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Watching ppls mouth when they talk.

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Ribbons
Snowy Owl
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03 Apr 2007, 7:11 am

Esperanza wrote:
I watch people's mouths when they're talking unless I make a conscious effort to look at their eyes. I'm never sure how much eye contact to make though, and I think sometimes I stare too much and make people feel uncomfortable.

lol apparneley my ex used to think i was staring to intensley at ppl as a come on and so he often thought i was bein flirtacious when i wasent at all


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Sea Gull
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03 Apr 2007, 9:20 am

You're right -- I do do that.
I don't know if it's an Aspie trait, though, but judging by the other replies I suppose it's a common one.



vanrand
Emu Egg
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03 Apr 2007, 10:58 am

I was over fifty when I realized that that is what I was doing -- looking at the speaker's mouth instead of his/her eyes. I realized it after I had remarked that it is easy to tell who will be successful in movies and TV (actors); my observation was that as a rule you will never make it in show business if your mouth does not stretch from ear to ear and your back teeth do not show when you smile. (e.g. Julia Roberts). Asking around, I dicovered that most NT's are totally unaware of this (obvious to me) detail.

They are as blind to 'mouth watching' as I am to eye contact.

I suspect that other Aspies have noticed this too. Anybody agree?

After that, I have tried very hard to train myself to make eye contact, but I almost always fail because I forget to do it during the actual social transaction. Same with other body language. It is, and ever will be, opaque to me.