If you understand expressions can you still have Aspergers?

Post Reply New Topic

I've never thought of myself as having problems identifying expressions and what people are feeling, but can relate to most of the other things associated with Aspergers. If anything, one of my problems is that I pick up on what someone is feeling so intently it can be overwhelming. I think I can pick up social cues ok, unless I'm preoccupied with myself and feeling especially self-conscious. I wondered then whether the problems understanding expressions are supposed to apply to all with Aspergers, or just most?

You can still have AS, just not as serverly as some. I find it easy to pickup vibes and feelings accuratly, and from a test that was posted on here a while back, most of people did very well at undertanding expressions in people's eyes.

In order to be diagnosed as an Aspie, you must fit at least five of the diagnostic criteria.


It doesn't matter which five.

Out of interest what are the criteria as i used to know years ago when i was diagnosed.

When I am looking, which is not often I don’t believe I have much of a problem. In early grades I use to be fascinated with facial expressions and stared at people when they were talking at others, to there annoyance. I was interested in lips and other face gestures for some time.

Some people are less obvious with facial expressions and tones of voice, I told my g/f yesterday I have to learn to interpret just when you mean something else other then what you say.

Such as do you want to walk to the park? Then she will just say yes, but there are tones of voice differentiations. Such as an excited yes or otherwise, not all are obvious it seems.

For me strangers and some people that I know I have a hard time grasping people's facial expressions. Some time when I look at people all I get is a hollow person without expresions. Sometimes when I'm in a group of people I have to pick out a person that I know a lot and be at her or his side. I hate being alone in a group.

This is also an issue for me....I'm going in for testing tomorrow and let you know wht the DR says about this...he is supposed to be a specialist with adult AS.

I have been told I have "flat effect" in tone and facial expression but won several awards in reading interpretation and was the lead in 2 school plays!whats up with that?....I also "think" I can read peoples expressions and often see them as being "fake" but on the other hand, I have often been "used" by people and had no idea that I was being exploited....so ,which is it....I dont understand myself.I thought that since I read so much(am 42), that I have picked up how to read expressions by having them described so often in words and the the writer tells you what the person is really thinking(something I can never know in my own life)I also majored in psyc in college and learned about some non-verbal mannerisms that way....somewhat helpful

I also feel empathy overload sometimes...but only when around people who are experiencing "neg" emotions....sadness,frustration,confussion....I am lousy with "happy,cheering,giggling,erotic"often they annoy me and feel fake....

It's not quite that simple.

Regardless of whether you are using the DSM-IV, Gillberg or Szatmari definitions, all of them break the disorder into separate sections that reflect the basic impairments (problems with social interaction, dependence on sameness and routine, repetetive stereotypical motions), and require the subject to show a number of clinically significant effects in each section.

When acting (on stage, at least), you have to exaggerate your actions and emotions in order for people in the back row to get the message. Ditto for reading out loud. Lots of aspies have no problem with exaggerated emotions. Melodrama is easy.

Where we tend to have problems is with subtle expressions of emotion. My tone and face stay flatter than normal up to a point, after which my mood seems to "switch on" and I appear to be much more emotional than the situation requires. Internally I feel a range of emotions, but externally people only ever see me under-reacting or over-reacting.

Many social problems can be solved just through experience... and to a lesser extent intellegence. Knowing what to look for is half the battle in terms of reading people and facial expressions and such. NTs seem to pick up on all of this intuitively, a person with AS can learn these things... but it has to be learned and experienced like a skill... and while learning there is much room for failure.

The problem is, many times in social situations you don't get much of a chance for failure. And so some problems are perpetuating, when some crucial life moment you don't know what specifically to do... or what is expected of you.

It took me a while to have a fully realised picture of myself as distinctly different than others. But when I did, I started looking at what every person does in a completely new light.... I really didn't get a full sense of what I think some people call theory of mind untill after high school. But in the years after I have been able to learn more about social things. It just takes time, and in completely new situations I can forget about doing what other people expect.

But even though I know there are subtle things going on in social conversation... and can pick up on some of it. Putting it to a practical use is near impossible, and conversing in a way that is expected of me is really hard when the conversation is fast moving.

I am 37 years of age I have alot of hard earned experiance that allows me to guess petty accuratly what an expression means. This is a learned talent not inate. i studied books on body language and then I spent alot of time watching people and trying to connect thier expressions with thier words and actions. The food court at most malls is a good location to do this you can get a 10 minute view into the relationships of those around you and if you are not obvious about it you can usually overhear most of the conversations at nearby tables.
This is not perfect I miss alot of clues until to late( later that night i realize I was being hit on or dismissed) when I have a chance to replay the conversation and match up everything.
However this is me you may be great at reading expressions that does not mean that you are not an Aspie and just sucking at reading expressions does not mean that you are an Aspie.
You need to read the diagnostic criteria and decied if this applies to you if not.

I sort of felt the same way at one time. When I was seeing a therapist about five years ago, and she told me to look into an aspie group for support, and she told me about asperger's, I thought it was a lot of crock after reading up on it. It didn't dawn on me till say four years later after watching a fact-based show on television regarding people with AS. Then, I was wondering ... wow, they are much like me. My parents have been told when I was younger that I had slight autistic tendencies, but not much was made of it. Why did I think it was a lot of crock? Because I felt that I read facial expressions and understood others' emotions, and I felt the opposite of what some of the aspie readings suggested, primarily that I had decent eye contact.

It wasn't until later, when I started reading up on it, that things started to make more sense. I misread social cues inaccurately at times, though I was able to perceive social cues. I was never socially involved and never really able to make friends. I simply was the type of person who at school would sit on the steps and read a book during recess. If someone came over to me, I really had no idea what to make of it. I understood he wanted friendship, but I was more interested in other things than playing on swingsets for forty minutes. I am the type of person who would enjoy going to an amusement park, but I am not the type of person who will scream during an exciting ride. I remember going to a few rock concerts, where everyone was jumping and being all active, and I would stand on the balcony and watch the action. I enjoyed it, but my affect is more flat in many situations. I can have a variety of expressions, but they don't necessarily coordinate properly with the others. I mean, though, if I was in a one-to-one situation, and someone started laughing, my reaction would be to laugh back. Crowds are too overwhelming, and I just don't like them. I hung out more with adults most of the time when I was younger, and I liked to have adult discussions about serious issues, though I had a sense of humor, but it was a bit witty and dark. I hated the sorts of things my peers talked about, like sports and whatever.

- Ray M -

Aeturnus, can you give me some examples of the sorts of social cues you later realised you sometimes messed up? I flip between being painfully shy and confident. If someone has taken an interest in me, my confidence soars, so I've always put this internal world down to the usual things, not some disorder. On the other hand, there are specific things which I've read are associated with AS, such as being obsessed with the shape of words and of paragraphs, rather than the content of what's being said. It takes a conscious effort to snap out of this way of perceiving. I don't know if that can be a symptom of anything else outside the autism spectrum. Do non-autistic people ever have little quirks like that?

I can read expressions, pick up non-verbal cues, and am hypersensitive to non-verbal leakage; my bull$hit meter is -finely- tuned. Acting upon what they are really thinking, I am right a majority of the time but do it inappropriately in social settings. This really spooks my mother (a habitual liar).

In terms of social cues I later realized but sometimes messed up? I'm not even sure, to be honest, since I'm going by what some therapist said in a report I had received from school. It dates way back to the late 1980s, when I was about eleven years old. I had to get these reports to get into a supported employment program. I read much of them, and the file was huge. But the reason given was really nonexistent. It just said "I don't read social cues properly." No real explanation other than that. I really don't know much about what I thought during my childhood, because things were beyond chaotic. Some of it is a blur, though others are very vivid. I was in and out of therapists, in and out of apartment complexes with my parents, all sorts of chaotic things. I still think I am bipolar to some degree, though it has never been mentioned or diagnosed.

I imagine that it has to do with the way I related to people. Like, I didn't know how far to take a joke. Like, I had sort of a teasing personality, sometimes still do. I try to do so within proper rounds. I like people to be happy, and I guess it's due to the fact that I have had a lot of inner turmoil growing up. So, I would get into a situation and act a bit funny, but I never knew how to exactly do so without making myself look strange. I learned later on, but it still can be seen by some to be out of place. I also have been said to misread others' vocal tonations as personal slights against my character. That, I tend to do. I do not like being yelled at, and I can take a demanding tone very personally. I have been known to jump back impulsively. I never really knew just how to act in many situations. Like, I can always be quiet. But what else should I do to relate? My inclination is to act a bit witty and not so serious. Some enjoy it, though they may see it as a bit odd. I have found that out. A lot of people sort of like to be around me. In a relationship, however, the personal nature of two-way communication throws me for a loop. I do not know how to easily answer questions like: "How did you do at work?" Like, I say happy, but people want more than that. I don't know what else to say. Like, I can give details. But other things are on my mind, like my interests. I just don't want to talk about stuff like that.

Obsessed with word shapes and paragraphs? Do you mean written? That's so much like me, really. I get attracted to words that have to do with my primary interests. I can't really explain why. There's things about me that have got to be neurologically based, because I have no explanation for why. Like why does my interests rise and fall with such emotional intensity? I can't really answer that, because it comes from deep within me. I get hooked, and I get really hooked. I get an adrenaline rush or something.

- Ray M -

I am the same way, one time in class I saw this girl who looked like she was cowering in a corner while sitting up in her desk (if that makes any sense whatsoever) and it just scared the crap out of me because I can only think of a few ways of that kindof behavior and none of them are all that good (though I was probably wrong.) I think it just comes from studying people so much when we are alone (which I frequently was) you are eventually going to be able to pick up on NT habits better then they can, makes playing poker very easy! especcially if you dont show this yourself!