Oh, No, I Kicked the Ball....Now What?

This explains a lot:  http://www.sciencecodex.com/autism_affects_motor_skills_study_indicates-86111

The scientists at Washington University School of Medicine (St. Louis) conducted a study and concluded that autism and clumsiness go together.  I'm thinking of the stereotypical geeky child who never socializes and keeps their nose in a book all day long and isn't any good at any sport whatsoever. 

I was that clutzy child.  They wanted to hold me back in kindergarten because I couldn't open my own milk at snack time or tie my shoes.  I sucked at sports.  I couldn't walk a balance beam.  I couldn't ride a bicycle without training wheels until I was twelve.  In high school I was failing PE (and still having trouble tying my shoes).  I couldn't put a basketball in a basket, or hit a baseball, or serve a volleyball, or kick a kickball (how on Earth can you miss a kickball when it's just sitting there?). 

It was horrifying then, but it's almost funny now--once I somehow actually kicked the kickball and then couldn't figure out for the life of me which way first base was.  In high school.  I'd never actually kicked or hit anything before.

I once spent hours and hours throwing a tennis ball at a wall over the course of several weeks because I was sick and tired of not being able to toss anybody anything or catch anything for any reason.  I did improve after that--I vividly remember somebody throwing me a closed bottle of liquid paper in typing class and my (very secret) pride at having caught it.

These days I still trip over my own feet in bright daylight.  I run into things that aren't moving.  I drop things.  Sometimes the same thing more than once.  All right, more than twice.   Occasionally accompanied by inappropriate language.

Maybe they should put this on the new DSM-V list of symptoms.  (Not the inappropriate language, I mean the clumsiness.)



I'm still recuperating--most of the asthma attacks now are more minor ones.  It still left me breathless the day before yesterday to shop at Wal-mart, but at least I didn't have to take prednisone.

I'm off now to play that Schubert impromptu yet again.  I'll try not to trip over anything on the way there....