Is there an "Aspie face"?

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No, not really. I don't consider it blank and stupid. If I saw you coming towards me in the street I wouldn't stare critically. You would just be another stranger to me, with a handsome face, nothing to laugh at or glare at, just another ordinary-looking guy.

I wish NTs would believe in the saying ''you can't judge a book by it's cover''. I do. I go for more the body language and the actions than just the face. The face doesn't always necessarily give off every description about a person. It's the person inside that counts (I thought NTs would know better, being that apparently they have more empathy/sympathy, so I've heard). I've met an Aspie on holiday before, and he was full of expressions and everything, and it wasn't 'til the last day when his wife told us that he had AS - and we were all really surprised (and my family are NTs). He was a bit shy, but that didn't make us suspect anything because anyone can be shy. If you're not really doing anything to give away your AS (like stimming, etc), then I wouldn't think people would really know. I don't anyway. I have misjudged people by looking at their face before, and so now that has taught me a valuable lesson to never judge somebody by their face until you know the actual person.

Alot of aspies exaggerate their facial expressions without realising it. I do, and I realise that's the reason why I get stared at by people even though I'm not doing anything, etc. I think most people notice it subconsciously, (or consciously) and it leads to us being singled out from others. Another key role in this is posture, avoiding eye contact, staring etc. Most of these things are things aspies cannot control though, especially the facial expressions and eye contact.

[quote="tropicalcows"]He also used the term "scary," which is great to know. /quote]

I was even sued for "looking evil, scary, and like a villain" and i'm not the only one who draws on this kind of attention. I myself have no idea how others perceive me. In public i shut down completely and focus on my own thoughts. Perhaps this denial of attention is what makes me appear suspiciously.

My parents always said one could tell I was autistic in my childhood photographs because I had a fake smile and this "look" in my eyes.

I do the "Aspie stare" sometimes. I used to freak people out: if they turned suddenly and saw me standing behind them they'd go..."OH!...sorry, you just looked scary."
Well f**k you too.

I make average eye contact when speaking to people, and I actually prefer people to make eye contact when in a group because that means they are including me. When nobody looks at me I find it harder to get a word in edgeways when nobody's looking at me, but when people make eye contact as they talk, I find it easier to slot in a few words, then the relationship grows bigger. So, really, I like eye contact. It's a good thing really.
But I only avoid eye contact with strangers who I pass in the street because I don't want them to stare back at me (even though they stare at me even worse when I'm not looking at them). Also I keep thinking that there might be another Aspie/Social Phobe/anxious person/shy person, whatever, who might not like being looked at and I know how that feels, so that's why I don't look at anybody (see, who says Aspies lack empathy??????! !!)
And the most annoying question of all is ''how does she know people are staring at her if she's not looking at them''? That's easy. What people in the street don't know is I have a knack of catching them staring at me without even staring back at them. I either glance up and catch somebody already staring at me, or I can just feel it. My parents say that when I was about 2, I always knew when somebody was staring at me from behind. When somebody was, I would always turn round and look back at them, and everyone was like, ''how did she know somebody was staring at her from behind?'' I just sensed it, and that's still stayed with me to this day. So that's how I know people are staring at me when I'm not looking at them.

you are psychic. i am the opposite, i could be in a room full of people staring at me, and i wouldn't feel a thing unless it was brought to my attention.

I'd say so. I'd also say that a blank face doesn't look stupid.



I exaggerate mine too. I can be very expressive, and look funny when I'm shocked. I can also have the blank expression, and when I smile it can suddenly "drop" rather than fade away. I'm trying to overcome this, though.

Awesome! Thats the story of my life. I am 6'8", 250lb and I am pretty much always in Aspie face mode, so when I walk around I scare the poop out of some people; babies usually hate me, that is really funny sometimes. I wear sunglasses a lot so people can't see my eyes and won't know I'm not looking at theirs if I am talking to them, but that doesn't make me look less scary.
I don't mind that people think I look scary though, it buys me more personal space in public. I ride public transit a lot, and I couldn't handle a busy bus if people crowded me like the would anyone else. Another advantage to the Aspie face with my stature is that when I am walking around or whatever people actually move out of my way, which is nice, since I don't want to be around strangers anyways.

You mean like this:

http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2011/oct/26/mu-study-links-facial-features-to-autism/


Abstract:

http://www.molecularautism.com/content/2/1/15/abstract

Full paper (provisional)

http://www.molecularautism.com/content/pdf/2040-2392-2-15.pdf

Uninterested, mad, sad, stoned. These have all been attached to me when I myself was feeling quite different. The non-autistic have a way about needing to categorize things.

What a coincidence... I just posted my kindergarten photo on --> this thread <-- to ask another WP member if he sees the familiar Aspie look between his pic and mine. My Aspie son and Aspie grandson also expressed this same look when they were 4 yrs. old.

Rarely do I get feedback on how I look, but I do remember the word "scary" used by some people. That's funny considering I've also heard it said about me that I'm as harmless as a person could be. Other terms I've heard said about my appearence are: uninterested, mad, sad, stoned and timid.

I've seen enough Aspies of all ages in person (and online) to say that I believe there generally is an "Aspie face."

This is why I have such low self-esteem and hate myself and feel constantly self-conscious and Agoraphobic all the time - it's because I know I give off this stupid vibe and people stare at me for it, and I just can't stop them but I really really really loathe being stared at. Some towns I get stared at more than others. I don't get stared at at all at the airport. In rough towns I get stared at (you wouldn't think I would, but I do), and in cities I get stared at, but small ordinary sort of towns I don't get stared at. The weather affects it too. I don't get stared at at all when it's raining, when it's really hot, when it's foggy, or when it's humid and stormy. But I get stared at when it's windy, when it's really cold, when it's snowing, and when it's just cloudy/sunny. When there's ice on the ground I get stared at because everybody thinks it's hilarous to see a twat like me fall over, and in the wind people think it's hilarous to see my hair get blown about all over the place (even though everybody's does).

Yes, not sure about anywhere else, but British people are bloody critical and even heartless when it comes to someone slipping over on a bit of ice.

I often get told that I look moody or angry when I am usually simply pensive

this was all the excitement i could muster up on my 4th or 5th birthday. my sister in the background looks much less "blank" and neutral.

i have random expressions, like i often tend to have fleeting frowns when i am talking. or i walk around with a goofy grin. i don't realise it until people smile back.

My expression is almost always neutral. Funnily enough, my smiling face is actually more frightening than my neutral one.