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Signs of autism could be encoded in the way you walk

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Re: Signs of autism could be encoded in the way you walk

#91

Post by lenerdenator »

crtified wrote: post #82
lenerdenator wrote: post #75

Honest question: What does this really bring to the table as a diagnostic tool for autism? By the time that you're evaluating gait, you're evaluating a lot of other things, too, since autism usually starts appearing during childhood. Obvious things, like trouble socializing, learning, and processing stimuli. I'm not a doctor or involved in any sort of diagnosis, treatment, or curing of diseases or conditions, but giv…

I would call this study a limited data-point, rather than a conclusion. Personally I'm more concerned with the definition of autism itself, which is so incredibly broad that it actually defies most generalisations. For any given symptom or characteristic there may be an autistic cohort in a vastly different part of the spectrum to whom it patently does not apply.

The problem is, people love to take limited data points and turn them into conclusions.

Re: Signs of autism could be encoded in the way you walk

#92

Post by forgotoldacc »

cardanome wrote: post #31
bluefirebrand wrote: post #17

I suspect that there are signs of autism or other neurodivergences encoded in a lot of our body language, and we're really only starting to qualify what those behaviors are But we also should be careful not to over-diagnose neurodivergence based on outward behavior. Not everyone who fidgets is ADHD

In fact people with ADHD have also their peculiar walks: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/H1YsnuaYY-g > based on outward behavior Yes, neurodivergence can only be diagnosed based on how you work on the inside. It is not possible to diagnose based on outside behavior as people can show symptoms very differently and can mask their symptoms. And no, you obviously can not diagnose people based on how they walk. If anything…

> The fear of over-diagnosis makes no sense.

It feels rational to me, especially coming from a society where everything that's considered a syndrome needs to be treated and washed away with medication.

Back in the 90s, every boy who laughed or had any sort of fun in my school was recommended to be put in ritalin and other ADHD meds. I was a quiet kid, but like any child, had a moment of goofiness here and there. And those moments were far less common than my peers. Despite that, my parents got calls from a teacher saying my 10 year old self needs to be put on meds because I clearly have an issue. I'm glad my parents told them to buzz off. But more than half the other boys in my class were drugged up. Even as a kid, I thought that was strange. Looking back, it's horrifying.

I think the suggestion amongst some groups that everyone must visit psychologists and psychiatrists and must be evaluated and must be diagnosed is kind of bizarre. Some people struggle and it should be easier to get help. But some people are a bit weird, they grow into it as part of their identity, and being labeled as having some sort of neurodivergence and being told they can fix it is surely more damaging than just letting them be a bit strange.

If you've got autism and the biggest thing that stands out is the way you walk... I don't think dragging a kid to a doctor to be told they're not normal is really all that beneficial.

Re: Signs of autism could be encoded in the way you walk

#93

Post by benreesman »

I'm sure everyone involved means well, but we are really starting to embrace a culture of defining "normal" down to some arbitrary amount that seems to have no floor.

I'm all for making sure that effective treatments are made available to anyone they might help, but couldn't a lot of this be addressed society just...being tolerant of diversity in people?

Gating everyone through "thrives in American High School" as a measure of normalcy selects for some pretty weird shit, and you can see that in the composition of the leadership today. American high school is about the nastiest thing you could get away with doing at scale in peacetime (go watch Euphoria sometime, no one I know has said it's anything but the uncomfortable truth).

Re: Signs of autism could be encoded in the way you walk

#94

Post by BadCookie »

This reminds me of a case report that I ran across about a boy on the spectrum whose toe-walking gait was resolved via lymphatic drainage massage: https://web.archive.org/web/20200506111344id_/https://www.cl...

I am not sure if anyone has ever tried to reproduce this result on a wider scale.

Re: Signs of autism could be encoded in the way you walk

#96

Post by suzzer99 »

benreesman wrote: post #93

I'm sure everyone involved means well, but we are really starting to embrace a culture of defining "normal" down to some arbitrary amount that seems to have no floor. I'm all for making sure that effective treatments are made available to anyone they might help, but couldn't a lot of this be addressed society just...being tolerant of diversity in people? Gating everyone through "thrives in American High School" as a…

High school is truly fun for maybe 15% of the students, is an utter nightmare for 15%, and has its moments but still generally sucks for everyone else.

Re: Signs of autism could be encoded in the way you walk

#97

Post by yndoendo »

I am hesitant to post this because of JFK JR and ignoring with the politicians in power against ASD.

Gait is not constant in the stride. It all depends on the footwear. The constant for me is being silent while walking. Be the ball of your feet or the heels. Having auditory issues / sensitive to sound, I walk to be silent and unheard.

Walking and scaring wildlife and other humans was a personally taught process. I cannot stand clothing that makes noise while moving nor the sound of my own footsteps. It is also a means to allow for listening of my environment so I am not shocked or surprised.

This also why it is extremely hard to spoke me.

Silence is gold because it allows me filter in the environment. I want to hear the person walking behind me or were I cannot see. I want to walk up to a person and they don't know. This also reduces engagements.

Walking on the ball of your feet is silent up to the point of stretching and cracking your bones. Walking on the heels is also silent when reducing push down with long heel to toe arch. All of course it is defined by the footage and how they squeeze during application to the to the ground dependent on the gait.

The gait and noise it makes also highlights if an aspie has a grander stimulus to sound or not. Those that do not have auditory issues will easily pound their heels into their ground and make the floor shake.

Re: Signs of autism could be encoded in the way you walk

#98

Post by LoganDark »

emmelaich wrote: post #88
bane wrote: post #85

I dunno, this seems kind of junk sciency. There's all kinds of reasons to walk all kinds of ways. Walking on toes, or pointing your feet have almost never been a notable feature of people I know who are clearly on the spectrum. Conversely, the people I know who do have notable gaits all come from something else and none of them (as far as I know) have autism. Anecdata: My paternal side has some kind of innate prefere…

I knew of a young toe walker who turned out to have tendon problems and got surgery to have it fixed. For a while her parents thought she wanted to do ballet.

I'm probably going to need surgery like that as well, it sucks how slow the process is to get any though.

Re: Signs of autism could be encoded in the way you walk

#99

Post by fsckboy »

suzzer99 wrote: post #96
benreesman wrote: post #93

I'm sure everyone involved means well, but we are really starting to embrace a culture of defining "normal" down to some arbitrary amount that seems to have no floor. I'm all for making sure that effective treatments are made available to anyone they might help, but couldn't a lot of this be addressed society just...being tolerant of diversity in people? Gating everyone through "thrives in American High School" as a…

High school is truly fun for maybe 15% of the students, is an utter nightmare for 15%, and has its moments but still generally sucks for everyone else.

maybe it's being 15 that sucks for 85%, and has nothing to do with high school at all.

Re: Signs of autism could be encoded in the way you walk

#100

Post by strken »

lenerdenator wrote: post #75

Honest question: What does this really bring to the table as a diagnostic tool for autism? By the time that you're evaluating gait, you're evaluating a lot of other things, too, since autism usually starts appearing during childhood. Obvious things, like trouble socializing, learning, and processing stimuli. I'm not a doctor or involved in any sort of diagnosis, treatment, or curing of diseases or conditions, but giv…

Is it meant to be a diagnostic tool? I would have thought that we'd be more interested in A) helping people with a gait that messed up their feet and tendons, and knowing that this is a comorbidity for ASD, or B) understanding how gait works generally.
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