Anyone else recognise this in themselves?

[Jumpinbare]

I had retired by then. It was a conversation months later. I had really thought I had done a better job of masking though

 

[AndyFBlues]

I think I'd prefer that response to the famed "But you don't look it" OR the "it's offensive when people claim to be autistic who are clearly fine when I know someone REALLY autistic." Largely why I haven't disclosed at work.

I would feel comfortable discussing it with my supervisor if it becomes relevant. I'd rather not talk about it with my coworkers. A few of them are classic gossip-mongers.

 

[Jumpinbare]

I think I would have if I were still working when I found out, just on the basis that I would want to know if one of my people had any difficulties.

 

[Outdated]

I don't do it when I'm in public, but when I'm away from home I tend to be more conscious about how people might perceive my mannerisms. It's become ingrained in me to go in self-defense mode around others.

I don't think I've ever done it at home or in public, except at different places I worked people commented that when I walked to a sink to wash my hands I always held them like a freshly scrubbed up surgeon. I was a printer though and a tiny amount of ink goes a very long way, if I had ink on my hands I was very conscious to not touch anything else and spread it everywhere.

Other than that I was always very conscious of posture and pose when in public. Partly from my father wanting to get in to politics and wanting his family to be presentable. From a very young age we were taught how to sit, how to stand, how to shake hands and greet, proper table manners, etc. This tied in with my autistic desire to appear normal. It wasn't a bad education really, but my father never earned the love and respect that would encourage us to want to help him out.

 

[A Fluffy Gray Cat]

I kinda do it. My arms usually lay relaxed rather than in the "T-Rex" position, so in a way, it's not very conspicuous.

 

[Neri]

So I found this youtube that mentions the T-rex position as a trauma/dysregulated nervous system symptom, which I found interesting. I've only become aware lately, about this particular body positioning habit, as it's presented as an autistic thing, but this narcissistic abuse and recovery expert, says clinical research says otherwise.
I have done this myself, as a sleeping position or just an in bed position and it always hurts my wrists, so I've made concerted efforts to not do it.
I thought, well, maybe a lot of the things we take for granted as "an autistic thing" might actually be signs of physiological trauma responses? As life itself can be perceived by our autistic brains as traumatic, then you add in "big T" events, on top of that, and a lot of us have highly traumatised, physiologically compromised body/brain systems.
Just some food for thought.

 

[Tired]

So I found this youtube that mentions the T-rex position as a trauma/dysregulated nervous system symptom, which I found interesting. I've only become aware lately, about this particular body positioning habit, as it's presented as an autistic thing, but this narcissistic abuse and recovery expert, says clinical research says otherwise.
I have done this myself, as a sleeping position or just an in bed position and it always hurts my wrists, so I've made concerted efforts to not do it.
I thought, well, maybe a lot of the things we take for granted as "an autistic thing" might actually be signs of physiological trauma responses? As life itself can be perceived by our autistic brains as traumatic, then you add in "big T" events, on top of that, and a lot of us have highly traumatised, physiologically compromised body/brain systems.
Just some food for thought.

This is very informative, thank you!

 

[Xinyta]

So I found this youtube that mentions the T-rex position as a trauma/dysregulated nervous system symptom, which I found interesting. I've only become aware lately, about this particular body positioning habit, as it's presented as an autistic thing, but this narcissistic abuse and recovery expert, says clinical research says otherwise.
I have done this myself, as a sleeping position or just an in bed position and it always hurts my wrists, so I've made concerted efforts to not do it.
I thought, well, maybe a lot of the things we take for granted as "an autistic thing" might actually be signs of physiological trauma responses? As life itself can be perceived by our autistic brains as traumatic, then you add in "big T" events, on top of that, and a lot of us have highly traumatised, physiologically compromised body/brain systems.
Just some food for thought.

This is interesting actually. While the video soley addresses narcissistic abuse reactions during sleep specifically. This does make me question some of my behaviors too. How much is just Autistic, and how much is because of my abusive stepmother?

It's definitely food for thought indeed.

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

I slept like that for a long time until a doctor pointed out this was likely exacerbating my wrist pain. And he was right. I trained myself out of it.

 

[MildredHubble]

Oh wow, now that's interesting, I tend to sleep like this too. I often wake up with numb hands/arms or I have some pain in my ribs. I had no idea that this could be a trauma response thing. I've seen this YouTuber's videos before, specifically the one on Polycythemia as being trauma related, which I have too. I'm seeing the haematologist again in a few weeks for a review as my red blood cell count is way up again.

 

[Tired]

I slept like that for a long time until a doctor pointed out this was likely exacerbating my wrist pain. And he was right. I trained myself out of it.

May I ask how can one be trained to not do that?

 

[Jumpinbare]

My neurologist prescribed sleeping in wrist braces because of my hand numbness. The braces keep the wrists unbent, but I don't know if I would keep the wrists straigh if not using the braces.

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

May I ask how can one be trained to not do that?

It was a position I used just for sleeping. I don’t know why. I had to pay close attention to the position of my hands and pull my hands away from my chin when I noticed it. I would stretch my arms and put my hands under the pillow. I had to pay close attention. Once I was asleep I didn’t do it.

Jumpinbare, I had wrist braces I had to wear regularly for a year or so. I still have them and will put them on again if I get a flare.