Facial expressions

Post Reply New Topic

So, my husband OFTEN says I must be thinking _______ because THAT is what my face looks like. I am thinking (then) WTH is he talking about? Because no such thinking was going on! Nothing I say dissuades him...and THAT makes me get mad.

Does anyone else have issues with facial expressions/matching your mood or whatever?

Yup.

I think I look cranky a lot, but I'm usually just lost in thought.

Yes. And I think it's not because the facial expressions or feeling aren't there as much as that they are there, but because I'm not consciously thinking about them (which is typical of AS), I'm not aware of them at all.

It used to make me mad when others said they could tell what I was feeling, because to me it wasn't so, but now that I've been living with it and learning more about AS, I think the real reason is because they really are there, buried, and I also don't think much about my own expressions, or know they are there for others to see, and don't pay much attention to other people's expressions.

On the other hand, I also think sometimes NT's sometimes put a little too much stock in expressions. It does still annoy me when people ask me why I'm in a bad mood when I tell them I'm not, and I know I'm not. I don't believe even for NT's reading facial and body language is really all that precise. A lot of it is guess work, and sometimes dead wrong.

I think the real difference between Aspies and NT where non-verbal communication is concerned, is that we just don't bother with it so much, and they do. Whether or not it's accurate, I'm beginning to strongly suspect is beside the point.

Sometimes the reason a person crosses there arms behind their head, and leans back away from you isn't because they are disinterested, but simply because they're tired, so they're stretching.

i know my frown looks like a smile- my lips curve up. awkward when you're talking to someone about racism, war and death tolls. i'll get it right someday.

Yep, I'm like this too. People always say to me "don't lie, I can tell what you're thinking."

Believe me, they are way off. I'm always in my own fantasy world so if things be going bad there it will show up on my face. But even critical thinking makes me look super pissed off.

Yeah... I misread people's faces all the time. I think "oh they must be thinking X". When I ask them, they usually tell me that it wasn't that and they were feeling Y or Z instead. I think I get concerned because I DO care, but I can't always tell when someone is feeling a certain way.

As for people reading my expressions, they are often wrong, too. I've been told I'm in a bad mood, stressed, or upset many times when I was not feeling that way at all. I've also "faked" emotions before and nobody even noticed. It can be a bit frustrating. I wish people could read me better and not just assume things.

I have a problem with facial expressions. I know with autism a lot of people have a flat affect but I have the opposite problem. I always smile. No matter what. Sometimes even while crying I have this annoying smile on my face. When I am suicidal I am laughing and smiling. It is incredibly rare for me to show the proper facial expression. Basically I have an incongruent affect.

My parents always ask me what`s wrong because I always have that thinking or upset look on my face but that`s never really the case I just don`t realize it!

I've had this not just with expressions but with the sound of my voice as well. I got told I frowned a lot as a kid, and I always thought, "I'm not frowning, my face is just relaxed!" I didn't like the idea that I had to be making expressions all the time or else people wouldn't like me. I also have been told that I overreact and underreact, in both cases "all the time."

And vocally, if I raise my voice so that people can hear me when they ask me to repeat myself, they tend to assume I'm angry. I got told off for "having an attitude" all the time as a kid. Although I also got that when I wasn't raising my voice at all. Of course, being punished for nothing then would make me angry and take on an attitude, so I would just keep getting in trouble.

Just this weekend my Dad said I looked 'bored' most of the time

I usually have a dower look on my face. People always seem to think I'm sad when I'm not. One older lady once told me that I didn't seem happy to see her. I was happy to see her. It's just that I don't waste my energy on expressions unless it's neccesary for me to do so.

I'm not sure if this counts, but I often look happy when I'm not. Especially with my eyes, I make try make my face look as sad as possible, but I always look happy with my eyes, even if the rest of my face sad.

Lately I have been trying to exaggerate my facial expressions in certain situations. Unless I intentionally make an effort to do that, it's extremely easy for people to misread me. I'm not sure how well it's working though.

When I'm focused people swear up and down that I'm raging. I'm never even angry though, just thinking.

I used to have a problem not smiling though when I was younger, no matter what was going on around me. One of my priorities growing up was breaking myself of that...

Yup, my facial expressions tend to be blank most of the time.

It's why I get so nervous when I open birthday and Christmas presents, because I know my facial expression won't show happy/grateful/whatever, even if I AM.