DOn't have problem reading people's expressions

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I don't have problems reading people's expressions and faces. I have great difficulty responding appropriately to them .I can tell when they are bored, happy, angry, etc. Mostly angry when I have contact with them.

No matter what, I don't smile, I glare, seldom make eye contact, and mumble tersely. SOmetimes the happier the person looks ,the more I glare. Weird.

SO I', not sure if I have Asperger's , since I understand apsie's can't differentiate among different facial expressions and responses. I can wholeheartedly tell the differences and nuances of eye expressions, mouth expressions and voice expressions. But I react almost exactly the same . I don't know how to react with warmth and friendliness or just common courtesy. I used to think it was because of severe social anxiety and depression and avoidant personality disorder. I can't really tell.

I'm very similar to yourself in that respect - I'm pretty good at recognising expressions and feelings, although I think its a conscious effort for me, not automatic as it should be. The difference is I've learned over the years how to deal with eye contact a bit better than you sound as though you do, and I can seemingly come off as reasonable "normal" to others in my responses in this area most of the time (although, again, with considerable effort).

My really big problem in this "mind blindness" area though is just basic empathy: I just don't have any..... No matter what anybody else feels, I just don't care about it..... This really makes me feel so dehumanised as to be untrue.....

I'm also pretty onto it with reading expressions.

I also have the problem with not knowing how to respond, though.

I don't have problems reading body and facial expressions. In fact, picking up on non-verbal cues is one of my biggest strengths. I Also have a hard time knowing how to respond to them. If I see somebody with a glare on their face, I'd avoid them like the plague, because I feel threatened my glareing faces. I also have a hard time figureing out if somebody is really happy, or if they're giving a condecending, contaminated smile. I can figure out every other emotion, but I can't fugure out the motive behind a person's smile, unless the person is laughing, than I know that person is truly happy.

I agree with everything you just said.

I can tell basic emotions, usually it's a toss-up for me, it's either positive or negative. Smiling, as CockneyRebel said, can mean a lot of things, and I often get that one wrong or just confused. My biggest problem, however, is sarcasm.

I also am never sure how to respond. Sometimes it's because I don't understand their expression, other times I just don't know what I'm expected to do.

Ditto. I scored 16/20 on the face test. I can tell when someone's angry, but sometimes have a hard time figuring out why they're angry. That can be a real problem when they're angry at me.
Some can. Face blindness is not an essential part of the diagnosis. The DSM-IV doesn't even mention it directly.

I thought that I could read people just fine, but one thing I know I do, is that I sometimes think that a person is angry, even though they say they are not.

When it comes to reading faces, i am terrible, i do not even try to do so because i always get it wrong, on a related note, i have always been told to "read between the lines" in 7th grade a teacher told me that, i said,"but there are no words betwwen the lines" i got detention for being a wise @ss

I can tell really major expressions, but I think since it is on a spectrum, everyone will be different.

Take TV, for instance - I can't tell if an actor's being wooden or not, I can see expressions, but it's got to be a majorly big one before I really take notice. (Sgt. Schultz on Hogan's Heroes w/eyes wide muttering "I know nothing, I see noth-ing!")

Sometimes I think a little criticism is something really huge, and sarcasm's hard unless, as I say, it's really pronounced.

Being of 20/800 vision, it's one thing that made me think it was just my vision & my hearing thaat caused me not to pick up on things. But, as I consider it, there are always little bits there that put me just on the spectrum, and would even if I had normal vision/hearing.

In fact, I sometimes wonder if I'd be *worse* with normal vision/hyearing. My family always tried to hard to emphasize the happys tuff so I could see/hear, that at least I can feel comfortaable with eye contact, and can feel very unthreatened most of the time around others. Whereas with regular visions, I'd be able to see how many differences there are, and get more confused, not sure what the expression meant someone had, because there would be so many different types.

Does that make sense?

I can read some expressions. The most basic emotions at least. The more subtle ones are difficult though. I have problems understanding when people are lieing. Or when someone gets upset and mad, but doesn't let on that he is upset, I don't pick up on that.

Responding can be difficult though. Especially with the more boistorous emotions. I feel has I should help or interact, but don't know what to say... I think about it and try to come up with a reaction that is appropriate for the interaction... but the delay just makes things more ackward. I usually just scratch my head, and say "ah...hmm?"

I can only pick up on it by comparing their past behavior to current behavior. So, for example, if my normally open and friendly friend becomes silent and avoids me, I will know something is wrong (though it may not be anger, it could be something else).



LOL that sounds just like me. In high school, I said "Um.. yeah..." so often, that people began to quote me on it.

I've learned to fake "boisterous" emotion in a very artificial way, so I can atleast goof around with people, but it never seems genuine. I'm horrible at enthusiasm, too.

I am also use the "um.... yeah". I just dont know what else to do. I would in a very tired tone. I was seen as having no emotion and not caring. I now make sure that people I do care know that just because I dont react doesnt mean I dont care, I just am not sure what to do. It means Im trying but dont want to make things worse.

Don't feel bad. In the NT world the answer of "whatever" became so entrenched I even saw T-shirts with that one word across the front...

I can tell if someone is happy/mad. Other emotions I need the person to pretty obvious about it before I can pick up on it.

On the topic of anger though, a person with what I guess you could call a "blank" look on their face will look mad to me.

When I worked second shift grocrey stocking, I couldn't help but marvel at the fact that everyone looked like they were mad as hell and not going to take it anymore. I figured logically that they were mad at the fact that they had to spend over $100 on grocreys for the familes and other things and didn't look forward to handing over the money at the checkout line.

But then they would come up to me and ask me for something and their mood was bright and cheery, polar opposite of what there faces were telling me.

I am pretty good at reading facial expressions of people I know. However if I am not familiar with someone, a random guess would probably be more accurate than my interpretation