Oh boy

Post Reply New Topic

Body language and sarcasm, two things i DO NOT get. what about you guys?

It depends for me. If it is very obvious like if the person shows me the finger, I can understand that body language. But but more subtle things are much more difficult. There are some obvious facial expressions that I can get but not all of the ones that other people around me get. I often have to ask. Sarcasm and joking are the same way. Sometimes it's really blatant and I can get it, but often I have to ask. Sometimes I don't even get it enough to wonder to ask and then people have to tell me.

You are only 13, you'll learn eventually to make sense of it a little bit more. sarcasm for example? Pay attention to the context in which something is said, and the tone of voice of the one saying it - this can be very telling. You may occasionally have trouble spotting sarcasm or reading body language but for most people it does get better, especially if you try to train yourself in it from an early age. So, no worries!

Like Charloz says, as you see similar expressions more and more and learn what they mean you will start to remember them and recognize them. And the same goes for sarcasm since people use the same phrases over and over sometimes. You won't ever be 100% or possibly as good as an NT but you will become much better at it as you experience it more. If someone says something or does something you can ask them what they mean by it. I do that a lot. You can also ask us and if we are familiar with the expression or with the body signal we will help you.

Last edited by skibum on 15 Sep 2014, 10:48 am, edited 1 time in total.

There are a lot of websites that help you to identify and understand body language. Do a search. They are very helpful!

Nope - me neither. You can throwing flirting into that bucket as well.

Oh my goodness, I looked at a body language identification site once and for the first time in my life I realized how little I actually know about it. I thought, "Is this serious? People can't possibly read all of this out of these positions. This can't be real." Then I asked a friend if people really do read all that stuff and and she actually said "yes". I had always thought I was pretty good at body language and it was a real shock to realize that I am am not very good at it at all! And the funny part is that I had to turn that site off and I never looked at it again because I was getting completely overwhelmed from just looking at it.

I have become overwhelmed looking at body language sites, too. Now, I only look up a specific communication that I noticed that I want to get more information about.

I used to think I did OK with reading body language as well, but I also realized I don't. I am OK with reading it when I can observe people, but once I am "in" the conversation, I cannot process anything I am taking in - I can only think about what I am trying to say. I also learned that I was sending off body language communication that I didn't want to send!

And even if I can understand the body language, that doesn't mean I know what to do with it. I still get a "deer in the headlights" reaction if I find myself in a social situation I wasn't expecting.

I am a lot like you Nerdygirl. I think written conversations are a lot easier!

Body language no way.
Sarcasm i get a lot of the time. More so in text in forums than in real life convo.

To be honest, when I was a teenager - and even in my 20's I was hopeless at both body language and sarcasm. In junior high kids would tease me by asking me something they considered an obviusly joke question and I would take them completely seriously. But, gradually, I picked up on it a bit. I can still miss it sometimes - but it is one of those things that some of us gradually learn by thinking it through - while most neurotypical people seem to learn these things intuitively and at a much younger age

I don't get body language. I usually get sarcasm and I like to use sarcasm. Listening for tone of voice for me doesn't help because I don't get it at all and on the odd occasion I do it's wrong.

i'm pretty good with sarcasm when it's spoken, but often will miss it in casual writing like chatrooms/forums. body language, if i bother to look i can see the major ones like mirroring, but usually not the more subtle things.

I can understand body language from instinct but it's hard to tell that to some Aspies here because I get the same old standard ''how do you be that sure that you know body language? You might think you do but you might be really crap at it.'' And then when I write down a few situations from the past what are proof enough that I can read body language and tone of voice and all that well, I still get answers like ''in those situations there must have been a very obvious hint from somewhere, you probably didn't read body language'' or ''maybe someone has taught you that kind of body language a few years ago, so you know from memory more than instinct''. It's as if to say ''no no, you're an Aspie, it's impossible to be able to read body language from instinct....''

Ohh, ifs, buts, ands and maybes do drive me insane! Why can't somebody just agree and believe me, instead of making me out to be in denial?!

I don't get either, I've tried for years and gave up eventually.

Body language nope, Facial expression(s) not that well Sarcasm not too much if printed in word then yes in person not too much.