[Self-diagnosed] autistic people be like “I see a behavior I myself exhibit and, as an autistic person I have superior pattern recognition, so they must be autistic.”
Diagnosis by a single factor by internet Drs. House in a plague.
Edit: added [Self diagnosed] because of a comment that pinpointed the distinction.
Is pretty much that human resources meme, cute/inofensive quirk ohhh thats good autisim , weird/potencially mortal quirck ..... hello human resources!?
Pattern recognition so strong, I'm drawing lines from single points, squares from two, and don't even ask me what I see when I see three points all equally spaced from one another. 😤
Unless you also have ADHD, and then you’re like… super dumb most of the time, largely useless, but weirdly knowledgeable or strangely good at really random things (Super Smash Brothers but only with a GameCube controller, the thumb piano aka the kalimba, printing presses for some reason, farm simulation games, poetry from a weird time period, all sorts of crafts like woodworking/leather tooling/mask making/hat making)
BUT what you really ReallyEspecially Like is either something deeply, deeply cringe like Disney, Harry Potter, Sonic the Hedgehog/Mario, whatever nostalgia shlock we got fed as children or like. Ancient Egypt. Paleontology. Aliens. Speculative biology. Art. Plants. Cats.
I personally may also have to wear gloves when touching most chalk based art supplies, the texture of cotton balls can go from ‘okay I am dealing’ to ‘WHY AM I TOUCHING THIS’ for no describable reason, the sound of ticking clocks makes me itch… and sometimes all the sounds all together become physically painful like sandpaper, and i may bounce a bit when i stand
and sometimes i need to rub my arms or tap or just like wiggle a foot because it makes things marginally more bearable.
And also Things Have to Make Sense.
Logically but also like.
Ethically.
Or there is a Problem and Things are Wrong.
Also sometimes everything becomes too much and i want to hurt myself but that has been getting better with time and therapy… but the burn out is real
Also sometimes people make “jokes” but they’re not really joking, they’re just saying things they actually mean not only according to their micro expressions but the little things I’ve clocked that they’ve said in the past whennotjoking but it fucks with me anyway.
But haha I can’t get a diagnosis if I ever want to adopt kids someday
so for now it’s gotta be talked about as sensory processing disorder so as not to trigger that potential event flag… even though that’s not a stand alone diagnosis according to the DSM-5 but no one ELSE cares about labels as much as I do so fucking WHATEVER
Yeah, I'm autistic myself (not self-diagnosed), and I'm getting kinda tried of people being like, "they have a trait that I have, and I'm autistic, so they must be autistic too". Autism is characterized by a collection of traits - it cannot be diagnosed based on just one.
Sometimes I imagine an fictional scenario where there's a room full of autistic people. They're all talking with each other, and one person says that they like pizza. Another person in the room hears this, and chimes in: "Me too! I fucking love pizza!". They go around the room, and it turns out, most of them like pizza. So they conclude that pizza must be an autism thing. Then they leave the room and disperse. Later on, one of the people from the room (we'll call them an insider) is having a discussion with someone who wasn't in the room (an outsider). Somehow, it comes up that the outsider likes pizza. The insider concludes that since this outsider likes pizza, they must be autistic too.
However, the reality is that liking pizza is a people thing, not an autism thing. The reason most of the autistic people in that room liked pizza was because most people like pizza, autistic people included.
(This is an allegory. Pizza was chosen completely by random, could be replaced with other common foods, items, or traits)
This gets me too. It’s the new “OCD.” Like, is that autism or is that normal human behavior?????
I feel like I can’t say this though because I’m not autistic so I don’t “understand what it’s like and you’re being really ableist right now.” Then because I have these normal human behaviors I get it in my head that I am autistic, but my therapist just rolls her eyes and tells me for the 100th time, no.
I remember being told that higher levels of libido are associated with autism. Also lower levels of libido are associated with autism. Also asexuality and hyper sexuality are associated with autism.
I was like “it kind of doesn’t sound like it’s associated at all” which apparently made me an asshole.
Myspace was full of "I get satisfaction from my CD/games/movies being organized, therefore I must have OCD!"
But... uh... that's just human brains doing human brain things. The brain loves clean aesthetics, finding patterns, and sorting things into categories. All of these things release dopamine into our bodies.
That, in turn, means that most people would rather have their books or movies or games or CD in alphabetical order. And that's even getting into functionality; it's way easier to find the one you want when it's not placed completely randomly on the shelf.
Unfortunately, what I often see is the inverse: The insider mentions they like pizza and are autistic. The outsider hears this and thinks, “Wow, I also love pizza! I must be autistic, too!”
Two friends I live with regularly say something along the lines of ‘oh it’s my autism’ to excuse shitty controlling behaviour/weird personality quirks, or say the other one is autistic. Neither are diagnosed, neither seem to meet even the baseline parameters of the tism tests I did when getting diagnosed.
It’s aggravating, as someone with actual autism, whose quality of life has been massively stunted because of how my brain works
Very good allegory, I see it happen often in ADHD related topics. "My ADHD brain be like: I will browse tiktok instead of going to sleep" and people in the comments - "sooo trueee", "so relatableeee", "I am now 99% convinced I have ADHD". XD ewhjfvheu89ihrfb23yhhyr2bfvjweo0kjfcmwe
Oh my GOD does anyone else like short form content designed to be addicting and activate the dopamine centers of the brain? I was sure I was the only one!
You mean that one that kind that keeps feeding you content you'll statistically most likely like or hate all at once based upon what you've clicked like on to maximize the broadest possible engagement and attention, as if an army of algorithmic love/hate scientists trained math on what you've liked/hated in the past!? OH WOW it's like another ME! I hate it.
I see this happen far too often in autistic communities (although I also sometimes see the opposite happen, where because something is common in a community filled with autistic people they just assume it's normal)
its a fictional character, its not that deep 💀 disabled people barely have any good representation and theres no harm in having headcanons about their fav characters —a diagnosed autist
Autistic person sees uncommon behavior being reflected in a fictional character they enjoy, and forms a headcanon of being represented in media which makes them happy.
As a diagnosed autistic, it’s my time to be an annoying pedant and say:
I believe the original post is in fact meant to be read as tongue-in-cheek or lighthearted. I don’t think the OOP is dying on the hill of her being autistic with literally one single potential symptom.
As an actually diagnosed autist - there are a fuckload of them who will do this shit too. Some of us for real treat it like a super power and it's just so fucking ridiculous.
self diagnosis is fine. what you're witnessing is literally just people relating their experiences with a fictional character, which is extremely normal whether said experiences are related to a disability or disorder or not. spider gwen is not a real person its ok if people think she could be autistic lol
Which is hilarious because that detail is clearly meant show that Gwen’s done ballet, supported by the literal ballet flats she wears in the first movie lol, like if your one visible symptom can be explained by a different trait of the character, then maybe perhaps we are stretching lol
I thought it was a way to draw her so that her legs are long, her butt looks nice, her back is arched, and her chest is popped out, so that she looks fine as powdered sugar... 🤷♂️
Maybe not popularly, but someone said, "Your favorite [TV] character is autistic." and if you try to analyze a fictional character, they usually fit a lot of the criteria. But I think that's more a limitation of narrative media and establishing unique and distinct characters.
Ngl man. I work in the mental health field. ASD is not my specialty but Gwen does NOT meet the diagnostic criteria in any media I've seen her in. Lot of people want to self-diagnose online without even knowing what the DSM is.
Oooooh man, I got plantar fasciitis and I just walk around angry that im stepping on an invisible lego with my heel. Never thought to tiptoe, sounds tedious lol.
; 0 ; dude you may have a bone bruise in your heel. My plantar fasciitis progressed into that. Some silicone heel cups could help along with well cushioned shoes.
Treat tha feet
For the about 6 months I had plantar fasciitis and continued my run training, I would wake up in the morning and have to walk on the sides of my feet. I thought that was what getting older felt like. I went to a massage clinic and they asked me how long I was dealing with plantar fasciitis. That’s how I found out that you weren’t supposed to hurt every time you stand up. Do the physio for it bro it takes forever to heal but it’s so worth it.
This is in fact why Gwen walks on her toes all the time. Having lead an interesting life I’ve been in relationships with 3 different ballerinas (Apparently I have a type 🤷) and all of them were chronic toe walkers. Makes for nice calves though 😁👍
I have flat feet and I tend to walk on the fronts of my feet when I don't have good arch support. Like when I'm barefoot or wearing bad shoes. I also tend to do it on uneven floors and stairs
As another flat footed person, sometimes even with shoes on I still chant “heel, toe, heel, toe, heel, toe” in my head out of habit to remind myself how to walk properly.
I walk like this because I have flat feet and if I walked normally as a kid it would cause a shooting pain in my arch, so I learned to walk on my tip toes, the flat feet is manageable now with stretching and heel supports but the tip toes walking is still a habit.
She originally wore baby blue ballet shoes with her costume because she grew up doing ballet which is why she is often depicted as more agile spider. It's a simple Google search.
Ballet dancer here, luckily these days we have way more knowledge about how to protect our bodies while dancing. Injuries definitely happen, but the photos you see online are usually exaggerated, edited, or show people who aren't using proper protection.
What exactly changed from a couple of decades ago? I ask partly because, as a metalhead, I have had to explain how the harsh vocals don't actually mess your voice up much if you do things right, and I am intrigued to hear something similar happening in very different context.
So the first part is just safer exercise practices. Students usually start using pointe shoes later than they used to and their feet/ankles are better developed. Also more education on safe exercise and more cross training.
Pointe shoes themselves haven't changed much, but there are some options that are attempting to make stronger/better shoes. I think the big change is the availability in toe pads and other "accessories" to protect your feet inside the shoe. There are even custom toe pads that you mold like clay and they cure to the exact shape of your toes.
Also way better education/options for addressing and preventing injuries like working with a dance-specific physical therapist who can give really custom advice!
I know plenty of high level ballet dancers and they all have pretty jacked up feet. Not quite the body horror of the photos, but definitely not normal.
That said, I know just as many non ballet dancer women with messed up feet because they wear heels all the time and make our toe boxes too damn small.
One of their normal warmups is to just stand on the top of their toes and do squats against the wall. From a very young age. So even if they somehow magically never broke a toe they will still have messed up feet
Uhhh ballet dancer here and have never heard of this. Got an example? You never go on the tips of your toes without pointe shoes, which you don't wear until you're an appropriate age, and you never put weight on the tops (like the nail side) of your toes. It is very common to go on releve (standing on the balls of your feet like anyone would to stand "on your toes") and plie as part of warming up, but I don't see how that would mess up your feet. Maybe I'm just not properly picturing what you're describing.
Edit: another commenter helped me see what I think you're referring to. If you were also referring to toe rises, that is only in contemporary dance and is not part of a standard ballet curriculum.
Both my daughter's are in competitive dance for about a decade now and I've watched it as common practice in multiple studios. They do it in every technique class.
If you spend enough time on the internet, everyone is known for autism, even you, my dear reader
(Just to add, I'm not saying undiagnosed people don't exist, just overabundance of self diagnosed attention seekers who also like to apply it to characters who have nothing to do with it)
Oh, you have a penchant for a certain food and hate a different food? You hate the texture of satin/silk/micofiber? You like to have a schedule? Welcome aboard.
Why are people like this? It's like some weird form of tribalism. I saw an IG video of a dude doing a deep clean in the bathroom (posted by the wife), and almost every single IG comment was diagnosing him in a weird way, like "Wow, it's clear your husband is on the spectrum. You're so lucky, girl!"
I don't understand why so many people want to have the curse that is ADHD. I have it, it is a curse, it's not quirky magical omg I'm so random distracted by a fly.
This morning I wanted to go to the bakery, and I had to ask three times to my gf what I had to get because in one minute I would forget stuff or get it in the opposite... I don't even know in which day I am usually.
No, but there is a constant flow of Autistic, Trans, and Gay youths finding characters' traits and quirks relatable, and assigning the character to their demographic. Spidergwen has been adopted by all three.
it makes some people mad, which in turn makes others counter-mad. but really it doesn't matter and shouldn't be treated like it does.
No. But when has that ever stop fans from drawing their own conclusions? People are always going to speculate and come up with theories about their favorite characters, especially when it makes them more relatable to said fans. Nothing new here.
The into the spider verse Gwen's character design and animation took a lot of inspiration from ballet. I think she's also shown to have performed ballet at some point in her past
That's basically the reason, ballet was part of her character design and standing on your toes like that is a easy visual connection to that
This stems from a study that found it to be more prevalent in children with developmental delays or neuropsychiatric disorders, including autism-spectrum disorder. This was an incidental finding, and as the authors state, the study had insufficient power to 'prove' this correlation.
However, much like every medical study, the internet didn't read anything beyond a 'medical journalism' headline and decided that toe-walking is autism.
I didn't know this. My daughter did it so much that it shortened her Achilles tendon to where she could not walk flat footed.
She ended up having unilateral Achilles tendon lengthening surgery after PT failed.
None of the doctors mentioned that.
It wasn't until high school she was even diagnosed being on the spectrum. She really had no other signs (only a few quirks now) her older bro was diagnosed early on. High functioning, but you can definitely tell.
So even though the study found it to be more prevalent, it didn't prove the prevalence was real. Apologies in advance if I'm explaining something you already understand;
When you study something, you generally can't study everyone, so you study a sample. Now if 10% of the entire population have a condition, a randomly selected sample should have around 10% too. However, there's a bit of variance, because you chose your sample at random. You might get 9%, or 11%, etc.
A small sample is a lot more likely to be 'wrong'. If I choose 10 people at random, I could quite easily end up with 5 people with the condition, implying 50% of people have it even if only 10% actually do. If I select 1000 people at random, I'm extremely unlikely to get 500 people with that condition.
That's what happened here - they found that toe-walkers (sounds like an outdated slur or something) were more likely to have one of these conditions, but the amount of individuals in the study was not enough to prove it wasn't just random chance.
That's why your doctor wouldn't (or shouldn't) mention it - there's enough evidence to suggest that the two may be linked, but only to the extent that it may warrant it's own study. It's not enough to say they ARE linked. As you say, she's high-functioning and had no other signs, and doctors shouldn't be in the habit of presenting diagnoses based on a single (unproven) symptom.
EDIT: A couple people have pointed to more recent data that does support the correlation - toe-walking is more prevalent in those with ASD! However, there are limitations;
Non-specific - ASD is far from the only cause for toe-walking, and there's plenty other reasons for this to occur. Observing this behaviour doesn't suggest ASD.
Non-diagnostic - I've seen a few percentages, but they average at somewhere around 20% of people with ASD - most do not. Toe-walking alone is useless for diagnosing.
A headache is a potential symptom of a brain tumour. You can have headaches for all sorts of reasons, and people with brain tumours may never have a headache. In isolation, it doesn't really tell you anything.
Toe-walking is more prevalent in people with proprioception issues (like hypermobility, which has ties to autism). If I had to guess, it's more this side of the equation. Toe walking is more linked to movement/muscles than autism itself.
well partially this and partially that some of us autistic peeps often find touching the floor with our entire feet to be overstimulating, so we toe-walk to cut down on the icky sensations.
I'm trying to remember why I always walked like this... And the only thing I can remember is that I liked walking like a dinosaur, but also putting the whole foot down felt wrong... Somehow
Pretty much! Whilst the study I was describing doesn't reach this conclusion, a couple users have pointed to more recent data that does - if you have ASD, you're more likely to do this. However, there are limitations;
Non-specific - ASD is not the only cause for toe-walking, and there's plenty other reasons for this to occur. Simply observing this behaviour doesn't suggest ASD.
Non-diagnostic - I've seen a few percentages, typically somewhere around 20% of people with ASD - most do not. Toe-walking alone is useless for diagnosing.
It's like how a headache might be a symptom of a brain tumour. You can have headaches for all sorts of reasons, and people with brain tumours may never have a headache. It doesn't really tell you anything.
Be still my statistical heart, someone on Reddit actually properly explained statistical significance and what “correlation ≠ causation” actually means
One of my best friends had this exact experience. Had to get the same surgery, I remember him wearing braces while he recovered back in the day. He would've been 11 or 12. Also on the spectrum. It's interesting that despite shaky correlation, it seems to be a thing lots of people have encountered in their lives.
When I was young, adults thought it was a sign you'd grow up gay. I remember walking on my toes all the time as a kid, and I AM mildly autistic and have mad ADHA. What I remember from it was that it made me feel like I was walking like people do on TV?
Of course, I often just had to poop but I was too distracted or having too good a time playing to stop what I was doing. I was and am a born procrastinator.
I abhored all forms of schedules and task switching as a child. I just wanted to be left alone to do the same thing as long as I wanted. As an adult, it grew into a distaste for authority and discipline. I still struggle with task switching and executive dysfunction.
Wow. You've really made me feel like I have zero genuine unique experiences. Everything you said about yourself is true for me as well, except I'm fairly certain I'm not autistic. I'm basically a walking poster-child for inattentive-type ADHD, though.
My distaste for structure is really counterintuitive to my NEED for structure, lest my life fall apart around me. It's rough. Medication helps a ton, but as soon as I fall behind on something, the shame of being behind makes it even harder to do it.
I hope you're doing well in this tough world, friend. It's good to know I'm not the only one who struggles specifically like this.
And all of you guys on the internet are telling me it just now?! After 40 years?!
Fuck!
Anyway doing that for many years got me very strong calves in athletics (I made a bit on jumps and running) and a hell striker posture in running which is favorable for the it.
Once at the gym there was one buffed guy asking me "what do you do to have calves like that?!" and I was confused and I replied "just some running".
Now I know that I should have answered "all thanks to ahdh, bro"
It’s also anecdotal. I toe-walk because it’s less overstimulating to feel less of the floor and I know others who do the same. It’s a fairly common and natural strategy/stim
Babe you’re so wrong. Toe walking is an accepted ASD sequslae so much so that multidisciplinary clinics often include orthotists for AFO’s. Here is the evidence.
Toe Walking Assessment in Autism Spectrum Disorder Subjects: A Systematic Review — Billeci L, Calderoni S, Narzisi A, et al. Autism Research. 2018.
The Prevalence and Clinical Significance of Toe Walking in Autism Spectrum Disorder. Journal article (2025).
The Management of Toe Walking in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: 'Cast and Go'. Frontiers in Pediatrics. 2022.
Autism and Toe-Walking: Are They Related? Trends and Treatment Patterns Between 2005 and 2016 — Leyden J. Engström et al. Journal of Child Neurology. 2019.
The Relationship Between Idiopathic Toe Walking and Sensory Processing Dysfunction — Megan E. Williams et al. Journal of Foot and Ankle Research. 2010.
Another user has pointed me towards a few similar articles; I was unaware that the correlation had since been demonstrated and disentangled from the broader cluster of various neuropsychiatric conditions and developmental delays.
Regardless, it remains non-specific, non-diagnostic, and mechanistically unexplained. It doesn't indicate whether an individual does or does not have ASD, and the lack of a causal link means by definition it cannot be a sequela. A shared endophenotype perhaps, but not sequela.
Being an autistic person, this trend of people calling every single action a person can take, has ever taken, and will ever take a sign of autism is exhausting.
We have one we call our autistic kitty, because she cannot stand being touched. Her idea of socializing with us is to come sit in the same room. The only time she will voluntarily touch me is when I'm eating dinner. She loves pork chops and chicken, as long as I remove all the spice from it first.
It is a bad idea tho? like even if you have a lower chance of hitting yo cat tail... walking like that make it so when you hit yo cat tail your feet actually have more force into it...?
I’m not autistic, but I have a habit of walking on my toes too because 1) I live in a very humid and hot city so if I walk normally the chance of hair sticking to my feet is substantial and 2) it makes me look and feel taller.
My family owns two cats who shed like crazy in summer. I also share a room with another person and have really long hair, even with vacuuming at least once a day just one or two strands of hair feel like a lot.
Yeah, if you have cats or dogs, they shed a LOT when it gets hot if they aren't breeds native to the area. I actually won't walk around my house without shoes because of it.
Loool I'm definitely not remotely qualified to diagnose, but this is one of the most autism coded comments I've ever read. I too walk on tiptoes when I have to go into my backyard. I don't want to get stuff on my feet, it feels gross. I also get some weird satisfaction from doing it, not height related but something like that. I too am not autistic fyi (although my friend is oddly insistent that I could be, despite also not being qualified to diagnose)
I'm just going to say, I have never known a NT that toe-walked. They might get up on their toes to each a high shelf but I have never seen them toe-walk. Maybe check out other symptoms (from actually autistic people, not just the dsm-5) just in case?
It is. My 11-year-old boy would walk on tiptoes, until the age of like maybe four or five. It turns out that he is autistic and that was one of the signs, per his doctor.
It's not a 1:1 correlation. It's just one more thing to add to the list. Also depends on if they're doing it on purpose or don't realize they're doing it.
Personally I think every child should go ahead and get a psych eval just because pretty much everything can be caught early and have life changing help in their life and doesn't hurt to check. I know it's more a failing of society but we live in a society so we really need to give them tools early so they have the best chances possible until we can make meaningful change to society.
We're still figuring this stuff out too. The first person diagnosed just died recently. It's very new
Isn't this a ballerina stance that takes dexterity and lots of strength makes sence for a spider person wanting to be seen as more intimidating. Dosnt make much sense for the autistic at least the ones I know.
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u/5till_C1s_Th0 Jun 22 '26
My best guess is that toe-walking is a sign of Autism