Another proof that I've outgrown my diagnosis.

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I actually do pretty well on the mind-in-the-eyes test, about as well as an NT male (apparently NT males are somewhat less perceptive than women).

For me, and probably for many autistics, reading faces is not a matter of ability so much as a matter of cognitive load. Reading faces is something I can do fairly well if I totally ignore what the person is saying. But if I pay attention to speech, forget it--I can't even make eye contact without being extremely distracted.

So I solve the problem by looking away and concentrating on the words and on the music-like meaning in rhythm, tempo, and pitch. I get more information that way.

OP, may I suggest that you are not, in fact, NT? It is quite possible to "lose" a diagnosis, of course. Plenty of us do it, and you might be one of them either now or in the future. But when you lose a diagnosis, it doesn't mean you're not neurologically autistic anymore--you don't have an NT brain; you have a non-impaired autistic brain. That is, you've learned the skills that are deficient in most autistics, and have gotten to the point that you no longer need more effort or more help than NTs do. You can't be diagnosed without impairment, so you lose the diagnosis. But you don't become neurotypical. A better name for it would probably be "lost diagnosis; neurologically/culturally autistic".

And just to highlight how it shows that most of the time I am guessing...

The first time I took this test on the other site I got 26 right. Today I have only managed 22!

This is because I cannot actually read some expressions except for happy, sad, fearful, disgusted and apparently flirtatious (I notice I always read that one right despite not being able to tell if a man finds me attractive lol). Everything else is either guess work or has been logically worked out by closely analysing the picture coupled with stuff that I have read in body language books.

That is another good point, it's actually quite difficult to focus on what someone is saying whilst making eye contact and I am not diagnosed with ASD (although I am wondering if I have been misdiagnosed due to never having been tested for AS). Whilst I do get some social anxiety I am not 100% convinced that is the entire cause of my problems).

32. I guess I'm magically cured of Aspergers too! Wow. That was easy.

Or maybe I've just invested an extraordinary amount of time and energy into studying people and reading eyes so I have the skill.

There's a bonus point for those who can guess what MY eyes mean in my avatar! LOL

It's a BS test. We're all good at taking standardized tests becasue we learned to in school. I got a 27, but
my first guess on about 7 was not among the listed answers and another 5 I had to really think about. In the
real world it's all real time on the spot interpretation. If you have to think about it for very long or if your first
instinct is way off you've missed the cue. To me it all looks different on each person and I can't read new people
well to save my own life. There are a few exceptions and I'm better at it if I'm watching people from across a
room, but I get more information from the sound of a friends voice than I do from their face mostly.

In the real world no one gives us multiple choice.

If someone showed me these eyes and didn't give a list of options, I'd just be ??? about most of them.

Tips? Most of my correct answers were just a guess. Eyes tend to look blank to me. It's the rest of the face and the body language I read.

@wefunction:

"You should back off now before I call forth my army of robot weevils" ?

I find it interesting that I scored a 26, the average score. But I dont pay enough attention to what the eyes convey. Like I make eye contact with people but Im not really thinking a whole lot what a persons eyes are saying. If I were to pay attention Id probably pick it up. I read heavily thru tone of voice and body gestures.

I don't think out growing Aspergers is possible. I can force myself to converse with strangers, I was forced to make eye contact by drill sargeants, I have gotten into people's faces making eye contact durring violent melt downs, and I also make witty comebacks in coversations. As you get older you evolve new ways to deal with your Aspergers finding work arounds and ways to hide it. Some are able to do it better than others. I have been going to the same supermakert for 41 years and I still get nervous and sweaty when going in that place when it is busy. I certainly have not out grown it.

I read the eyebrows in relation to the eyes and how the eyes are placed. If they're looking away, they could be worried, thoughtful, fantasizing or something that people usually don't stare at people for. If they eyebrows are raised, it could be anticipation or surprise. Squinting eyes could mean suspicion or disbelief... possibly just confusion, depending on the situation. In real life, you substitute the multiple choice with what the person is saying and their tone of voice. Sometimes that's misleading (people don't always say what they mean) but you will get better at deciphering it over time.

Thanks.

1) The point is to compare AS people as against non-AS people, so it doesn't matter that the test is easier than a real life situation, if you perform as well as an NT on the test, you are likely to be closer to NT performance in real life. It isn't being used to predict the number of times you would be right in real life, it's how you compare to NTs.If you are not impaired in this skill, you could still be impaired for another reason (like not being able to look at real eyes in the first place) but that isn't what the test is about. It's like saying there is no point to a maths test because it doesn't say anything about your english skills.


2) In real life you usually have some context with which to interpret the eyes...like the rest of the person's face, body language, the content of what they are saying and the body language/facial expression of someone in the room.

I know that I have improved a hell lot and I can easily pass off as a NT.

Repeated that is why deleted.

Last edited by daspie on 14 Apr 2011, 8:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.