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woohooligan — You Might Be Autistic If...
Published: 2010-11-10 00:36:09 +0000 UTC; Views: 4106; Favourites: 63; Downloads: 0
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An actual conversation with my oldest daughter ~angelamyrose .
Though I did take some license... I didn't end that conversation with sarcasm, although she can make her nose disappear when she makes a deliberate facial expression.
I think she's got most of the big stuff down... some of the nuance seems lost on her though... (As I'm sure is often the case for myself as well.)
EDIT: Wow, I totally did not expect this one to be so popular! Thanks guys!
EDIT 2: For my friends on the autistic spectrum (yes, I'm using the term "friend" very loosely), you may also enjoy this tutorial I did on the subject of facial expressions. The information in the tutorial is from a book called Emotions Revealed by a cognitive science researcher named Paul Eckman who consults for the TV series Lie To Me.
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Comments: 83
Ain't this the truth!
Thanks for sharing it.
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Thanks, Mark! 
And for the favs!
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what's interesting for me is that conversations on the internet are easier for me...mainly cause i don't have to interpret nuances and gestures and stuff...stuff that makes conversations in real life difficult
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Yeah, a lot of us on the spectrum have that experience of finding it easier to talk to people online than in person. I would also recommend reading the book Emotions Revealed by Paul Eckman. It's really helped me to understand how other people are thinking / feeling during conversations and in fact I actually get a lot more out of watching TV and movies now after reading it. A lot of in-person conversations are still challenging, but I have a better handle on them now.
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my mother said when she get's the chance she'll get the book and my mother and I will read it together. Thanks for that advice ^^
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Yeah, it really did kinda go that way didn't it?
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knocked another one out the park there, Ike. I especially loved the Emoticon face at the end. Great, great work.
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Thanks Sean, that's a true complement!
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Wow a guide to facial expressions. That could prove to be very helpful for me. : ) I don`t see it as selling out, as it were but bettering myself whcih I`m all for. : D
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Thanks!
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People may have non-deliberate facial expressions (which I suspect they actually don't), but if something is not deliberate, that means they don't want me to know they are feeling that way anyway, right? Not that I actually notice facial expressions at all, I mean I either concentrate on what you are actually saying, or what you do with your face - and if I do the latter, the actual verbal content is lost, which I regard as a lot worse.
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Yes absolutely, if you have a choice between seeing the facial expression or understanding the content of a person's speech, understanding the speech is always the first priority...
Having said that, a large amount of communication between NTs is non-verbal communication in the form of body language, tone of voice and facial expressions. Some people have estimated this non-verbal communication to be as high as in the neighborhood of 80% of all human communication.
For most people, non-deliberate facial expressions occur all day long. People who have very flat expressions and must consciously think about making a facial expression like some of us on the autistic spectrum or people with leprosy are the exception rather than the rule.
Here's a longer explanation.
What's happening with non-deliberate facial expressions is not that NTs have any desire for you to read the facial expression (or not) -- they're simply blissfully unaware that other NTs are doing it. In fact, most of the time, NTs themselves are unaware that they are actually reading facial expressions, because that skill becomes automaticized early in life ( [link] ), much the same way we don't think about the sounds of individual letters while we're reading. The information exists and we're utilizing it, but the part of the brain that's performing that task is not a conscious part of the brain.
The end result is that NTs often take for granted that others have more information about what they're saying than is conveyed by their words alone. So although an NT doesn't consciously think "I want this person to know that I'm sad/angry/happy/etc", they still expect you to know that, because they've grown accustomed to other people knowing it without requiring that they say it.
Only occasionally do they actually think about wanting (or not wanting) others to know their emotional state. This is usually when they want to suppress a particular emotion, which is often difficult to do. They may be trying to stifle a laugh while their boss is trying to be serious. Or it may be something more important like they're trying to scam you out of money and so they're trying to hide the fact that they're eager with an expression of worry or anger that's more appropriate for the scam. For those who are able, having a better understanding of facial expressions can be quite useful as a tool for defending ourselves from con-artists.
Here's a tutorial on facial expressions I did several months ago that got a Daily Deviation. (My only DD so far.) [link] And of course if you're interested in learning more, you can read Paul Ekman's book on the subject. It may not help you much in face-to-face conversations if you find analyzing the face too distracting, however, reading the book changed the way I watch television and made it much more informative for me. With recorded video or DVR you can take all the time you want on a particular scene, so you may enjoy that as well.
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how could this not be popular...it has a girl...with a
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You mean bosses who needed to work on their people skills?
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Curiously my bother could do an absolutely perfect Jimmy Carter impression down to his exact smile, voice and everything, thanks to autism. It's really funny when he does his "scary" face, too.
Anyhoo, this comment is based only on the title. 
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My bro is awesome. No other way around that.
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awww, ur welcome! i found out recently that i might have aspergers....along with spd. imma gonna get screened soon (i'm 43)--if i do get diagnosed with aspergers i will be like YAAAAAAAAAAAY!
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Yeah that was my response.
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i always thought the world would be much funnier if we all actually "could" pull emoticon expressions
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I've tried... I just can't make my nose disappear the way Alex does.
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Any luck making your eyebrows disappear?
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In fact, yes! A Lady-Bic works quite nicely.
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I mean during a conversation... I'm sure a katana would work nice for making noses disappear...
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I figured... but "no" wouldn't have been funny.
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Not even a slight thinning?
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Actually as I get older, my eyebrows become more jungle-like...
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I saw a picture of my grandfather on my mother's side of the family when he was younger... he has jungle eyebrows now, but back then he had the same eyebrows I do now...
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Heh... must just be the curse of getting older.
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Or perhaps it's the curse of experience? Try putting a kid in a box for 40 years or so, see how his eyebrows look once you pull him out.
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bwahaha that is one talented young lady
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I've never had great social skills, but then... that's probably because I have autism. XD Still, it doesn't keep me from participating in class and working with others on projects. It's just sad that I can write my thoughts 10x better than I can say them. Some people are just the opposite... the ones that give killer speeches right out of their ass or can crack funny jokes nonstop - they always know just what to say in split seconds. It takes me 10 minutes to think of something good verbally... but if I'm writing... it comes natural and fast.
Ah well, we all have our own quirks. But seriously... i wouldn't buy your daughter any emoticon masks... she might start using them for real. XD
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LOL...
Thanks man. Yeah, I tend to do a better job written than verbal. But I have been able to improve my verbal skills in the last few years.
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