BlueBerrySnow wrote:
I'm a woman in my early 20s with Asperger's syndrome. My family, friends, and acquaintances always think I'm lying about everything and don't trust me because of my body language and sometimes eccentric wording of situations I experience. When I'm telling the truth and acting what I would consider my version of normal, I look like a neurotypical person lying. It's so frustrating, because people tend to think I'm this terrible person who can't be trusted. "Oh, well that's convenient" or "Oh, I'm SURRRRREEE you're telling the truth". They pretty much let me know they don't believe a word of what I say, which is odd to me, considering I'm TOO honest at times and go overboard with honesty and hurt people's feelings. I guess not making much eye contact and talking in choppy sentences makes me look like a liar to many people. Example: My family was thoroughly convinced that I had stolen money from my mom. I swore I didn't, but everyone thought I was lying and told me I should be ashamed of myself. 3 weeks later, it turns out my brother had stolen it and the guilt had got to him, so he confessed to the whole thing. My mom was shocked and said to me "If you didn't steal it, why did you look so guilty when I asked you about it? I was positive it was you". Soooo...no one trusts me, and I consider myself a decent person who rarely lies to anyone. Anyone else in a situation similar to mine? Do you ever wish you could prove your innocence during stressful times like this, but no one believes you because of your body language and mannerisms?
unfortunately, i can relate to all of this. my own friends always assumed the worst about me for this reason, even though my actual behaviour consistently demonstrated that i was in fact an extremely conscientious and strictly moral person. i think the eye contact thing is the key. i also sometimes think that (at least subconsciously) they
resent our hyper-honesty and they project that resentment onto us as distrust.