I like this subject, "the look" is something my friend and I have talked about from time to time. I was unaware there was scientific findings about the physical traits of "autistic faces", but my friend and I agree that there tends to be a similar "look" to most people with an ASD, or at least those on the higher functioning end of the autism spectrum.

Since Asperger Syndrome is no longer an official diagnosis, I typically just use autism or autistic when referring to myself since my psychiatrist and other doctors I have seen dont say AS anymore... I dont know if this common "look" is specific to the higher functioning end of the spectrum where I am at, or is it common to all people with ASD's?

I always thought that maybe deficits in fine motor control might cause the rather plain blank facial expression that is said to be common, and slouched posture seems typical, probably due to the fine motor control issues also.

I dont know for sure what it is, but my friend seems to agree that there is often a similarity in the general appearance, the ridged stance if standing, slouched posture when sitting, a blank "look" on your face, and I think a lot of these things are caused by fine motor control deficits. My friends teenage son has the similar fine motor control issues and he tends to have the same look, which supports the fine motor control deficit as being the likely cause.

So, if you are on the autism spectrum, but you dont have fine motor control deficits, then you may not have the autistic look that many others do. I believe the monotone voice is also caused by fine motor control deficits... changes to tone and inflection must be missing from us due to the fine motor control problems, also the bad handwriting, the awkward walking and clumsiness can all be attributed to the same thing.

Autistic people with no fine motor control problems may be missing most of the outwardly obvious traits, but that doesnt mean you are any more or less autistic, it just makes it harder to tell when only looking at superficial traits.

I hope this helps : |

I have lots of motor deficits: I'm clumsy, I can't drive, my handwriting looks like something from a distant star...but I only have 2 of these things scientists, at least certain scientists, are saying ASD people have.

I think the way the mind works is the real issue, and that is the one that most people miss when wondering if their boyfriend has AS.

The superficial things dont mean much, its how your thought processes work, how you think, how you perceive the world you live in, that is what is important.

It is not What you do, it is Why you do it. Lack of eye contact isnt the issue, its why you have an aversion to eye contact.

I think "why" should be the focus. Why are you clumsy, Why do you lack facial expression, Why do you seem to hurt peoples feelings unintentionally.

Some of the superficial traits can be explained by fine motor control issues, but many Aspies may not have that trait. Some non-autistic people may have fine motor control problems, but "why" they have that problem is not the same reason why I have that problem.

I think the "aspie look" is complicated, and it isnt exclusive to aspies...

As I am writing this, I am starting to really understand why it is so hard to diagnose autism. Figuring out "why" the child has specific behaviors must be very complicated.

I think they are coming close to using fMRI's to screen for autism, we may see it in the next decade. I went thru probably more than 100 hours of testing at FDU, and they still arent done... I wonder if I should ask them about the Aspie Look, I wonder what the Psychiatrists there think about it? That is something I will have to ask next time I am there. There is probably a much larger amount of non-published research then published. And when it comes to Autism, something being official or non-official is all a grey area since so many aspects of autism are not definitively understood, so any research may be as valid as any other...

I will be sure to bring this up when I am there next, I should be going back within the next week, Ill let you know what they say. They see probably hundreds of people with autism and AS there, Ill ask if they "unofficially" notice specific consistent aspects of what we look like. That wont rule out those that dont look that way, but I am now very curious to see what the most common facial features are...

You're absolutely right about this. Its not about symptoms, its about the mechanics and etiology of those symptoms. Its like I say: "you may vomit, and if you do, you could have the Flu, or you could have salmonella poisoning, or maybe you just got dizzy".

I've also seen an incalculable number of people who look like this, and don't have ASD behavior as well. This could all just be superficial observation. I should mention I first encountered this stuff when looking into the "Neanderthal Theory of Autism", which is ridiculed by many, myself included.

You may ask, then, why did I feel so bad about this? Well, it really comes down to two factors: my terrible black and white thinking, and my lack of faith in, well, everything, really. I like to polarize things: something is this way or that, no in between, lots of us do this or so I'm told. I also happen to be wrong about things a lot, and so I have a slight (massive) paranoia of "what if I'm wrong about that?". Can you relate to that at all?

As such, I've also been DX'd with GAD as well, lol.

Since my real picture appears here, I guess you can judge for yourself.

Personally, I agree that it isn't always in the looks, but it could be in the heredity, and looks are also a part of that.

The members of my family that I think were autistic were of Danish descent on my Father's side of the family. Interestingly, on the Danish side of my Mother's family, fine motor dexterity was almost non-existent and there may have been some schizophrenic tendencies. (No one who caused problems with anti-social behavior, though.)

Lately I have seen 2 articles which have suggested that autism and schizophrenia may be influenced by similar genes.

Does that add up to anything in anyone else's mind?

That's interesting, I've read that, too. If that's the case, however, it must be that the two are distant cousins or something, because most consider the autistic spectrum to be the opposite of psychosis; I've never heard any ASD's hallucinating, maybe some delusional thinking here or there, but for more cognitive reasons, and the sense of reality is never lost.

Which one are you in the pic? What kind of tendencies are you talking about?

Fern, I did hear about a genetic link between Autism, bipolar disorder, ADD/ADHD, OCD and I think schizophrenia also. Perhaps they are all related in some way. I believe Acuriousfish posted something about that very topic in the past, I would ask him to comment on this discussion.

In regards to the Discussion Topic of The Aspie "look, I wonder if there is a link between facial feature formation and Autism in regards to the different stages of pregnancy.

Autism is a developmental disorder; I wonder if there is a specific time during the pregnancy when the facial features begin to form? Perhaps the facial features do not develop at a specific time, but if there is a specific time when it happens, there could be a link that and the time when autistic brain wiring develops. I read some research online about the time when the brain development starts to show signs of autism. Here is a link to one of many articles on the topic of autism forming in the womb:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/12/autism-labor-induction/2641391

If there is a typical autistic look or Aspie Look, then an explanation could be that whatever triggers autistic features to form in the fetal brain may also trigger specific facial features to form. Not all autistic people would have those facial features, just like not all autistic people have the exact same traits, but the facial features might be a common trait among the many autistic characteristics.

I am basing this on very general information about the development of autistic brain features, but it is possible there is a link between the look and the autistic brain This would be a case where a physiological aspect of autism exists unlike the usual neurological characteristics it is just as likely as any other aspect of autism.

I cant discount the fact that many aspie boys look similar in many ways. Perhaps as we grow older those physiological characteristics become less noticeable due to environmental differences or changes in body weight, muscle tone, and many other things that could make that look drift. I posted many photos of me when I was a young child up to current photos on my account. The autistic look that this discussion was about is more pronounced when I was younger and the way I looked as a teenager seems very similar to other Aspie teens.

Just a thought, all of this is based on unproven research and assumptions, but it is an interesting idea that they look developmentally happens at the same time and for the same reason as autism.

There is another thing I do that I noticed in some of the photos of me that I posted, I tend to be facing the direction of the camera, but my eyes are looking at something in a different direction. Now that I think about it, I tend to do that often. I will not move my head in the direction of something I want to look at, I just move my eyes. Obviously there are limits to this, but I only realized I do this when I saw it in the photos. I do it constantly, but it never came to my attention that it is probably very noticeable to everyone else around me when I do this. There is a lot of photos of me taken by my family where I am staring at something out of view but my face is in the direction of the camera.

I dont think this is the typical way people look at things, I seem to be the only person who does this in the photos of me. Even when I am posing for the camera, my attention is on something in the other direction.

Does anyone else do this, or if you are one of my DS friends, do my photos show what I am mentioning and does that look unusual? I dont really pay attention to peoples faces, so I am not the best one to say if this is normal or not, but I am guessing it is not.

I've seen lots of reports that suggest a linkage between a number of ailments.

In particular bipolar and schizophrenia, it was found that there was a statistically raised chance of having schizophrenia if you have a relative with bipolar and vice versa. I'm assuming this was based on current diagnosis - historically many people with bipolar were diagnosed with schizophrenia. So for example I had two older relatives with schizophrenia but in fact it might be that there is only a history of bipolar in the family.

I'm also aware that there is a belief that there is a high co-morbidity between bipolar and ASD, as in my case.

However, it's impartant to remember that in all scinetic research, correlation does not always tie up with causation.

If (and that's only if) we assume that these disorders are largely genetic in origin (and that seems a fair asumption) then co-morbitity and other correlations can be explained by the presence of some of the key genes (believed to be several involved) for bipolar, schizophrenia and autism live on the same chromosome.

If genes are on the same chromosome then mendelian genetics go out the window and totally different features can tend to be inherited together even though the genes involved are not actually the same.

Thanks fish, can always count on you to level our heads out :)

I'm the lady in the foreground with the silly smile on her face. You can also check out my other photos, the privacy level is set to "everyone."

In my profile picture my eyes have been photoshopped, because, in reality, they are severely crossed. A neuro-ophthalmologist diagnosed my Graves' Disease because of my eye problem, but the latest Endocrinologist didn't think my problem was due to Graves' Ophtalmopathy. In any case, I have had double vision since I was in my early teens, but not very severe until I got Graves' Disease.

I have heard that "not looking people in the eye" is a trait of Autistic children, but I usually do it because my Mom told me to when I was young.

Do any of you have beautiful high, slightly pointed ears? I have noticed this in my ex and others. Rather ethereal , and to my mind, gorgeous ears :)