Mirroring

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I've read some documentation about AS, and I found out about a coping skill called 'mirroring', in which Aspies imitate aspects of people who they find capable, for example his fashion sense, his workout regimen. I haven't been able to do this though, has anyone else?

Since I was around 5 or 6 years old and up until i was around 16. I actually used to practice being normal in front of the bathroom mirror. Just find some TV personalities or moview stars or anybody else and learn how to be like them. It works extremely well.

I sometimes do. I have this friend and I wish I had her style. I'm no where near as stylish as her though. I mirror a lot of actors/actresses too.

I learned how to fake listen to conversations. I learned it from a guy who always gave me generic responses to what I told him. The responses were very general and easy to use. I lived with the guy for a few months, so I learned them and use them just like him.

I have a hard time paying attention to conversations that aren't my interests. I can now at least act like I heard what the person said! I don't like having to do it, and I don't like having people repeat themselves, so I still try to pay attention.

... up until you choose to mirror Paul Reubens in his Pee Wee persona.


P.S. I have an unconscious habit of quickly mirroring people's accents (EDIT: and figures of speech and sometimes mannerisms), it is something that I've noticed some other NT people doing too. It can lead to some awkward moments if the person you are mirroring thinks you are mocking them.

Last edited by DwightF on 27 Dec 2008, 10:35 pm, edited 2 times in total.

when i was young, my very strange mother who these days i enjoy (obsessed with the weather forecast and current affairs and ASD's) would frequently exclaim i was a "chameleon." ....."Camilla the chameleon," she would say, followed by "i never know who you are...." All i knew was there was something vastly different about me from the majority of other kids and teens i came across. I desperately tried to fit in - and it was more than being "influenced" by others. I had a deep and unnerving sense that there was something fundamentally different about the way i operated and the way i viewed and interpreted the world. modelling myself on others became a kind of modus operandi that sadly, got me no closer to finding out what the hell was going on.

i also have an uncanny ability for mimicry. it can be scary. I can do it consciously. i can take off voices and mannerisms to a tee.

When i was younger, my main attempts to fit in were founded upon mirroring. it makes for a very adaptable but lonely life!

Mirroring is what everyone does to some degree or another. It's a coping mechanism for "NT" and "Aspie" alike. I do it all the time only I make darn sure the person I'm mimicking isn't around.

I haven't really done it intentionally, and I did it alot more when I was a bit younger..likesay up until my early 20's.

I do this quite often but am becoming more aware of it. I'll pick up things like facial tics, voice inflection and phrases.

my social communication therapist has suggested it.

I do it, but i got in troubles several times for mirroring things in wrong situations and i didn't understand why when the person did that it was good and when i did it it was bad. And still happens

I learned a lot from copying comedies and tv-shows during the 70''s and 80's. I taped them and watched them over and over again. After three intense years, I could come up with a punchline that suited alomst any situation. After that, I became more relaxed in social stuations, adding more of my own material.
Perhaps this is why I love british comedy from that period.....

Wow that so has a name! Thread how I live my life! Lol

I do this for writing. I'm not great at it mimicking, but I have a 3rd graders grasp of the rules of grammar. I am barely able to identify nouns and verbs, anything else is over my head. If I were asked (and I have been) what are the components of a sentence I have no idea. I don't think I would be able to write if I hadn't learned to mimic (not always well) samples of writing that I've seen over the years. I've been able to hide my writing problems for most of my life.

Mirroring is an excellent skill to learn.

It is by this appreciation that makes what is excellent in others, belong to us as well.

As an Aspie (and there are others im sure that feel this way) Kinesics are extremely difficult for me. The subtle variation of a persons movements, actions, or physical gestures makes for a difficult time in understanding what a person is communicating. Therefore forms of Echolalia and Echopraxia help "train" the autistic mind to deal with certain types of interaction.

For me, and Im sure some will find this funny, such mirroring of Situation Comedies (How I Met Your Mother, Cheers, Seinfeld, The Simpsons even) I found invaluable to my ability to learn to communicate with others.

For those who dont use it, I suggest learning. It can be helpful to you.

That kinda sounds like a stalker thing like the movie Single White Female with Jamie Lee Curtis. It was a good movie...

If someone copies someone else completely, they would lose a sense of self i would think and not know who they are.
It would be best to just be one's self. There are good people out there who like people for who they are and don't judge others so badly.

This mimicking i don't know... doesn't sound good for me. At all could be dangerous.

I used to play around with my mom when i was young and repeat things after her and she would hold in a laugh and pretend to me mad and tell me to stop then she'd laugh and i'd still be repeating mirroring her and then she'd get mad again then laugh until she got too mad about it since i wouldn't stop. I don't think this method is good for me.

As for clothes, when you get to be my age you wear whats comfy for you! Not that i'm ancient lol. I'm just past the point of caring what the Jones think. I never cared what others thought to begin with. Which is a good thing, as it helped me develop my own personality.