Have you ever tried to adopt a new persona?

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First of all hi everyone, Im new to this forum.

Ive read people with AS can adopt new accents and personas easily Im interested to know if anyone has actually tried this.

In 2010 I became very outgoing and liveD a great life in Italy, my personality changed and I got into acting which made me dynamic. I trained as a bricklayer but no one would take me on, but it still made into a physical outgoing person. This period ended in 2012 and as I dont work now I am poor and this affects me.
My dream is to emigrate to Australia and Im probably never going to do it as Im unskilled at 30 with no friends. A desperate measure Ive considered developing an Australian persona or some "life history" from over there. I know so much about the country I could get away with it and if I cant go there I could bring "there" to me using this method.

Im sure Ive read of an AS person who did this with American culture.

I am self labled - I tried to get diagnosis in 2005ish but was laughed off. I have been patronised by professionals many times who cant admit the System is flawed so I dont deal with them. I was once put in an asperger social group with people with learning difficulties (Im a graduate). Please dont ask if I have "talked about it" with anyone, I have - It doesnt work.

Welcome to WP!

I find it rather hard to adopt any new ways. I've been trying hard to change my mannerism etc to fit in with others, but I've pretty much given up. If I could adopt a new persona easily, then I would be more successful socially. I also can't mimic a foreign accent. Some of the people around me mimic different kinds of accents (such as British, Indian etc). I don't know how they do that.

So, I think I'm actually quite the opposite of what you said about people with AS. But I can't speak for other people.

And I forgot to mention.

Not all is that great in Australia. Of course some things are wonderful. So, don't feel too sad about it if you don't make it here.

I adopted a persona in high school - ditzy, social, devil may care . . . I was able to keep it up for 2 years; after which I suffered a complete collapse from which I am still recovering.
Nowadays I'm trying to figure out who I actually am, but this is proving more difficult than I expected.

I find it very difficult and wrong to be anything other than myself (unless I'm acting or using my imagination for fun), and I'm still trying to figure out what my "persona" really is. That's not really an unusual problem, I personally think the Zodiac was created to help people identify themselves, so for a while I was obsessed with the "Aquarian" personality, being that it's the sign I was born under and has many of the traits I already have - unconventional, enjoys solitude but can be social and outgoing, artistic, even being stubborn and holding my breath until people see things my way. In the Chinese Zodiac I'm in the year of the Tiger, and I read that people admire me for my bravery. Hmmm... maybe it's more accurate if you're actually Chinese? As a kid I was the artist or cartoonist, many people didn't see me as being more than that especially as a teen when it seemed to be all I cared about. More recently I've tried harder to be "Canadian", although I really cannot understand other people treating hockey or curling like they're some kind of religion and it's probably still okay for me since I'm female but I've about heard about some guys nearly getting killed because they mentioned they didn't like hockey (probably while other men were watching a game and had a few drinks). My brother's not into sports either but no one seems to think of him as being less of a man, as far as I know. As for accents and dialects in Nova Scotia we're all supposed to call everyone "cousin" even if we aren't really related, and instead of "Hi, how are you?" the greeting is supposed to "How she goin', bye? What's goin' on?" It's such a stereotype and yet this is how people identify themselves. I don't have much of an accent at all. I find some delightful and fun to hear and imitate (including the Cape Breton/ Nova Scotian one) while others literally give me pain in my chest or stomach, I don't know why but they do, maybe because they're very bouncy and make me feel like I'm on a trampoline and can't stop bouncing on it, but most of the time I just speak normally around other people.

I've actually literally tried to give myself DID. Yeah... you can probably guess how well that worked out. orz

As for the accents, it's all a matter of practice. I can do a really fake generic British accent (not sure where the generic British accent comes from, come to think of it, as there are soooo many different kinds of accents coming out of the UK), as well as a Brooklyn accent... hm. I wonder how passable my Brooklyn accent is...?

A-Anyway, I digress. The whole "adopting a new persona" thing is a bit drastic in any case, and I doubt it's very sustainable. I'd suggest taking action to make your (you, not any false identity you conjure up for yourself) own life better. It's difficult, I understand, but doable. At least, that's what everyone keeps on telling me...

In a way, I think that NOT being good at such things is the definition of an Aspie. I’m thinking of “mirror neurons”
and “group think” and the notion that the ability to absorb someone else’s personality or beliefs is normal / desirable.

On one hand, it’s required. If you don’t do it, at least to some extent, you’ll get fired or kicked out of wherever you
want to be. On the other hand, I think it’s very unhealthy for an Aspie. So you have to find a balance.

I fooled myself for two-three years to the level that I'm not probably too traumatized to ever try it again.

Yes I was more popular, I had a boyfriend, I ran for school secretary, I dressed unlike me, I took classes I didn't like but everyone was taking, etc.

They were the WORST years of my life. I was secretly insanely depressed. I just felt so fake. I stopped and never went back to it. I take care not to just like things because others do. For a while it meant not knowing if something was good or bad (I'd brainwashed myself that bad). I slowly came back to myself but also lost a lot of the social skills. But now I know what I like. I can hold my own opinion, be happy, and be myself.

I hate any mentioning of this period in my life. I pretend it didn't exist. I suck at getting over stuff. I've never gotten over angry. I still hold a grudge about that one time that my parent through a toy away, and other similar things. But people still mention it, and bother me, and go all "But now you're worse." Now I didn't come out of the cookie cutter. You obviously don't see the scars it left before.

Of course not everyone is like me but be warned. Try it out on strangers for a few weeks. You might think you're doing fine but sit down, take a deep breath. Are there any problems or nagging doubts? than don't do it. They'll grow like weeds and you can't kill them.

hi and welcome

When I was in school I would try very hard to imitate the popular girls. There was one girl who spoke with a unique accent and I would imitate her accent. Later in life I moved somewhere with a different accent and I tried to imitate that accent to "fit in." I finally realized I was making a fool of myself so I stopped and just spoke like I naturally do.

A few times I tried joining different religions so I could feel I belonged somewhere. One time I genuinely believed and another time I was faking it. That was a bad feeling.

I can't really change my personality but yes, especially when I was a kid, I would fake accents or try to imitate the way of dress of the popular girls.

No.

Tried being god once. People didn't believe me (funny that).

Thanks to everyone who replied to my post.

Yes on second thought building a new identity is a bit extreme. I should say though Im not trying to be someone I dont want to be for appearances sake. While I did genuinely become more outgoing and gung ho I cant keep this up without cash and a regular job (as opposed to temping which never has led me anywhere.)

Completely agree with you Jk1, Australia isnt that much better than the UK, although it is better. Maybe migrants tend to more focused when they get into the country and see more opportunities. I did have some rough times in Sydney but this can be put down to the restrictions on backpacker workers and the strong dollar. The country par se lives up to its reputation.

Australia for me became associated with and a part of a new dynamic lifestyle in 2010 after I recovered from an illness, this is why the drive to get there is that strong. Having said that putting on an Australian persona wouldnt work because it doesnt tie with my work history and with no family from over there it would look odd.

I've tried going at it from the outside in--looking different to see if I'm treated different. It mostly didn't work, except at a "Christian" fast-food place where they picked on me constantly for non-conformance to their ideal. And I didn't look that extreme then--just trying to grow out my bangs when bangs were in.

I never have, it just seems fundamentally dishonest to me, to not be who you are.
I will however, keep my mouth shut when I have a rude thought and sometimes when I have a conflicting opinion because I don't like to argue. I will say all the nice to meet you fine thanks stuff just because it makes life flow more smoothly.
However I won't pretend to be a social butterfly when I'm not. I don't think I could pull it off and I don't think anyone would be fooled.
I think people who do this for long periods of time run the risk of burnout.

I am doing well right now, my personality is working on a change. I am multi personality and when younger abrupt changes would get me institutionalized.
Prior to last year the personalities were non autistic. At least until stress happened, then i reverted. Not understanding why this always happened drove me crazy. Now I have accepted my condition and joined this site, hopefully to get a stable personality good for more than a year or two.

I cannot imagine trying to do this on purpose, just as two different people cannot understand each other well, I cannot form a relationship with some of my past personalities.
Consistancy makes life much more simple and easier to manage.