Unusual gait

[Fitzo]

I have been reading that Aspies can have an unusual gait.

Thinking back over my life I now realise that there have been a number of times people have mentioned something about the way I walk.
Once someone I hadn't seen for about 20 years or more said they actually recognised me by the way I walk. I have never thought to ask what they meant. And I've never seen myself walking so have no idea what I look like.

I know I tend to walk rather quickly and have a long stride for my height, and people complain they can't keep up with me..... but I've never really given it much thought until now.

Anyone else had a similar experience?

 

[AGXStarseed]

The only ones I can think of is that when I walk, I don't lift my feet up that much so I scuffle my feet along the floor a lot.
The only other thing I can think of is that I limp a bit; the reason for this being that I broke my femur during my childhood and spent 11 weeks in hospital for it to mend - before then spending several months in pot and then even more months learning how to walk again.
My knee on the leg that I broke has never been the same and so I have times where it looks like I'm limping - to the point where I have to stop and bend my leg back and forth a few times.

 

[Streetwise]

I have been reading that Aspies can have an unusual gait.

Thinking back over my life I now realise that there have been a number of times people have mentioned something about the way I walk.
Once someone I hadn't seen for about 20 years or more said they actually recognised me by the way I walk. I have never thought to ask what they meant. And I've never seen myself walking so have no idea what I look like.

I know I tend to walk rather quickly and have a long stride for my height, and people complain they can't keep up with me..... but I've never really given it much thought until now.

Anyone else had a similar experience?

I used to walk to quickly, still in my head I tried to walk quickly

 

[xudo]

The only ones I can think of is that when I walk, I don't lift my feet up that much so I scuffle my feet along the floor a lot.

I have spent most of my life hearing "PICK YOUR FEET UP". I'm better at not 'dragging my feet' now, as my husband said it got better after I lost a lot of weight. I have noticed though that I still don't necessarily walk "normally". I walk quite fast, and always have and can sometimes have a tendency to have a loping walk.

 

[Laughingowl1975]

I tend to walk on my ankles and at an outward angle (more on the edge of the ankle than on the ankle itself) also one leg is slightly shorter than the other which affects my movement. My gait is a bear-like shamble with a limp and my arms swaying or tucked up in front of my chest, everyone says I look awkward and clumsy.

 

[Chance]

I walk mostly with my heels slightly off the ground... I have no idea why. I think it makes feel straighter or tighter (hard to explain), maybe more balanced? I don't like the sound, or feel, of me dragging my own feet, so I try to never do that, but notice it when I am getting tired. I also notice when I am stumpy and my posture is not right so I tend to try and straighten back up a lot. I have been told I have a different walk, but not often.

 

[Nitro]

I do the autie shuffle something fierce when in shoes.
It tears them up pretty bad.

 

[The Midge]

I keep wearing through the heels of my shoes.

 

[xudo]

I keep wearing through the heels of my shoes.

I was always told that I was very hard on shoes growing up. I think this was probably down to how much I dragged my feet while walking. I do always go up stairs only on my toes though too, but only very occasionally toe walk otherwise.

 

[Fitzo]

I do the autie shuffle something fierce when in shoes.
It tears them up pretty bad.

Good point! I usually look after my clothes pretty well and sometimes have things for years and years, but I'm really hard on shoes. Another thing I hadn't really considered before.

 

[Chance]

I go through shoes like crazy, but they are wet most of the day working on a golf course.
I know which ones I like and I found them on Amazon, so I have 4 exact pairs stored up in the closet. I dislike new shoes... They feel best at about half worn out, or at about a month old... : )

 

[Nitro]

I shred the left heel of my shoes straight off.
My right shoe gets the front left ground off while the right rear of my heel gets destroyed. I must favor my right leg more and it leads when climbing stairs.

 

[Nitro]

I go through shoes like crazy, but they are wet most of the day working on a golf course.
I know which ones I like and I found them on Amazon, so I have 4 exact pairs stored up in the closet. I dislike new shoes... They feel best at about half worn out, or at about a month old... : )

I,to this day keep three pairs of identical work boots in rotation. Two pairs are kept for work rotation to allow the insides to dry completely,while one pair are "dress boots" that are worn just to break them in.

When the shabbiest pair is ready for retirement,they get tossed and get replaced by my dress ones.

 

[Fitzo]

I tend to walk on the outside of both feet but much worse on my right. I put that down to a badly broken ankle years ago. Which reminds me I'm very accident prone where legs and feet are concerned. Hmmmm............more food for thought.

 

[dragoncat16]

To me, everyone has a unique way of walking. I can recognise others by the way they walk better than by looking at their faces. I was always quite athletic, so I don't think I have a particularly odd gait, though I'm not the most physically coordinated person in the world.

 

[kay]

I get told that I "walk like a guy", "walk like my dad", and stomp, particularly when wearing a swirly skirt.

 

[Judge]

That's the issue that clinched my acceptance that I was on the spectrum. Realizing that while I didn't consider myself especially physically clumsy, I did have a "stilted walk". One that kids teased me about when I was an adolescent. But it is a recognized physical trait of Aspergers Syndrome.

Though it's a trait I have continually fought to avoid over the years simply given the childhood ridicule of it all. When I catch myself walking and swaying side to side, I stop it. However I know I'll always repeat it at some point again.

As for shuffling my feet across the pavement, nope I was never allowed to do that. Military family and all....had to pick up my feet at all times. Left, right, left....well, you get the picture. Sir.

 

[MrSpock]

I have a fairly long stride, I've been told that I have a distinctive walk. I believe that I walk more efficiently than most. I guess that most people learn to walk at an early age then forget about it, whereas I have paid attention to how I walk at least part of the time for my whole life.

 

[Flinty]

I've been told that I walk very stiffly. Like many others, I don't lift my feet very much, although I do so enough to miss the ground most of the time.

I am absolute murder on shoes; never had a pair last as long as a year due to my feet being quite wide.

 

[owlet]

I also tend to shuffle and also stumble a lot (due to the fact the pavements where I live are very uneven and I don't pick my feet up enough). I have a slight limp also, but that's due to a damaged ligament in my ankle which never healed properly. I used to wear through the heels of shoes more than I do these days because I started getting bad heel pain and had to retrain myself to walk more evenly on my feet.