Animated Aspies

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My driving instructor is one of them. He acts animated, but he's an introverted aspie. The main reason I know he's an aspie is because he's hinted at it. I think it's easy for him to act animated because his job is probably his special interest. He gets to talk about his special interest all day. Do you know any animated aspies? Are you one yourself?

Do you mean like someone who makes hand gestures while talking or explaining something? I'm like that. If I'm talking to someone and if I warm to the subject (especially if I'm discussing a special interest or anything else I feel passionately about) I will be fairly animated and use gestures.

However, when I'm feeling uncomfortable in a social setting and I don't know anyone, or the person I'm talking to isn't someone I feel comfortable with, I can be the opposite, very reserved and withdrawn.

It all depends on my comfort level around the particular person I'm with.

I can get pretty "animated" at times. Some times, people get embarrassed that I'm talking too loud in a place like a store.

I'm very quiet and reserved in uncomfortable situations, tend to try and hide myself, all that sort of thing. However, in the right situations I tend to become very talkative and dramatic. People that have known me for years comment on my... theatrics.

I'm reminded of a time when my mother, an arachnophobe, was freaking out about a spider in her room. So I came rushing in with a very loud toy assault (unloaded but very loud indeed) and began firing in the spider's direction. Then I started yelling that it was too powerful, threw my gun down and lept out her room, yelling for backup while crashing into the floor and doing a dramatic death with lots of screaming and comments about the might of the spider.

Your avatar is pretty animated!

What I mean by animated is the opposite of a monotone voice and showing a lot of enthusiasm.

When I saw the title of this thread, i thought, "Dr. Scratchensniff!" (from Animaniacs)

I used to be animated when talking. Now I only use hand gestures or tonal punctuation to emphasise key words and waste very little energy when talking, but again it all depends on who Im talking to and in what social setting I am in. However I tend not to highten or lower my own standing I treat most people equal and with a certain amount of respect.

I was thinking Dexter (in "Dexter's Lab").

I'm undiagnosed, so grain of salt time, but one of the reasons I have been told (by family) that I'm not is that I AM very expressive. The hands move, the face moves, the voice inflects, the pitch changes, and the intonation fluxuates. Also, all the eye contact happens

However, it was my daughter who pointed out that this happens mostly when I'm out among people I don't know well, or when I am in 'charge' somewhere, like (OP said) when teaching in my 'special interest'. I become very animated. But at home, I become very autonomous. Very little fluctuation in volume/pitch/tone/etc. Minimal facial expression, unless negative (bad smell, angry, upset, etc).

So it could be a special interest kind of thing.

What do you teach?

My (AS) boyfriend can be animated, but like Brittniejoy is more likely to be animated when he's in a situation where he's outside his comfort zone - with people he doesn't know well, or in a situation where he isn't free to just be himself, etc. At home, when it's just me and him, he's not often animated, unless the topic is a special interest of his, and even then he's not particularly animated.

My theory is that the animated behaviors are coping mechanisms that he learned to "fit in" through all the years that he didn't know why he was different, since he wasn't diagnosed as a child or a teen. So, he read books from the school library about body language and communication and learned how to play the NT game. He can play it so well people see him as animated and even charismatic...but it is a game he plays, not his natural inclination. When there's no strangers around and no one he has to "perform" for, he's not nearly as likely to be animated.

I remember at times in middle school I was ridiculously animated. Almost like a caricature.
I've since learned to inhibit it.

I can attest:

Stress on "more likely", as sometimes I simply don't respond to anything.

I'm a babywearing educator. So all of those miscellaneous carriers that people use to transport their babies instead of a stroller or a infant/bucket car seat? I know how to use, teach others to use, and troubleshoot how to use BETTER. I personally prefer to use wraps (long rectangular pieces of woven fabric) in various configurations with my son, although have used buckle carriers as well (especially now as he doesn't like to go 'up' as often). I can talk about them for HOURS. Between the different fabric fibers, blends, weights, patterns, and manufacturers, to the difference carries, applications, techniques, and benefits, to the fluctuating market of used carriers.

^Short answer.

I like that way of carrying babies, too.

I like it when you can see the baby's face.

I believe, after a baby is able to sit, that a stroller would be better, since the baby wants to crawl around, and be active.

Are there any ways to adjust to that?

I have been told that I am way too expressive in the face, especially when I'm excited or interested in something. I had a college professor that always called on me during class because he could just tell by the look on my face that I had something to say. He used to say, I can tell you have something to say about that, and he was right. It was a really interesting class.

I can be loud, animated, and very expressive when I am happy or excited, and I will talk too fast. It is usually to a greater extent than the typical adult would be. I'm more like a kid in that way.

I've also been told I have no facial expression, and look mean or angry, if I am just feeling neutral or bored. I have to go out of my way to slightly smile when in public because people think I'm pissed off otherwise. I have no emotion in my voice if I'm nervous or bored either. "Flat affect" was mentioned by one psychologist.