I came across this reprint of a Scientific American article:
http://www.autistics.cc/Autism/sciamtwo.html
It says autistic people have distinct look about them. I myself have noticed since I was a child that my ears are unusual in shape.
Aside from their behavioral symptoms, people with autism have often been described not only as normal in appearance but as unusually attractive. They are certainly normal in stature, with normal-to-large heads. The few studies that have tested nonbehavioral features of people with autism, however, have concluded that there are indeed minor physical and neurological anomalies in many cases, and they are the same ones noted in thalidomide-induced autism. For example, minor malformations of the external ears -- notably posterior rotation, in which the top of the ear is tilted backward more than 15 degrees, are more common in children with autism than in typically developing children, children with mental retardation or siblings of children with autism. Dysfunctions of eye movement had been associated with autism before the thalidomide study, and lack of facial expression is one of the behaviors used to diagnose the condition.
Child with autism is normal in appearance, at least to the untrained eye. But he has a few physical anomalies characteristic of the disorder. The corners of his mouth are low compared with the center of his upper lip, and the tops of his ears flop over (left). His ears are a bit lower than normal and have an almost square shape (right).
The corners of my mouth are low, which I had always attributed to not smiling much.
Looking at mine, my son's and Gareth's ears I cannot see anything unusual at all.
He looks alot like what my cousin (ADD; not autistic) and I looked like at that age (my ears flop over, and have a similar shape).
I always thought having a larger than normal head size and a blank or unusual facial expression were characteristics of many people on the spectrum. I also read somewhere that loose joints is another trait that may be present. I looked at the pictures on JHS website. I can bend my elbow back just like in the picture. I can also bend my wrist forward so my thumb touches my arm. I used to be able to bend my wrist backwards all the way but not anymore. This is first time I read anything about us having abnormal ears.
I guess the face is different on autistics because they use their face differently. I guess many autistic's faces often look different, but because autistics are very different from eachother their face would also be. Ears?
There's certainly a geeky appearance.
Alison, not sure. I've got small ears that are very flat to the side of my head, and not much earlobe. I also have few wrinkles on my face as I don't have as many expression lines as most women my age.
Nearly all aspie males I know have very long, dark eyelashes and most of them are tall but apart from that I haven't noticed anything much different in their appearance from anybody else. Perhaps some of their mannerisms are a bit different eg. putting their hand over their eyes or something like that.
I've strange ears too, though mine are pointy rather than square, apparently I look like an elf or something.
I also have quite elven ears.
This is all hugely funny. How many people across the world just got up to check thier ears out in the mirror? lol
My ring finger is (4th?) is bigger than my 2nd finger, but smaller than my 3rd (middle). Does this mean I'm gay as well as an aspie?
What's the beighton score? I have always been able to put my palms on the floor without bending my knees. It came in very handy when I did gymnastics.
Getting a riding hat was difficult...
I've completely cleared up the table playing pool when I was totally pissed, but could never play tennis.
Hmm - HMS? I score 5 apparently, but I'm not exactly sure what they mean by bending the elbows and knees back.
I was diagnosed with hypermobility a year ago -- for some reason nobody saw it until I went to a specialist for jaw problems, and he tested me (I think the only Beighton criterion I don't meet is hands flat on floor, and that's possibly because my armspan is 4 inches shorter than my height). My mother and grandmother have various parts of that, including both joint stuff and some things that I don't have (like extremely loose skin and prolapsed organs) that are apparently related. My mom, unlike me, has normal length arms and can do the hands flat on floor thing that I can't do.
I would also describe myself as behaving in a more masculine way than most women. I prefer male company but that get's problematic - being hetrosexual, 37, with a raging libedo. Well - maybe my libidenous issues are for another day...
It's possible, by the way, to be extremely hypermobile in one joint but not so much in others. When I was fitted for ring splints, the occupational therapist checked each of my fingers, and each of the joints in each of the fingers, and they all had varying degrees of hypermobility, in varying directions at that.
My mother and I have slightly different patterns of which joints are hypermobile, too.
I'm short sighted and I don't wear glasses unless they are sunglasses. Sometime I prefer the world in soft focus!