Do people ever look at you like you are crazy?

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Space
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25 Apr 2007, 1:16 am

I have been getting this a lot lately. I am in some situation dealing with, or talking to someone who I don't know (or know very well, maybe I see them around but we don't talk) and they give me the strangest looks like I am some kind of lunatic/head case, and that they are better than me because they are normal? This happened the other day with a clerk at a bookstore, where I was simply buying a book, and the whole time he was giving me looks like I'm a freak or something. Then the other day at the gym, I asked a guy what time the grappling classes were at, and he gave me this gaze like I'm a f*****g nut job. I dress pretty normally, I have money, I am a contributing member of society, I don't think I look like I have AS (most of the time, anyways), but some people just react negatively to me on contact. It's like they can sense something is not quite right with me, so they proceed cautiously when interacting with me. Anyone else experience this type of thing?



SamuraiSaxen
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25 Apr 2007, 1:27 am

Sometimes. But it doesn't matter.



RedMage
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25 Apr 2007, 1:28 am

That happens all the time to me. When I walk to nanna's house, people stare at me like I'm a freak.



calandale
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25 Apr 2007, 1:37 am

Yeah. But I probably am. The way I dress sometimes
gets me really odd (but often appreciative) looks. The
things that I do - like holding my office hours outside,
in the rain (at least until and unless someone shows up)
pacing about, the way that I watch birds, the list just
goes on.



dontwanttoknow
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25 Apr 2007, 1:56 am

How would we know? We can't read facial expressions, right????



nb411
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25 Apr 2007, 3:57 am

Yes it does happen from time to time, but I hesitate to put it down to AS. People do this to eachother all the time. Do not take it too personally, you might live a bit longer :P

A quick example:
As I am into cars, I was browsing a car forum the other day and they had a thread about "Comments you have had from strangers about your car". In one of the comments a guy was telling a story about how while waiting at the lights a guy pulled up alongside and asked him if his car was a 2.4litre. The car is actually a 3.0 litre so the owner of the car just said he stared at this guy like he was crazy and did not respond. Later it turns out that the random guy was just confused by the sticker on the side if the car which says 24valve.

What irked me about this is that the owner (guy posting story) could not find it in himself to say "what do you mean?" or "No, it's a 3.0" instead of just making the other guy feel like a freak or lesser than himself. :roll:



TrishC7
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25 Apr 2007, 4:13 am

It happens to me a fair amount. I don't know if it's partly just the feeling that a person's 'different,' but I know it's also probably partly because I have such crazy hair, and often don't bother to do anything about it!



FunnyFairytale
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25 Apr 2007, 10:37 am

ummmm,not really.



Wolfpup
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25 Apr 2007, 1:32 pm

For those of you this happens to, I wonder what on Earth is causing it?

To be honest, I'm not sure with myself. I don't think people do with me, but then I never look directly at people unless I have to, so I don't see how they might be looking at me (I either look somewhere else as I'm walking, or kind of focus my eyes out so I'm not really SEEING them).

I think normally when I interact with someone at a store or whatever they usually don't seem to act like I'm weird, though maybe occasionally.



Spot17
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25 Apr 2007, 3:58 pm

I get that feeling all the time but honestly, I think it has more to do with my own paranoia than with anyone actually looking at me weirdly.



ZanneMarie
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25 Apr 2007, 4:24 pm

Yes. I look at them the same way sometimes.



Esperanza
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25 Apr 2007, 4:28 pm

Yes. The one big AS trait that I don't have is an inability to read facial expressions. I don't look at people's faces as much as a neurotypical person does, but when I do, I have no difficulty reading the expressions on their faces. Very often, their expression says something along the lines of, "You are a complete moron," or "You're insane, aren't you?"



manalitwist
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25 Apr 2007, 4:35 pm

Pretty frequent, especially when i am being interviewed or there are questions and responses to cover. I put it down to inapropriate body language responses on my part, such as looking to briefly or too intensely or perhaps the timber of my voice may be a bit over formal. Usualy happens more when im strained and perhaps when i am unreadable to an NT. I can tell by the persons very subtle delays and pauses in speech and strange second glances.


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Ragtime
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25 Apr 2007, 4:48 pm

What do you mean, "ever"? That's just about all I get from people who don't know me. Whereas, people who do know me are just the opposite: very comfortable with me. But ya, the weird looks thing is just a daily fact of life with me. I'd be much more outgoing if they didn't act so freaked out and/or condescending. I mean, when you think about it, other people always reacting to someone that way make AS a social disability -- I mean, just those reactions from other people, not including all the AS internal traits we have.


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Ragtime
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25 Apr 2007, 4:55 pm

manalitwist wrote:
Pretty frequent, especially when i am being interviewed or there are questions and responses to cover. I put it down to inapropriate body language responses on my part, such as looking to briefly or too intensely or perhaps the timber of my voice may be a bit over formal. Usualy happens more when im strained and perhaps when i am unreadable to an NT. I can tell by the persons very subtle delays and pauses in speech and strange second glances.


It was always a mystery how I could 1. not be socially normal in my body language, and yet 2. be fully aware of everyone's reactions to it. It didn't seem possible, until I read about AS. I mean, it's really hard to imagine being, in a sense, "aware" of what you can't control, and still be unable to change it, when it's something so "simple" as facial expressions and slight body language differences. But, I know it's true, because that's exactly what I have, and have always had. :?


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Ragtime
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25 Apr 2007, 4:56 pm

ZanneMarie wrote:
Yes. I look at them the same way sometimes.


Haha! Hey, why not? :lol:


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