceptable smile in pictures and people point it out
And you knoww what? WHO CARES, NOT ME
I find toe walking to be a lot more comfortable on my ankles. I often forget to put on an emotional face if I’m concentrating on other things - like when I’m teaching I won’t naturally smile. That only comes with a lot of extra thought. My boss even pulled me up on it. It was one of the things that made me get diagnosed.
I really relate to the facial expression thing, I usually smile when I hear something sad and look kind of grim when I'm happy. And I have always been bad at ball sports #diagnosed
Interesting about the fine vs gross motor skills. I've always had good fine motor skills. I've always been into making things, I learned to embroider when I was about eight, and learned sewing, knitting, painting, and so on. Fiber arts are still my thing. But gross motor skills? I always felt like -- like I was too big for my body is how I usually explain it. When other kids were turning cartwheels, I could only put my hands on the ground and kind of flap my feet in the air. My family went skiing and all I did was re-learn the snow-plow on the bunny slope every year and never got the hang of it. I couldn't dive off a diving board, no matter how much I rehearsed it in my mind. My mom made me take ballet for a year (for some reason she decided that I wanted to) and all I remember is trying to do the foot positions and skipping around in a circle and getting told over and over again that I was doing it all wrong. I wanted to be athletic, but I just didn't have the coordination and quick-thinking needed for team sports. I'm not the graceful gazelle prancing around the track, I'm more like a plodding elephant. If I could have gone for weightlifting, I might have done okay. (It's only as an adult that I finally found my sport: Dragon boat racing, where all I need to know is the stroke and staying in time with the leads). I need to dig out my baby book that my mother kept -- I know she recorded things like when I first spoke and when I learned to read (at three and a half -- hello, hyperlexia), and so on. If I was tip-toeing, it might be in there. I know the time at age three or four when I did a face-plant into the brick hearth is in there.
I'd say my fine and gross motor skills are only just good enough to get by and be able to work (thank god for zipper boots, I painfully tie the shoelaces once, when I first buy then and never again.) But I magerly struggle with most sports like you, on top of team sports being very confusing because I can't understand the social acpect of what I'm meant to be doing to help my team. I've recently go into rock climbing but, atleast on the easier walls you don't need to much cordination, I can kinda just brut force my way up lol, and I'm not worried about getting to a really high level, I just do it for fun. I wanna try a marchal art but I don't know how successful I'd be
I also practiced ballet as a kid, my dream was to be a dancer, I think I was good dancing alone, but my teacher said I couldn’t be on time with my classmates, I never paid attention to her, and that’s why I don’t like ballet anymore
These are great! For me, one of the tell tales signs is when people are fidgeting with their hands and rubbing their finger tips against each other! Seriously, this is a big one! I do it all the time. Also when peoples gaze is constantly flickering or when they stare too long at just one point in space even when you're having a conversation with them.
Great video! My son is on the autism spectrum, and in fact toe walks everywhere. He's 20 now, still does it, and my dad even noticed. My comment is to not consider it a disability, but to realize that it's just a different way of processing information, and that you can use it to your advantage. (Yes, I'm on the spectrum myself, and can use my brain in a way that benefits me, like my eidetic memory, which I used to impress professors on my Master's Degree exam.)
I used to do the toe walking as kid for awhile. I don’t remember how or why I stopped, but I remember doing it for a bit.
I tip toe walked until I was 16 and only really stopped when I got to college and someone pointed it out and I got embarrassed by it. I disguised it by skateboarding which essentially requires being on your toes a lot anyway so it was never picked up on. That was 13 years ago and today in my house I will often do it. I agree with the monotone voice when concentrating but I think I’m quite good at being animated because I paid a lot of attention to inflection. I have various tics and genuinely assumed they were the side effect of drug use in my teens until my mother confirmed I had several of them from around age 10 (that she noticed).
Very informative video and you’ve given me more things to add to my profile for my upcoming autism assessment. The only one I don’t relate to at all is fine motor skills. I’m extremely mechanically minded and love to fiddle/build/deconstruct things so I’d say they’re quite sharp.
Thanks for the video 🙂
I do toe walking a lot, the facial expression thing would explain why people flip out on me a lot, I think the monotone depends on my mood but over all I do it less, and I tic during colds a lot. I fight them a lot but eventually they go away... only to return when I'm sick or stressed.
❤your videos! Many of these among other traits are sometimes hard to spot due to masking; especially with females.
Great content, well delivered.
I’ve always wondered about hand tapping. My great uncle, his brother (my grandfather) and my dad, and myself, all have a habit of tapping or slapping our hands. For example when sitting in an armchair, our hands will subconsciously slap against the arm of the chair.
We all do it, and it drives my mother crazy. I don’t think we’d even be aware of it if she hadn’t brought it to our attention.
Aspergers is hereditary. I now realize my mother had it and I'm sure my sister has it also.
I’ve been told that people’s can’t tell whether I like something or not. Apparently I say I like everything, even when I don’t like it. I’ll say I like something sarcastically when I don’t like it, and I’ll say I like something genuinely when I do like it - but my sarcastic tone and genuine tone are exactly the same. I never realized I did this until a coworker pointed it out to me; she said, "You have such a flat ‘affect’ when you speak that I can’t tell whether you’re being sarcastic or not." I’ve purposefully tried to move away from doing this, but I’m never sure if I’m successfully getting my feelings across.
I've thought for some time that I'm somewhere on the spectrum, but I know for certain that it's not far. Patterns, numbers, and routines are something I've always played around with, but I also deeply understand people and emotions, though I think that has more to do with the fact that my parents were abusive and I had to adapt, so I learned to read people. I was never good at it, as a child.
I can relate...learning to read and understand others actually became a special interest of mine. I majored in Sociology in college & get lost in anything having to do with psychology or neuropsychology.
I had always considered myself excellent at reading people, and for the most part I am. What caught me off guard is recognizing how much of a disconnect I still have regarding how MY behavior impacts other people.
I sometimes offend people or create a weird situation somehow and have absolutely no ability to acknowledge or understand how or why until much much later when I'm able to examine the situation from a third party's perspective.
uh huh
My daughter has these symptoms,especially toe walking. Thank you for this video 🙏
I have noticed I've got a few tics. One of them is trilling like a cat (I probably learnt that from my cat though lol), I also shake my hands often. This may be related to fine motor skills but I got sent out of science when I was younger for "messing around" with my pen too much because I kept dropping it but I'm just useless at keeping hold of stuff and directing my physical self. This is a great video, thank you!
3:45 Number 4 Tics- how would you distinguish your tic from masked stimming?
Great video, awesome content.
Does anyone know what the toe walking is all about? I've been doing that as long as I can remember but not all the time, only on a hard floor (as opposed to carpet) if I don't have shoes or slippers on, which is why I pretty much always have some kind of footwear on. One of my college flatmates laughed at me once for toe walking -- I didn't even know it was weird until then.
It has to do with needing greater sensory input. Walking on tip toes has much more sensory input than flat foot walking.
You hit most of the signs . people need to know this. After wiring 21y with children on the spectrum, I can't help but notice people on the spectrum almost everywhere.. If more people become aware of the signs it would make life easier for the families. Be kind.
I've had all that except problems with motor skills.. Well, at first I had issues a bit but school forced me into sports and I got better. I adapted quickly. I was gifted in school and didn't really fit in. And I got bullied by guys that bullied other disabled people. And I didn't really understand people.
I’m 68 and was finally diagnosed with autism 12 yrs ago. My eyes have always been dilated causing me great pain in bright sunlight and flash camera photos. I have never looked people in the eyes when talking to them causing people to believe that I am either sneaky or shy or both . I did have many episodes in the past of great and uncontrollable anger set off by almost nothing. I have since learned to remain calm in almost any stressful situation. My senses of touch, taste, and smell are enhanced which limits my wardrobe to “soft” clothing. When I do go shopping it’s always in the early morning as crowds can cause me to become light headed to the point of passing out.
You just described my entire life. I've never been diagnosed with autism, but you basically nailed every single thing I deal with on a daily basis.
Thank you for the comment I hope that I could be of some help. I grew up In the 60s where my condition was not all that common and I was just labeled as the weird kid. My advice to you would be to embrace your condition and not look at as a negative. I can see very well in the dark and have awesome math skills. My generation was taught to face your fears and overcome them. Whether it be public speaking, asking a girl out, or requesting a well-deserved raise. I know it’s hard but it’s better than being a hermit.
OMG - my aspie partner toe-walks. I never knew it was associated with being on the spectrum. I've often wondered why he has such a noticeably odd gait!
Ah yes!! Thank you so much for the comment! Make sure you are subscribed and have the notifications turned on :).
I share most of those traits. I used to toe walk into adulthood. It took a lot of conscious effort to walk more normally.
I’m 55 and never had a formal diagnosis. Back in my youth I was just considered weird and defective. I’d never heard of autism or anything about mental health in general.
There’s pros and cons. On one hand, I wasn’t able to externslize the sense of defectiveness and it being a person failing. I used to say my sense of shame was inoperable, from being too intertwined with myself.
On the other, not externalizing the flaws made me alone responsible for dealing with them. I spent decades writing in journals, trying to untangle my mind. Finally after five decades I feel like I’m pretty familiar with the neighborhood in there.
Thank you for this video I’m still trying to figure out if I’m autistic and I can’t get diagnosed since I’m 13 and my parents would laugh at me for the idea and I’d be made fun of for it but I honestly do believe I am autistic and another reason is adhd is found in people with Austin’s a lot and vise versa and everyone I talk to on a regular basis do believe I have adhd (again, can’t get tested but I’m working on it) anyways, to whoever read this thank you and I hope you have/had a good day :3
I hope you get the help you need and hope you have a wonderful day!
@Southern Grandma Thank you!! I Hope you have a great day/night too :D
Wow! So many of these actually fit me! I've never given it much thought, but I do tend to make little squeaks and noises randomly. Someone pointed it out and was confused by it, but thankfully they said they found it endearing. I always worried others find it weird so I try to be aware and minimize doing it, but if I'm tired or super focused on something, it slips.
On these five: check, check, check, ummm no (I'll explain) and a BIG check on fine motor skills. So, explanation on why I don't monotone talk, it's because I am masking. I watched A LOT of TV shows and movies as a kid and young adult. I copied the speech patterns of actors I liked in certain scenes. A prof picked up on this in college and placed me on the speech team (she didn't ask, just said "You will do this."). Anyways, in my 40's, I was in a large church choir and was asked to be the choir chaplain. As such, I had to give a five minute speech each week on how certain bible phrase ties into how we are living our lives. And then I was asked to voice over work in the puppet ministry and also asked to be in the church drama ministry. At that point I realized that I missed my calling in life-to do voice over work in animation and other projects. Doing research on that, I found that first, you have to be young to get started, and second, it is very cliquish, which is why you have to start young.
"tip-toe walking" is actually how you are supposed to walk naturally, and while ive not been tested for autism, this is actually how i walk since becoming a fulltime barefooter since 2016
Toe walking is such a biggie. My bro and my son both did/do this. With my son we make it fun and call it tippie toes and I do it with him. My bro was completely discouraged from it even though it wasn’t anything causing him harm. As for my chronic resting b face, yeah. That’s a real thing.
My son was given a weighted backpack in elementary school; it helped him be more aware of his surroundings and was used for safety so that he didn’t run out into the street. He wouldn’t toe walk then. Whenever he toe walked he always seemed to be in his own thoughts, happy but disconnected.
Having been diagnosed as an adult, it's interesting to learn new things about Autism and how many signs there were when I was a child. I still walk on my toes, though it's more of a toe to heel walk. Also, the monotone way of speaking fits me to a T. Thanks for the video! Going to subscribe to keep up!
Not answering to their name. Not showing affection. Hand clapping or hand wagging. Sharp yells and running at strange times.
I am so shocked and laughing and crying at the same time. Thank you
This list reminds me of how many autism traits I hid, or masked, even from myself. My current understanding is that when I intentionally hide these traits, and give myself the support and extra recovery time I need to keep myself functional, this is fine, and generally makes me seem more 'likable'. However, doing it unconsciously, not understanding why, for decades of my life, has caused severe damage to my body and mind and the overall trajectory of potential for my life. I can only move forward, processing what I learn. I share because I think many people could suffer less if we understand more about our own wiring and underlying patterns.
I’m glad this spectrum of human behaviour is getting so much more attention and acceptance. It’s sad a person like you had to mimic neuro-typical behaviours just to fit in, and then suffer in silence with no support. It’s like autism puts us into a cage imposed by society. I hope you are okay.
One other cause of toe-walking in ‘normies’ is a compressed L5 or sometimes L4 nerve root that buggers up the plantar reflex. I toe-walked a lot, my toe walking went away after a L4 nerve root decompression surgery. I still have audio processing difficulties in busy social settings and organizational issues which seem like mild “spectrum” issues.
Toe walking is one of mine I do all the time, also the monotone talking as well, I have some small tics as well, these are how I learned that I was on the autism spectrum. Thank you for making this vid, it’s helpful and informative!
Toe walking used to make me trip and I nearly sprained my ankle doing it once 💀 now it's turned into shuffle walking. With occasional toe walking.
Wow, the more I learn about asd the more symptoms I can relate to. Now I can add toe walking and poor motor skills to the list.
My parents always tried to make me use my whole foot, and now I try to remember it my self.
And my big motor skills are quite bad. Especially anything involving balance, throwing and catching. I was 33 when I realised that the wrist should be used when throwing a frisbee 😄