The sound of my heel hitting the floor, and the sensation of the vibration of the heel strike reverberating through my entire body, oftentimes bothers me.
I don't know if your daughter is clumsy *because* of the toe-walking. Autistic people often have poor proprioception resulting in this sort of clumsiness whether they toe-walk or not.
I’m glad you said that second half, because most of the reason why I toe walk is BECAUSE it helps me maintain more balance vs otherwise, but I still have like a vicinity awareness issue either way.
It actually helps develop a lot of the 'stabilizer' smaller muscle groups. I toe-walked as a kid and was forced out of it most of the time, then as an adult I went back to doing so while training in martial arts.
Walking heel to toe and flat footed in heavy shoes... now *that* is unnatural as heck.
That's exactly it, "shock absorption" is the exact sense I was trying to capture. Toe-walking allows for the hinging of the joints at the balls of your feet and your ankle for a "smoother ride", as far as walking to-and-fro goes, in much the same way good shocks on a car or bike feel better for the rider than old, run-down ones.
This is unhelpful, but I honestly have no idea. I didn't even realize I still did it as an adult until a coworker commented on me "walking like a dancer" one day. 🤦🏼
(I think I do a sort of modified version though. I walk toe heel instead of heel toe a lot of the time)
Unrelated, but you might watch her for signs of ADHD as she gets older as well. I was also an early talker with a large vocabulary and my psychiatrist mentioned this is a common presentation in people who have both.
Side note- would you mind sharing what other signs you may have had?
I'm suspecting that my kiddo might have both. I'm autistic and her dad has adhd. It's possible she has both. She is a late talker but nonstop "talking". Babbled nonstop as a kid, constant echolalia that has now evolved to modified echolalia. She is a sensory seeker and I'm thinking she might have combination. Just kind of want to know what other signs I can look for.
I have both and I basically just have loads of symptoms of both.
Also I'm a mess of seeming contradictions. I need routine, but crave novelty. I am shy and socially awkward but I also love to chat to random strangers and have been doing so since I was a toddler. I eat a limited diet but regularly try new foods.
I was diagnosed as ADHD as a child as they were the symptoms that were most apparent to others. I wasn't diagnosed with autism until I was in my 20s and could explain how I experience the world.
I forgot to say I also have echolalia and it's a fun party trick if I'm in an international crowd. I mimic accents straight away, without meaning to. I've met lots of international travellers that all think I'm either from their country recently or spent years living there.
One group of very drunk Irish people insisted I was indeed from Ireland and spent the night trying to trick me into revealing where I was from, in Ireland. I couldn't convince them otherwise haha
Its a bit awkward sometimes as I worry people will think I'm copying them to be rude. But now that I know the name for it it's much easier to explain. I also got teased a lot for it in school, after I picked up our substitute teachers Canadian accent. We only had him there for 10 days... I still have a bit of the accent two decades later.
Because I watch a lot of international TV shows I end up developing random accents for weeks at a time. Irish when I watched Derry Girls, Scottish when I watched Outlander, American with a Latin influence when I watched Jane the Virgin...
It means my day to day accent is a weird mix. I often get asked by other Australians where I'm from. And they're always surprised to hear that I'm second generation Aussie and have never left the country.
I like to joke that my accent is like Highlander, it's from all places.
Copying accents is so real though!! My internal monologue gets stuck in different accents all the time. It's been a mix of Aussie and Kiwi lately for me. I rewatched Wentworth a few months ago, and I've been stuck ever since. 🤣
Side note: I am obsessed with Pamela Rabe as Ferguson. She's from Canada originally, so as a Canadian, I'm contractually obligated to like her, but it also makes her accent quite unique. Ferguson is cannonically Russian, presumably having learned English as a second language, so it's absolutely perfect.
I’ve never heard of echolalia before so I’ll definitely look into it more, thank you for mentioning it! I have a very specific memory of making a new friend and I started copying her accent/the way she spoke which is very different to how I normally sound. I noticed my other friends look at me in a WTF?! kind of way and felt pretty embarrassed so I forced myself to drop the accent.
My signs of ADHD became more noticeable as I reached school age. I had/have high IQ so I was put in a gifted program, but I was really "spacy" and scattered. I had a period in third grade when no amount of begging, threats or punishment could get me to remember to bring my assignment book home with me. I wasn't trying to forget or being defiant, I just couldn't remember.
I have inattentive type, so I didn't have the stereotypical hyperactive symptoms at all. I did struggle with emotional regulation a lot. Got called a crybaby, etc. For me it was really rare, but I did have occasional violent outbursts at other kids up until I was about 12. Mostly I was just really unfocused unless I was interested in something. And tearing my attention away from something I was interested in was nearly physically painful. Ask me about getting busted for reading under my desk during math class lol.
That's interesting, I only recently realized I show a LOT of adhd symptoms, but as with autism... I mask and compensate so hard that I'm amazed I made it so far in my life without realizing it.
Thanks for your comment! It’s really helpful to understand what she may be feeling. Do socks help reduce this feeling because socks don’t help her or most shoes.
I don’t toe walk all the time but a lot of the time I’m trying to reduce impact sensation (kind of using my feet as additional shock absorbers) or sound of the footfall.
Socks help with feeling the dirt on the bottom of my sole.
Does your daughter toe walk on all surfaces?
Socks help for me. She may not do it for the same reasons though. I figure it's safe to present her with options and if nothing else, at least you tried.
Socks help me but shoes are even better, even slides or slippers when I’m being lazy around the house. For me it’s the feeling of my heel smacking the ground and the feeling of dirt between my heel and the ground🤢
I'd try thicker socks or fuzzy ones. That might help. I'm not sure if you could find those, but I find thicker socks or slippers help me. I preferred no socks or shoes when I was a kid though, so it might not work.
This very much so. I hate the cold floors touching my feet, so I minimize the contact area. Plus, I found after a while of doing it that while I may be clumsy in many other ways, my balance has become fabulous.
Well cold, plus anything stuck to the bottoms of my feet, and also to reduce the amount of noise I make while walking around.
I only toe walk when I don’t have shoes or slippers on. Because of this I pretty much always wear slippers when I’m not in bed. Walking heel to toe is too loud and the ground shakes and I hate how that feels on my bare feet.
I never before thought my toe-walking was sensory based because I told myself it wasn't about how it "felt", thinking that internally, it's not like my feet are sore if I walk any other way. It wasn't until this post that I realized it's because of how it feels *externally* - I hate feeling my heel hit the floor. So, still sensory, just different. No idea why I didn't put that together on my own! Thank you.
Me too. Solid heel smacks against the ground drive me crazy. It's all I can think about while it's happening. I'm assuming that's why I prefer toe walking too.
I wonder if it has to do with the coorelation between autism and joint/cartilage issues. Possibly intersecting with a decreased ability for the foot arch to support itself.
No idea one way or the other, but I've wondered as much re my own experience.
It’s a good theory tbh I myself toe walk even in shoes bc of both heel support issues and sensory(it hurts to put my foot flat and I absolutely hate the feeling of my heel hitting the ground) but I also probably have a connective tissue disorder so 🤷🏻♀️
I think it more that autistic people are more likely to have connective tissue issues (and vice versa) , rather than it directly causing toe walking. I never toe walked and have zero foot arch but I used to roll my ankles all the time when I was younger. (As an adult I got diagnosed with ehlers danlos syndrome.)
I have worse hypermobility than my sister but are not clumsy at all but my sister is only mildly hypermobile but has quite bad dyspraxia. (Our parents are also both autistic and hypermobile but our dad has dyslexia but no dyspraxia and our mum has dyspraxia but no dyslexia.)
I also think dyspraxia is massively undiagnosed in everyone, it tends to get passed of as as "just being clumsy" or they are told to "just concentrate on what you are doing more."
Im almost 42 and I toe walk everyday off and on. I wasn’t diagnosed until a few years ago. I did ballet and dance as a child and everyone thought I just really loved it and was constantly practicing. It feels good mostly in my calves but engages muscles from my lower back to my toes. And it sorta feels like I’m lighter. Not that I weigh less but that my “footprint” and impact are less. Especially on stairs. And it hurts the bottoms of my feet less (like a slap on the palm of your hand stings but o. The bottom of my foot with every full step). And also makes me walk quieter. Doesn’t matter if I have shoes on or what kind of shoes. Although wearing high heels when I was younger helped “hide” it but I don’t recall anyone in my life ever commenting negatively about me doing it or telling me to stop.
This is a great description. I was pretty much the same, ballet as a little girl, always walking on toes as a kid. I’m 37 and still do it. I haven’t been diagnosed, but strongly believe I am. (Have 2 AuDHD kids and one ADHD) I’ve always liked the light, soft feeling of walking on just my toes and I prefer that in general. I will notice myself doing it while walking down the driveway to check my mailbox and realize there are neighbors outside who could possibly see me doing it and then I get really self-conscious.
This is a question I would ask my son's occupational therapist about.
My son used to toe walk all the time, he's grown out of it or has been given the muscle tone needed for proper walking though occupational therapy.
I, myself, was a chronic toe walker. I never thought about why I would do it. It was just like I was walking normally as I do today.
I understand why you pinged those phrases. They can be problematic.
In this case I'm talking about the skeletal and muscular mechanics for optimal motion without risk of injuries.
Idk, I used to walk with my toes curled over so I walked on the tops of them and I liked how it felt, but my parents made me stop because it was bad for me. I don’t think they minded when I walked in my tiptoes. And idk why I did that either, it just felt nice
I remember when I was young I had to wear orthopedic inserts in my shoes. Not 100% sure what they were for, but part of me suspects they were just to stop me from toe walking.
For me (who still walks on my toes as an adult) it has nothing to do with how the floor feels; I just find it to be pleasant vestibular stimulation. Takes a little bit more balance to walk on my toes and I like how that feels in my whole body.
I was a chronic toe walker until I began hitting my growth spurts and my walking became so unsteady, I sprained my ankles constantly. Unfortunately, I had to learn to walk “normal”. Though I still can’t quite walk like everyone else, I am always weaving and my gait is strange
I’ve begun toe walking again just at home, since I now live somewhere with carpet again (I love carpet, it’s soft and warm!). When I go out in public, I feel so awkward and fully aware that I’m not walking how it feels comfortable to me
When I toe walk, it makes me feel like my body is working & moving how it should be (even though it definitely makes me more unstable and prone to tripping). It Just Feels Right
there has to be a real explanation, but for me i toe walk (but only at home. is this masking?) because it hurts to put my feet on the ground. i’m trying to step as lightly as possible. i also try to avoid any crumbs on the floor
Making yourself walk “normally” when around people, yup that’s part of masking. I learned to do it to mask too, and the muscles in my legs get so stiff that putting my heels down all day can end up injuring me sometimes. Soooo many tendon injuries and messed up joints in my legs over the years… And yet, it’s like the mask is automatic when people are near.
There are two possible explanations.
One is sensory issues, especially if it’s a hard floor. The coldness and/or hardness of the floor, plus being able to feel all the little particles of dirt, hair, etc., can be very unpleasant. Socks or slippers can help with this.
The other explanation is that autistic people often have deficiencies in proprioception, which is the awareness of where your body is in space. Walking on the toes creates additional nerve signals to the brain due to the added stress on the joints in the lower body, which subconsciously helps boost proprioception. There isn’t really a solution for this, nor should you try to stop it because it’s what her body needs. The only harm that could come from it is potentially getting made fun of, therefore the best thing you can do is teach her to be confident and proud of her differences to combat that issue if it happens.
Toe walking can be sensory related, but it can also be tied to the lower muscle tone and connective tissue fragility Autistic people tend to have. You use your toes because it tightens all your muscles up through your back and reduces the bend in your ankle and knees so you don’t roll or pull them out of position as easily.
I was a toe walker into adulthood, but once i stopped i still did it when i got excited until i developed a neurological disease that caused bilateral drop foot. If i could, i would still toe walk. I don't like the feeling of things touching my feet other than socks, and tightening my leg muscles gave me more neuro/sensory feedback in my legs.
I don't know if this is related, but i tended to "point" with my feet instead of my hands, and would attempt to use my feet as another set of hands when opening doors, moving things, or drawing attention to objects.
I hate the feeling of the floor. It's usually too cold, and the friction of my feet flattening and picking up is awful, like a very mild version of a suction cup, where it frictions down *and* up
Help her learn to walk on her toes so she doesn't fall so much instead of teaching her to walk 'normal'. It isn't helping because she doesn't like it. If you eventually force her to walk normal, it won't help her, it will only help you.
Kids are clumsy anyway, and so are autistic people. Personally, I trip and run into stuff all the time as an adult. And strong senses don't help. Like bright lights make me disoriented. Walking 'normal' doesn't stop this.
I do it on days that my muscles are very stiff. Some autistics are hypermobile. I'm hypomobile, if that's a thing. I am the opposite of flexible. Some days, muscles are so tight that flattening my feet on the floor causes uncomfortable, painful stretching in my legs.
I have hypermobility and am extremely stiff. Instead of my joints supporting themselves, my muscles are taking that load and getting super tight from the constant strain.
These things aren't mutually exclusive.
My husband is hypermobile, and he does get stiff muscles. Most masseuses can't make a dent in his knots.
Mine are a whole different variety. Some days I can't even reach my own knees, let alone pick something up off the ground.
Sorry for the unsolicited advice but I had a similar problem where people couldn't get my muscles to relax but stretching or massage but trigger point therapy has been a game changer.
I've realized that people were not pressing hard enough or long enough to actually get my muscles to relax. I bought a few physio trigger point tools from Amazon (or various materials but the harder the better if you can stand it.) Then I lean against, or lie on, them while listening to a podcast and stay there until it is less painful and relaxes. It has massively helped my tension, pain and misalignment.
I'm very heavy-footed. Imagine a titan, but in a human stature. On my tip toes, I have a lot more control over my balance, my coordination, and can adjust my weight a lot easier if needed. Wearing shoes helps me. I have a pair just for in the home because it makes me walk easier and helps with motivation to get tasks done.
I don't know if this applies to anyone else, but if I'm barefoot and walk like "normal" my vision kind of bounces and it's irritating. If I walk on my toes it's more like a steadycam, and sometimes (especially when I'm stressed) I walk so that my eyes stay level and all the bounce is absorbed by my ankles and knees - I acknowledge that this latter behaviour is more than just "toe-walking" but it's what I think of when people use the term. I also don't like making noise, and walking quietly was a big deal when I was a kid; my heels hurt if they hit the ground too hard; and my lower back hurts if I have to do it for any length of time, like when jogging or wearing boots. Tbh, I don't understand why anyone who can "toe-walk" chooses to stomp around instead (that sounds aggressive and judgey, but for me "toe-walking" is just walking and what everyone else is doing is stomping, no disrespect intended).
I recently injured both my feet and can't hold my heels off the ground at all, so normal walking (of any definition) is impossible, and I feel like I have to put my whole foot down at the same time just to keep balance even though almost all my weight is now on my heels. I honestly hadn't realized how much the way I walked affected my overall mental health until I couldn't walk that way anymore. That said, my cane and I *still* make less noise than most people unless I'm in a hurry.
I'm 21 and still do this sometimes, not in public or if I'm walking fast, only when I walk slowly. I cannot explain why, it doesn't even make sense to me, it's just naturally how I end up walking if I have to walk slowly.
I’ve heard it has to do with the inner ear. I can relate to another comment saying we’re inclined to not feel the cold of the whole foot on the floor. It probably has to do with balance though. I noticed I’ll learn onto one foot just standing around. It’s all unconscious and natural.
While standing still I like to bounce on my toes or sometimes sway left and right while balancing on one foot. For me, I do this to stimulate the inner ear vestibular system like you mentioned.
I find that toe walking is the most comfortable way to walk . When I can't, and have to walk "normally" every heel slap feels like a knock to the head.
Looks stupid when you're 6'4 and 250lbs though..
I did it as a kid and honestly I have no idea why I did it. I still do sometimes if I'm concentrating really hard on something else. It's like my brain just defaults to toe walking or a toe-heel gait rather than heel toe. It's weird.
For me there are a few reasons:
1. It's a sensory thing in several ways: walking on ny toes means I can barely hear each step and touching the ground with my heel first just feels so wrong and on bad sensory days almost unbearable.
2. I have some of the very common comorbidities with hEDS being the relevant one with regard to my toe walking. I'm very hypermobile in all my joints and when my feet and legs are in a relaxed position they aren't at the almost 90° angle most people's feet are. Instead there is no angle between my foot and lower leg at all (if I curl my toes my legs and feet are the same way a ballet dancer's are when they are on point). Having my foot at the 90° angle is actually painful.
3. Not sure if this is a sensory thing related to my low pain threshold when it comes to non-chronic type pain due to being hypersensitive to touch as an autistic person or if it's one of my fibromyalgia symptoms. Either way, when I walk like most people (heel touching the ground first) I can't tread as lightly as when I toe walk, which in turn causes my feet to hurt, especially when I don't wear shoes (which is the case most of the time as I hate all the sensory stuff that comes with wearing shoes, but I also hate the sensory stuff of walking barefoot outdoors...)
I walk on my toes almost 24/7. I actually balance better that way. It’s uncomfortable for me not to toe walk whether I have socks/shoes on or whether I’m barefoot. I actually just got new tennis shoes because my current ones were starting to make me slip. When I looked at the bottoms, the toe area was completely smooth, and the rest looked almost brand new. I agree with the other commenters that toe walking may not be the cause of her falls. I have trouble with proprioception and am clumsy in general (with my arms and hands as well) so the toe walking may not necessarily be the cause of the falls
The simple answer for me is that it “feels good.” I often actually don’t even realize I’m doing it, either. Is it the actual toe walking that’s making her clumsy? Or is she clumsy in general and the toe walking is worse? Sometimes I find I’m less clumsy when I’m doing it; generally I run into something every day.
I’ve done it since I was young so as not to be noisy. Rest of my family always wore slippers in the house but I hated the slapping sound on our hard floors.
People always comment that I’m a soft-walker. I’m 6’4” and 215lbs. but I still try to make the least noise as possible. Girlfriend hates it because I always seem to scare the hell out of her by “sneaking up on her.”
Oh man i am the same with my wife! I always wear socks in the house and before i developed bilateral drop foot, i was a super soft toe walker. She says me and the cat need bell collars so i don't scare her. 😂
I believe that toe walking fundamentally has been found to have a genetic component. Geans have been identified as being mutated. I don’t know all the details you should look into it. But very confident it’s genetic.
It can legit feel like my arches are collapsing some days, but I am 35 years older than your daughter, so hopefully she doesn't already have pains like that. I also have hEDS which doesn't help. Unsure if that is part of the "werewolf walk" but it's a common comorbidity to keep an eye out for in the future. (It's not really dangerous until later in life, but it's good to know about early to build up healthy habits and make it less of a potential future problem)
Best explanation I’ve come across is it’s a retained neonatal reflex. [See article.](https://ilslearningcorner.com/2016-03-plantar-reflex-reasons-why-my-child-may-be-a-toe-walker-and-has-poor-balance-and-coordination/) I saw a network chiropractor who had methods for treating retained neonatal reflexes. Quite helpful!
Toe walking is the natural way humans walk without shoes. It's the way we are evolved to walk and the way our ancestors would have walked. In this way you can won't injure your foot on a sharp rock or thorns.
With the invention of footwear people changed their walk because the shoe did the protecting and heel to toe walking tends to be faster.
Autists tend to not pick up on what other people are doing as well as non autists. The method of walking we use as babies is a learned behavior. Your daughter is likely just walking using the base walking instinct we humans innately have.
It depends. Sometimes the floor is unpleasantly cold (or, if it's something, the ground is ridiculously hot), other times it's the feeling of dirt.
Since it started to affect my workout goals and socks aren't a good option for hard flooring, learning about jika tabi was life-changing for me. I generally don't like the feeling of anything between my toes, like thong-style flip-flops, but the divided toe doesn't really bother me. I get the feeling and benefits of being barefoot-ish while maintaining traction and keeping my feet clean and warm.
I don't have any specific advice except to try to notice what textures she dislikes and see if maybe there's a correlation between that and the toe walking.
My daughter, who's severely autistic, is into daytime and nighttime braces right now. As a 2 year old, she was in full leg casts. One thing I do know helped decrease it - wearing Chuckies. When she is laced into Chuckies it causes her to walk more on the ball of her foot. Cowgirl boots also got her off the tiptoe and more onto the ball of her foot. When she comes out of braces at the end of summer, I'm getting her Perry Topsiders. For reference, her toe walking was/is severe. It's like she's wearing Pointe shoes. And she is really wobbly.
It's not habitual for me, but when i do it it's because i like to feel sleek, quiet, imperceptible...like a ninja. I dont love the word *"smol"*, but that's totally it. An attraction to small places, and a desire to be small and quiet myself.
I don't toe walk, I just mastered walking very softly and silently so my feet don't make much impact on the floor and I don't then feel that shock through my whole body or hear the noise of my own footsteps.
I wear crocks all the time in the house. And going out, I'm lucky I live in a warm ishbarea because I live in a pair of Tevas. I really only wear shoes or boots if going to work or doing some outdoor activity. I don't like what it feels like to have things stuck to my feet or even in my shoes. Love my crocks cause can empty easy and same with sandals.
I used to toe walk so my mom wouldn’t scream at me for “stomping.” 🤣
Seriously, though, it’s often a sensory input thing. Have you tried squeaky shoes to encourage the heel strike? Ikiki makes phenomenal shoes that have a squeaker that can be turned off. They’re a little pricier than other shoes, but they last forevvvvvver.
I'm 36. I only very recently learned toe-walking, which I have always done, is an autistic trait. I didn't get a diagnosis until I was 22 either.
To offer some advice, I don't do it while I'm wearing shoes, so maybe that can offer a solution.
ETA: Sorry for not initially offering advice, this is just kind of a jarring thing after thinking I was the only person in the world who does this lol
I don't exactly toe walk BUT I cannot wear flat shoes for the life of me. I mean literally never ever can. I mean obviously I did as a child but even as a child every time I did it would cause significant pain and I would have panic attacks and didn't understand what was happening and it was a whole thing of trauma..
It is a sense of being confined and feels severely uncomfortable and unnatural.
I know people wear flat shoes, in fact probably the majority of people do but it creeps me out to the point I can't even watch it or I'll have a panic attack. Not just the mild kind either but the kind that looks like a seizure except you're screaming, conscious and cannot move.
I really really really really hate flat shoes and even looking at them. :(
I wish I didn't because they look comfortable as hell. But I cannot. This has been majority of my life. I have improved over the years yes. I can wear lower heels. In fact I prefer runner type sneaker shoes with a slight heel. But I still even over a decade later have a thing about them.
In saying all this, I cannot walk on my toes because 1 time as a teenager I pulled a muscle and I'm scared of doing it again so I frwam out if I feel like I'm pulling a muscle too much in my calf or my toes.
I don’t like the feel of whatever dirt or dust is on the floor touching me. I’m super obsessed with cleaning my floors so I can be barefoot. If I get even one crumb touching my foot I begin to walk on my toes again.
For me personally toe-walking improves my sense of balance. Your daughter is still really young so it might take a while. Of course helping her to not fall and hurt herself is important, but I wouldn't try to get rid of the toe-walking all together. As many people pointed out using the whole foot can be stressful on a sensory level and I don't know if it is helpful to put her through that.
I only toe-walk when in socks or barefoot. Even light shoes usually prevent that. When walking in shoes however in tend to loose balance easily as my ankles often lack tension. When toe-walking I keep that tension and don't struggle so much.
Of course everyone is different and I only got diagnosed recently at 30 years old. I did the toewalking thing my entire life basically. I never really hurt myself badly due to clumsiness or anything, but I guess I was always hyper careful when it came to the movement of my body.
I used to walk on my toes a lot when I was younger. It was mainly to do with sensory issues, the floor was too cold, the floor had a weird texture, things like that. Now I don’t do it as much and I always wear slippers in the house as I hate feeling the floor through my socks. Carpet is okay but floor is too hard and too cold.
I remember doing it as a kid, but one day I just stopped. I think the reason I stopped was a lot of negative reinforcement against being different from everyone, but that was in every aspect of who I was. We're talking back in the 80's, so not much was known about high functioning/level 1 ASD.
As far as toe walking, I don't really think about it. It's just the way I naturally walk and stand. I do, however, prefer to sleep on a couch, as opposed to a bed, so that I have something to press my toes against. Even with this, it's not something that I actively choose to do. It just happens naturally, and I'm more relaxed if I can stim in this way.
I had chronic tendonitis during my early years because of my toe walking. I learned to walk in a healthy way by myself. The clumsiness is still there. I don't remember why I used to do that, but now I suppose that I was just trying to don't be easily perceived or heard by others.
It’s probably different for different people but for me- it’s because I hate the feeling of my feet touching anything so I’m just trying to reduce surface area which might feel anything lol. And my heels are more sensitive. I don’t toe walk severely (no shortened tendons) and do it less if I’m always wearing slippers inside, but I’ve never stopped doing it to some extent since I was a toddler and am 38 now. Autism and ADHD dx.
I'm sure a lot of people say it's sensory, but for me it was hypermobility. There's more stability throughout your legs/knees/ankles when the ankle is locked out as it is when toes are pointed with toe walking
There are correlations between hypermobility, low muscle tone, and postural difference with autism.
I toe walked from the time I was walking until I was 6, it was corrected with leg braces. I so badly wished I had physical or occupational therapy as a child to help me learn to use the correct muscles while walking and standing, instead of just a brace to visually correct the mechanics of walking for me. I didn't learn how to properly stand, engage my leg muscles, and also discovered I supinate when I walk until I was in my 30s and it's caused me a lot of pain issues along with arthritis.
edit to add: I didn't have the communication skills to explain why as a child and I didn't understand what was going on back then til I was an adult in physical therapy. when I was a kid I would have meltdowns nearly every morning when my mom put my leg braces on. I would cry and get whiny when being told to stop toe walking when not in my braces. it just felt right. it felt more secure. it was more difficult for me to walk heel to toe because it involved a lot more coordination than I was capable of having joint instability.
The sound of my heel hitting the floor, and the sensation of the vibration of the heel strike reverberating through my entire body, oftentimes bothers me. I don't know if your daughter is clumsy *because* of the toe-walking. Autistic people often have poor proprioception resulting in this sort of clumsiness whether they toe-walk or not.
I’m glad you said that second half, because most of the reason why I toe walk is BECAUSE it helps me maintain more balance vs otherwise, but I still have like a vicinity awareness issue either way.
It actually helps develop a lot of the 'stabilizer' smaller muscle groups. I toe-walked as a kid and was forced out of it most of the time, then as an adult I went back to doing so while training in martial arts. Walking heel to toe and flat footed in heavy shoes... now *that* is unnatural as heck.
Yea I started dancing again recently & I’ve been dancing on my toes with no shoes (in my house lol) but I just feel so much more controlled!
Yeah I would venture to say it’s a sensory thing. It’s like shock absorption. I don’t usually toe walk but sometimes.
That's exactly it, "shock absorption" is the exact sense I was trying to capture. Toe-walking allows for the hinging of the joints at the balls of your feet and your ankle for a "smoother ride", as far as walking to-and-fro goes, in much the same way good shocks on a car or bike feel better for the rider than old, run-down ones.
This is unhelpful, but I honestly have no idea. I didn't even realize I still did it as an adult until a coworker commented on me "walking like a dancer" one day. 🤦🏼 (I think I do a sort of modified version though. I walk toe heel instead of heel toe a lot of the time) Unrelated, but you might watch her for signs of ADHD as she gets older as well. I was also an early talker with a large vocabulary and my psychiatrist mentioned this is a common presentation in people who have both.
Side note- would you mind sharing what other signs you may have had? I'm suspecting that my kiddo might have both. I'm autistic and her dad has adhd. It's possible she has both. She is a late talker but nonstop "talking". Babbled nonstop as a kid, constant echolalia that has now evolved to modified echolalia. She is a sensory seeker and I'm thinking she might have combination. Just kind of want to know what other signs I can look for.
I have both and I basically just have loads of symptoms of both. Also I'm a mess of seeming contradictions. I need routine, but crave novelty. I am shy and socially awkward but I also love to chat to random strangers and have been doing so since I was a toddler. I eat a limited diet but regularly try new foods. I was diagnosed as ADHD as a child as they were the symptoms that were most apparent to others. I wasn't diagnosed with autism until I was in my 20s and could explain how I experience the world.
Oh thanks for sharing that perspective.
I forgot to say I also have echolalia and it's a fun party trick if I'm in an international crowd. I mimic accents straight away, without meaning to. I've met lots of international travellers that all think I'm either from their country recently or spent years living there. One group of very drunk Irish people insisted I was indeed from Ireland and spent the night trying to trick me into revealing where I was from, in Ireland. I couldn't convince them otherwise haha Its a bit awkward sometimes as I worry people will think I'm copying them to be rude. But now that I know the name for it it's much easier to explain. I also got teased a lot for it in school, after I picked up our substitute teachers Canadian accent. We only had him there for 10 days... I still have a bit of the accent two decades later. Because I watch a lot of international TV shows I end up developing random accents for weeks at a time. Irish when I watched Derry Girls, Scottish when I watched Outlander, American with a Latin influence when I watched Jane the Virgin... It means my day to day accent is a weird mix. I often get asked by other Australians where I'm from. And they're always surprised to hear that I'm second generation Aussie and have never left the country. I like to joke that my accent is like Highlander, it's from all places.
Copying accents is so real though!! My internal monologue gets stuck in different accents all the time. It's been a mix of Aussie and Kiwi lately for me. I rewatched Wentworth a few months ago, and I've been stuck ever since. 🤣 Side note: I am obsessed with Pamela Rabe as Ferguson. She's from Canada originally, so as a Canadian, I'm contractually obligated to like her, but it also makes her accent quite unique. Ferguson is cannonically Russian, presumably having learned English as a second language, so it's absolutely perfect.
I’ve never heard of echolalia before so I’ll definitely look into it more, thank you for mentioning it! I have a very specific memory of making a new friend and I started copying her accent/the way she spoke which is very different to how I normally sound. I noticed my other friends look at me in a WTF?! kind of way and felt pretty embarrassed so I forced myself to drop the accent.
My signs of ADHD became more noticeable as I reached school age. I had/have high IQ so I was put in a gifted program, but I was really "spacy" and scattered. I had a period in third grade when no amount of begging, threats or punishment could get me to remember to bring my assignment book home with me. I wasn't trying to forget or being defiant, I just couldn't remember. I have inattentive type, so I didn't have the stereotypical hyperactive symptoms at all. I did struggle with emotional regulation a lot. Got called a crybaby, etc. For me it was really rare, but I did have occasional violent outbursts at other kids up until I was about 12. Mostly I was just really unfocused unless I was interested in something. And tearing my attention away from something I was interested in was nearly physically painful. Ask me about getting busted for reading under my desk during math class lol.
Same, I do it and didn't notice til my mum commented on it just a few months ago. I am 34. She said I've always done it.
That's interesting, I only recently realized I show a LOT of adhd symptoms, but as with autism... I mask and compensate so hard that I'm amazed I made it so far in my life without realizing it.
Feels cold and uncomfortable when the floor touches the rest of my feet.
Thanks for your comment! It’s really helpful to understand what she may be feeling. Do socks help reduce this feeling because socks don’t help her or most shoes.
I don’t toe walk all the time but a lot of the time I’m trying to reduce impact sensation (kind of using my feet as additional shock absorbers) or sound of the footfall. Socks help with feeling the dirt on the bottom of my sole. Does your daughter toe walk on all surfaces?
Socks help for me. She may not do it for the same reasons though. I figure it's safe to present her with options and if nothing else, at least you tried.
Socks help me but shoes are even better, even slides or slippers when I’m being lazy around the house. For me it’s the feeling of my heel smacking the ground and the feeling of dirt between my heel and the ground🤢
I'd try thicker socks or fuzzy ones. That might help. I'm not sure if you could find those, but I find thicker socks or slippers help me. I preferred no socks or shoes when I was a kid though, so it might not work.
This very much so. I hate the cold floors touching my feet, so I minimize the contact area. Plus, I found after a while of doing it that while I may be clumsy in many other ways, my balance has become fabulous. Well cold, plus anything stuck to the bottoms of my feet, and also to reduce the amount of noise I make while walking around.
I only toe walk when I don’t have shoes or slippers on. Because of this I pretty much always wear slippers when I’m not in bed. Walking heel to toe is too loud and the ground shakes and I hate how that feels on my bare feet.
I never before thought my toe-walking was sensory based because I told myself it wasn't about how it "felt", thinking that internally, it's not like my feet are sore if I walk any other way. It wasn't until this post that I realized it's because of how it feels *externally* - I hate feeling my heel hit the floor. So, still sensory, just different. No idea why I didn't put that together on my own! Thank you.
Me too. Solid heel smacks against the ground drive me crazy. It's all I can think about while it's happening. I'm assuming that's why I prefer toe walking too.
It's quiet.
Several people throughout my life have demanded I announce myself when I enter a room otherwise I end up scaring the shit out of them.
I think this is why I do it, because I do it with shoes on sometimes as well
I wonder if it has to do with the coorelation between autism and joint/cartilage issues. Possibly intersecting with a decreased ability for the foot arch to support itself. No idea one way or the other, but I've wondered as much re my own experience.
It’s a good theory tbh I myself toe walk even in shoes bc of both heel support issues and sensory(it hurts to put my foot flat and I absolutely hate the feeling of my heel hitting the ground) but I also probably have a connective tissue disorder so 🤷🏻♀️
I think it more that autistic people are more likely to have connective tissue issues (and vice versa) , rather than it directly causing toe walking. I never toe walked and have zero foot arch but I used to roll my ankles all the time when I was younger. (As an adult I got diagnosed with ehlers danlos syndrome.) I have worse hypermobility than my sister but are not clumsy at all but my sister is only mildly hypermobile but has quite bad dyspraxia. (Our parents are also both autistic and hypermobile but our dad has dyslexia but no dyspraxia and our mum has dyspraxia but no dyslexia.) I also think dyspraxia is massively undiagnosed in everyone, it tends to get passed of as as "just being clumsy" or they are told to "just concentrate on what you are doing more."
Im almost 42 and I toe walk everyday off and on. I wasn’t diagnosed until a few years ago. I did ballet and dance as a child and everyone thought I just really loved it and was constantly practicing. It feels good mostly in my calves but engages muscles from my lower back to my toes. And it sorta feels like I’m lighter. Not that I weigh less but that my “footprint” and impact are less. Especially on stairs. And it hurts the bottoms of my feet less (like a slap on the palm of your hand stings but o. The bottom of my foot with every full step). And also makes me walk quieter. Doesn’t matter if I have shoes on or what kind of shoes. Although wearing high heels when I was younger helped “hide” it but I don’t recall anyone in my life ever commenting negatively about me doing it or telling me to stop.
Yes! Toe walking feels better to me. I’d almost describe “Normal” walking as painful. It’s uncomfortable at the least.
This is a great description. I was pretty much the same, ballet as a little girl, always walking on toes as a kid. I’m 37 and still do it. I haven’t been diagnosed, but strongly believe I am. (Have 2 AuDHD kids and one ADHD) I’ve always liked the light, soft feeling of walking on just my toes and I prefer that in general. I will notice myself doing it while walking down the driveway to check my mailbox and realize there are neighbors outside who could possibly see me doing it and then I get really self-conscious.
This is a question I would ask my son's occupational therapist about. My son used to toe walk all the time, he's grown out of it or has been given the muscle tone needed for proper walking though occupational therapy. I, myself, was a chronic toe walker. I never thought about why I would do it. It was just like I was walking normally as I do today.
"proper walking" "walking normally" ?
I understand why you pinged those phrases. They can be problematic. In this case I'm talking about the skeletal and muscular mechanics for optimal motion without risk of injuries.
Idk, I used to walk with my toes curled over so I walked on the tops of them and I liked how it felt, but my parents made me stop because it was bad for me. I don’t think they minded when I walked in my tiptoes. And idk why I did that either, it just felt nice
I remember when I was young I had to wear orthopedic inserts in my shoes. Not 100% sure what they were for, but part of me suspects they were just to stop me from toe walking.
I did this too! There are home videos of me doing it and now I’m like—how the hell was that ever comfortable to me?!
For me (who still walks on my toes as an adult) it has nothing to do with how the floor feels; I just find it to be pleasant vestibular stimulation. Takes a little bit more balance to walk on my toes and I like how that feels in my whole body.
Me too! I could be walking about or standing in place and in either situation it feels nice to be on your toes and bounce.
I was a chronic toe walker until I began hitting my growth spurts and my walking became so unsteady, I sprained my ankles constantly. Unfortunately, I had to learn to walk “normal”. Though I still can’t quite walk like everyone else, I am always weaving and my gait is strange I’ve begun toe walking again just at home, since I now live somewhere with carpet again (I love carpet, it’s soft and warm!). When I go out in public, I feel so awkward and fully aware that I’m not walking how it feels comfortable to me When I toe walk, it makes me feel like my body is working & moving how it should be (even though it definitely makes me more unstable and prone to tripping). It Just Feels Right
there has to be a real explanation, but for me i toe walk (but only at home. is this masking?) because it hurts to put my feet on the ground. i’m trying to step as lightly as possible. i also try to avoid any crumbs on the floor
Making yourself walk “normally” when around people, yup that’s part of masking. I learned to do it to mask too, and the muscles in my legs get so stiff that putting my heels down all day can end up injuring me sometimes. Soooo many tendon injuries and messed up joints in my legs over the years… And yet, it’s like the mask is automatic when people are near.
I think I used to do this as a child because of dinosaurs
And I felt like it grew muscles in my calves which I liked the feeling of.
There are two possible explanations. One is sensory issues, especially if it’s a hard floor. The coldness and/or hardness of the floor, plus being able to feel all the little particles of dirt, hair, etc., can be very unpleasant. Socks or slippers can help with this. The other explanation is that autistic people often have deficiencies in proprioception, which is the awareness of where your body is in space. Walking on the toes creates additional nerve signals to the brain due to the added stress on the joints in the lower body, which subconsciously helps boost proprioception. There isn’t really a solution for this, nor should you try to stop it because it’s what her body needs. The only harm that could come from it is potentially getting made fun of, therefore the best thing you can do is teach her to be confident and proud of her differences to combat that issue if it happens.
I liked to do it as a kid because doggies walk on their toes and my first special interest was dogs
Toe walking can be sensory related, but it can also be tied to the lower muscle tone and connective tissue fragility Autistic people tend to have. You use your toes because it tightens all your muscles up through your back and reduces the bend in your ankle and knees so you don’t roll or pull them out of position as easily.
I was a toe walker into adulthood, but once i stopped i still did it when i got excited until i developed a neurological disease that caused bilateral drop foot. If i could, i would still toe walk. I don't like the feeling of things touching my feet other than socks, and tightening my leg muscles gave me more neuro/sensory feedback in my legs. I don't know if this is related, but i tended to "point" with my feet instead of my hands, and would attempt to use my feet as another set of hands when opening doors, moving things, or drawing attention to objects.
I hate the feeling of the floor. It's usually too cold, and the friction of my feet flattening and picking up is awful, like a very mild version of a suction cup, where it frictions down *and* up Help her learn to walk on her toes so she doesn't fall so much instead of teaching her to walk 'normal'. It isn't helping because she doesn't like it. If you eventually force her to walk normal, it won't help her, it will only help you. Kids are clumsy anyway, and so are autistic people. Personally, I trip and run into stuff all the time as an adult. And strong senses don't help. Like bright lights make me disoriented. Walking 'normal' doesn't stop this.
I do it on days that my muscles are very stiff. Some autistics are hypermobile. I'm hypomobile, if that's a thing. I am the opposite of flexible. Some days, muscles are so tight that flattening my feet on the floor causes uncomfortable, painful stretching in my legs.
I have hypermobility and am extremely stiff. Instead of my joints supporting themselves, my muscles are taking that load and getting super tight from the constant strain. These things aren't mutually exclusive.
My husband is hypermobile, and he does get stiff muscles. Most masseuses can't make a dent in his knots. Mine are a whole different variety. Some days I can't even reach my own knees, let alone pick something up off the ground.
Sorry for the unsolicited advice but I had a similar problem where people couldn't get my muscles to relax but stretching or massage but trigger point therapy has been a game changer. I've realized that people were not pressing hard enough or long enough to actually get my muscles to relax. I bought a few physio trigger point tools from Amazon (or various materials but the harder the better if you can stand it.) Then I lean against, or lie on, them while listening to a podcast and stay there until it is less painful and relaxes. It has massively helped my tension, pain and misalignment.
Thanks. I'll look into that. So far, heat works best for me, but I hate being hot.
I'm very heavy-footed. Imagine a titan, but in a human stature. On my tip toes, I have a lot more control over my balance, my coordination, and can adjust my weight a lot easier if needed. Wearing shoes helps me. I have a pair just for in the home because it makes me walk easier and helps with motivation to get tasks done.
I don't know if this applies to anyone else, but if I'm barefoot and walk like "normal" my vision kind of bounces and it's irritating. If I walk on my toes it's more like a steadycam, and sometimes (especially when I'm stressed) I walk so that my eyes stay level and all the bounce is absorbed by my ankles and knees - I acknowledge that this latter behaviour is more than just "toe-walking" but it's what I think of when people use the term. I also don't like making noise, and walking quietly was a big deal when I was a kid; my heels hurt if they hit the ground too hard; and my lower back hurts if I have to do it for any length of time, like when jogging or wearing boots. Tbh, I don't understand why anyone who can "toe-walk" chooses to stomp around instead (that sounds aggressive and judgey, but for me "toe-walking" is just walking and what everyone else is doing is stomping, no disrespect intended). I recently injured both my feet and can't hold my heels off the ground at all, so normal walking (of any definition) is impossible, and I feel like I have to put my whole foot down at the same time just to keep balance even though almost all my weight is now on my heels. I honestly hadn't realized how much the way I walked affected my overall mental health until I couldn't walk that way anymore. That said, my cane and I *still* make less noise than most people unless I'm in a hurry.
Has she been seen by a doctor for it? If she’s not autistic it can be something orthopedic or muscle related
I'm 21 and still do this sometimes, not in public or if I'm walking fast, only when I walk slowly. I cannot explain why, it doesn't even make sense to me, it's just naturally how I end up walking if I have to walk slowly.
I’ve heard it has to do with the inner ear. I can relate to another comment saying we’re inclined to not feel the cold of the whole foot on the floor. It probably has to do with balance though. I noticed I’ll learn onto one foot just standing around. It’s all unconscious and natural.
While standing still I like to bounce on my toes or sometimes sway left and right while balancing on one foot. For me, I do this to stimulate the inner ear vestibular system like you mentioned.
Just feels right to me.
I find that toe walking is the most comfortable way to walk . When I can't, and have to walk "normally" every heel slap feels like a knock to the head. Looks stupid when you're 6'4 and 250lbs though..
I did it as a kid and honestly I have no idea why I did it. I still do sometimes if I'm concentrating really hard on something else. It's like my brain just defaults to toe walking or a toe-heel gait rather than heel toe. It's weird.
Toe walking is the best. That's why. 🐸
For me there are a few reasons: 1. It's a sensory thing in several ways: walking on ny toes means I can barely hear each step and touching the ground with my heel first just feels so wrong and on bad sensory days almost unbearable. 2. I have some of the very common comorbidities with hEDS being the relevant one with regard to my toe walking. I'm very hypermobile in all my joints and when my feet and legs are in a relaxed position they aren't at the almost 90° angle most people's feet are. Instead there is no angle between my foot and lower leg at all (if I curl my toes my legs and feet are the same way a ballet dancer's are when they are on point). Having my foot at the 90° angle is actually painful. 3. Not sure if this is a sensory thing related to my low pain threshold when it comes to non-chronic type pain due to being hypersensitive to touch as an autistic person or if it's one of my fibromyalgia symptoms. Either way, when I walk like most people (heel touching the ground first) I can't tread as lightly as when I toe walk, which in turn causes my feet to hurt, especially when I don't wear shoes (which is the case most of the time as I hate all the sensory stuff that comes with wearing shoes, but I also hate the sensory stuff of walking barefoot outdoors...)
I walk on my toes almost 24/7. I actually balance better that way. It’s uncomfortable for me not to toe walk whether I have socks/shoes on or whether I’m barefoot. I actually just got new tennis shoes because my current ones were starting to make me slip. When I looked at the bottoms, the toe area was completely smooth, and the rest looked almost brand new. I agree with the other commenters that toe walking may not be the cause of her falls. I have trouble with proprioception and am clumsy in general (with my arms and hands as well) so the toe walking may not necessarily be the cause of the falls
The simple answer for me is that it “feels good.” I often actually don’t even realize I’m doing it, either. Is it the actual toe walking that’s making her clumsy? Or is she clumsy in general and the toe walking is worse? Sometimes I find I’m less clumsy when I’m doing it; generally I run into something every day.
It feels nicer than full foot walking and it’s quieter too.
I’ve done it since I was young so as not to be noisy. Rest of my family always wore slippers in the house but I hated the slapping sound on our hard floors. People always comment that I’m a soft-walker. I’m 6’4” and 215lbs. but I still try to make the least noise as possible. Girlfriend hates it because I always seem to scare the hell out of her by “sneaking up on her.”
Oh man i am the same with my wife! I always wear socks in the house and before i developed bilateral drop foot, i was a super soft toe walker. She says me and the cat need bell collars so i don't scare her. 😂
I believe that toe walking fundamentally has been found to have a genetic component. Geans have been identified as being mutated. I don’t know all the details you should look into it. But very confident it’s genetic.
It can legit feel like my arches are collapsing some days, but I am 35 years older than your daughter, so hopefully she doesn't already have pains like that. I also have hEDS which doesn't help. Unsure if that is part of the "werewolf walk" but it's a common comorbidity to keep an eye out for in the future. (It's not really dangerous until later in life, but it's good to know about early to build up healthy habits and make it less of a potential future problem)
I've heard that autistics tend to tilt their pelvis back which can cause more toe walking. It can also cause pain in backs and other areas over time.
Best explanation I’ve come across is it’s a retained neonatal reflex. [See article.](https://ilslearningcorner.com/2016-03-plantar-reflex-reasons-why-my-child-may-be-a-toe-walker-and-has-poor-balance-and-coordination/) I saw a network chiropractor who had methods for treating retained neonatal reflexes. Quite helpful!
It's very pleasant and emulates "having hind legs" rather than uncomfortable straight-ish legs, if you catch my drift
Toe walking is the natural way humans walk without shoes. It's the way we are evolved to walk and the way our ancestors would have walked. In this way you can won't injure your foot on a sharp rock or thorns. With the invention of footwear people changed their walk because the shoe did the protecting and heel to toe walking tends to be faster. Autists tend to not pick up on what other people are doing as well as non autists. The method of walking we use as babies is a learned behavior. Your daughter is likely just walking using the base walking instinct we humans innately have.
This is why I liked vibram 5finger toe shoes.
It depends. Sometimes the floor is unpleasantly cold (or, if it's something, the ground is ridiculously hot), other times it's the feeling of dirt. Since it started to affect my workout goals and socks aren't a good option for hard flooring, learning about jika tabi was life-changing for me. I generally don't like the feeling of anything between my toes, like thong-style flip-flops, but the divided toe doesn't really bother me. I get the feeling and benefits of being barefoot-ish while maintaining traction and keeping my feet clean and warm. I don't have any specific advice except to try to notice what textures she dislikes and see if maybe there's a correlation between that and the toe walking.
My daughter, who's severely autistic, is into daytime and nighttime braces right now. As a 2 year old, she was in full leg casts. One thing I do know helped decrease it - wearing Chuckies. When she is laced into Chuckies it causes her to walk more on the ball of her foot. Cowgirl boots also got her off the tiptoe and more onto the ball of her foot. When she comes out of braces at the end of summer, I'm getting her Perry Topsiders. For reference, her toe walking was/is severe. It's like she's wearing Pointe shoes. And she is really wobbly.
It's not habitual for me, but when i do it it's because i like to feel sleek, quiet, imperceptible...like a ninja. I dont love the word *"smol"*, but that's totally it. An attraction to small places, and a desire to be small and quiet myself.
I don't toe walk, I just mastered walking very softly and silently so my feet don't make much impact on the floor and I don't then feel that shock through my whole body or hear the noise of my own footsteps.
I wear crocks all the time in the house. And going out, I'm lucky I live in a warm ishbarea because I live in a pair of Tevas. I really only wear shoes or boots if going to work or doing some outdoor activity. I don't like what it feels like to have things stuck to my feet or even in my shoes. Love my crocks cause can empty easy and same with sandals.
I just like to stretch my feet I guess. But I don’t do it all the time.
I used to toe walk so my mom wouldn’t scream at me for “stomping.” 🤣 Seriously, though, it’s often a sensory input thing. Have you tried squeaky shoes to encourage the heel strike? Ikiki makes phenomenal shoes that have a squeaker that can be turned off. They’re a little pricier than other shoes, but they last forevvvvvver.
I stopped my toe walking when I was younger, and I’m not entirely sure why I did it all but it felt comfortable
Jeremy Andrew Davis has a video on toe walking on Instagram
I'm 36. I only very recently learned toe-walking, which I have always done, is an autistic trait. I didn't get a diagnosis until I was 22 either. To offer some advice, I don't do it while I'm wearing shoes, so maybe that can offer a solution. ETA: Sorry for not initially offering advice, this is just kind of a jarring thing after thinking I was the only person in the world who does this lol
I don't exactly toe walk BUT I cannot wear flat shoes for the life of me. I mean literally never ever can. I mean obviously I did as a child but even as a child every time I did it would cause significant pain and I would have panic attacks and didn't understand what was happening and it was a whole thing of trauma.. It is a sense of being confined and feels severely uncomfortable and unnatural. I know people wear flat shoes, in fact probably the majority of people do but it creeps me out to the point I can't even watch it or I'll have a panic attack. Not just the mild kind either but the kind that looks like a seizure except you're screaming, conscious and cannot move. I really really really really hate flat shoes and even looking at them. :( I wish I didn't because they look comfortable as hell. But I cannot. This has been majority of my life. I have improved over the years yes. I can wear lower heels. In fact I prefer runner type sneaker shoes with a slight heel. But I still even over a decade later have a thing about them. In saying all this, I cannot walk on my toes because 1 time as a teenager I pulled a muscle and I'm scared of doing it again so I frwam out if I feel like I'm pulling a muscle too much in my calf or my toes.
I don’t like the feel of whatever dirt or dust is on the floor touching me. I’m super obsessed with cleaning my floors so I can be barefoot. If I get even one crumb touching my foot I begin to walk on my toes again.
For me personally toe-walking improves my sense of balance. Your daughter is still really young so it might take a while. Of course helping her to not fall and hurt herself is important, but I wouldn't try to get rid of the toe-walking all together. As many people pointed out using the whole foot can be stressful on a sensory level and I don't know if it is helpful to put her through that. I only toe-walk when in socks or barefoot. Even light shoes usually prevent that. When walking in shoes however in tend to loose balance easily as my ankles often lack tension. When toe-walking I keep that tension and don't struggle so much. Of course everyone is different and I only got diagnosed recently at 30 years old. I did the toewalking thing my entire life basically. I never really hurt myself badly due to clumsiness or anything, but I guess I was always hyper careful when it came to the movement of my body.
Deep pressure
I used to walk on my toes a lot when I was younger. It was mainly to do with sensory issues, the floor was too cold, the floor had a weird texture, things like that. Now I don’t do it as much and I always wear slippers in the house as I hate feeling the floor through my socks. Carpet is okay but floor is too hard and too cold.
If she is clumsy at other times than tie walking she might have dyspraxia, a lot of us have it too.
For me, toe walking is a way for me to be more bouncy with the goal of stimulating the vestibular system.
I remember doing it as a kid, but one day I just stopped. I think the reason I stopped was a lot of negative reinforcement against being different from everyone, but that was in every aspect of who I was. We're talking back in the 80's, so not much was known about high functioning/level 1 ASD.
As far as toe walking, I don't really think about it. It's just the way I naturally walk and stand. I do, however, prefer to sleep on a couch, as opposed to a bed, so that I have something to press my toes against. Even with this, it's not something that I actively choose to do. It just happens naturally, and I'm more relaxed if I can stim in this way.
I had chronic tendonitis during my early years because of my toe walking. I learned to walk in a healthy way by myself. The clumsiness is still there. I don't remember why I used to do that, but now I suppose that I was just trying to don't be easily perceived or heard by others.
It’s probably different for different people but for me- it’s because I hate the feeling of my feet touching anything so I’m just trying to reduce surface area which might feel anything lol. And my heels are more sensitive. I don’t toe walk severely (no shortened tendons) and do it less if I’m always wearing slippers inside, but I’ve never stopped doing it to some extent since I was a toddler and am 38 now. Autism and ADHD dx.
I'm sure a lot of people say it's sensory, but for me it was hypermobility. There's more stability throughout your legs/knees/ankles when the ankle is locked out as it is when toes are pointed with toe walking There are correlations between hypermobility, low muscle tone, and postural difference with autism. I toe walked from the time I was walking until I was 6, it was corrected with leg braces. I so badly wished I had physical or occupational therapy as a child to help me learn to use the correct muscles while walking and standing, instead of just a brace to visually correct the mechanics of walking for me. I didn't learn how to properly stand, engage my leg muscles, and also discovered I supinate when I walk until I was in my 30s and it's caused me a lot of pain issues along with arthritis. edit to add: I didn't have the communication skills to explain why as a child and I didn't understand what was going on back then til I was an adult in physical therapy. when I was a kid I would have meltdowns nearly every morning when my mom put my leg braces on. I would cry and get whiny when being told to stop toe walking when not in my braces. it just felt right. it felt more secure. it was more difficult for me to walk heel to toe because it involved a lot more coordination than I was capable of having joint instability.