Sensitive to others Moods/Emotions?

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Oh, I imitate people's ways of speech, too. It's sort of embarassing. If I note someone's speech pattern I enjoy internally, I start imitating it and it's difficult to stop....I hope they don't notice. :S

He says he feels like his interaction with people is a jumble of a bunch of other people's personalities. I have always felt the exact same way. I'm going to look into those three echo things some more.

It is really worth looking into. It can bring a lot of peace and self-acceptance to understand these particular issues - particularly for those who have an ASD but whose presentation is inconsistent and unfathomable to others, because of these variations in being, behaving and operating. We are not all neat, tidy, consistent packages who make tidy, logical sense to others. Heaven help me if I should EVER be that.

It is quite distinct from simply being "adaptable' as most social creatures are. It is more complex, more profound and more rooted in a kind of autistic reality that has at its core a way of "truly living in the space between words."
Words, social utterances and the like are the chameleon adaptations and mimed and learned responses that may be part of the AS presentation for some of us, but that can never really lead us to the pure being of the autism - of who I really am.

Most of the interactions I have with others are a series of cobbled together social mimicries.
And those who mind do not matter, and those who matter do not mind.

I get this, to an extent. I think that I am often able to pick up on the moods and emotions of others, at least when said others are experiencing strong negative emotions. The trouble is, I generally have no clue how I'm supposed to respond in these situations, which probably makes it seem like I just don't notice, or I just don't care. I do vibe off these negative emotions, though, and it definitely negatively effects my mood and functioning. The worst is when I'm forced to interact with someone who's angry at me, doesn't like me, and/ or has a low opinion of me. I'll feel that dislike and hostility like a toxic vapor, and it will cloud up my brain, rendering it nearly impossible to function effectively. Lately, at work I've been filling in for a teacher who's on leave. It's a preschool setting, and I'm working with two teaching assistants. They don't like me, and it really annoys them to work with me. It's really hard to get through the day with them, especially when they hassle me for my every little mistake, and make me feel like a useless idiot on a regular basis. Fortunately, schools are closed next week where I live, so I get a break from that. Sometimes, I honestly wonder if I'd be better off if I was just completely oblivious to the moods and emotions of others.

Last edited by OuterBoroughGirl on 14 Feb 2010, 11:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I'm not really sensitive to other peoples emotions. I try to be somewhat caring but im not 100& on board and the best think I try to do is give them advice. The emotions that you are feeling isn't in alot of aspies i don't think im not sure but I think we tend to not be emotional and disconnect from others.

From what I have read, it seems to be that some ASD people are very emotional and some are not.
My HFA nephew is HIGHLY emotional a a kind of creative type of kid.
I am 47 and I am similar.
I heard Tony Attwood last year talking about some ASD people picking up on EVERY SINGLE LITTLE emotional nuance and shift in others in a way that is actually really painful. I fall into this category. It is not empathy. It is very confusing and very overwhelming,
My own personal emotional range is extreme and also rudimentary with scant mid-range emotions.

Other ASD people seem to have a kind of anhedonia or a far less evident emotional range> some say they have no feeling and some say they have little feeling or little awareness of their feelings and are far more logical and systematic.

From what I have read I get the impression there seems to be two extremes...too much feeling, or too little.

This is something that I struggle with; I have had people tell me that I was upset, or overwhelmed, long before I figured it out myself. I tend to really struggle, with identifying what I am feeling at the same time that I am feeling it.

I had to quit my last job because of the oppressive and negative attitude of those I worked with that rubbed on to me, along with other reasons.

I can be affected very easily.

Same here.

I am good at showing empathy, but get upset when others don't show it.

I find that other peoples emotion sort of run off me the way water runs off a duck back. I am very aware of my own emotions but I find it hard to read others emotions unless they are having an obvious emotional reaction with accompanying facial expressions. But most people have emotions in private so I cant see it. I have built up theories in my mind of what people "might" be feeling and i try to go with that, but I have no proof unless they tell me....

I think there are a whole range of ways an aspie can be wired with this. I know some aspies can be overwhelmed by others emotions.

perhaps it is that these aspies lack the theory of mind wiring but have the chemical set up that allows a person to pick up on emotional cues, but then as the aspie brain is often in overload they will experience this way too much....

I rarely understand my own emotions. I'm not sure if I understand other peoples emotions, but I know that if someone is being really negative, it really depresses me.

When my mum can't find something, and she starts swearing her head off, I feel like taking the bus to my apartment, and I start to feel shaky, inside. That's the reason that I did move out, in the end, because her swearing had such a bad effect on my emotions and my nerves, though she never sworn at me, directly.

I absorb other peoples emotions like a sponge. I call myself an emotional chameleon but none of the colour changes are voluntary.

I even do that on the phone. My mum has even noticed that she can tell whom I am talking too by listening to my voice and mood.

I don't understand how you guys can say you have Asperger's if you're that sensitive to people's moods. Isn't inability to read others' emotions a hallmark of AS??? This leads me to the suggestion that there are more overdiagnosed NT's here than you think.