I know how to act normally... but can't? Is this Asperger's?

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I have basically all the signs of asperger's. I'm really awkward around people, and my body language and facial expressions are horrible (but I've always blamed that on social anxiety in the past). When around people, I never know where to stand or what I should be doing. The thing is, if I suddenly picture myself as someone else, I can imagine what they would be doing in this situation, but I can't get myself to do it.

Isn't the biggest sign of ASD that I don't know how to interact with people? But I'm pretty sure I do know how... I just can't get myself to do it (the image in my mind on what i should be doing). And I know when I'm acting awkward, and what I'm doing that's awkward... but I can't get myself to stop acting that way, or standing a certain way that looks really unusual.

What are your thoughts? ASD or not? (I looked at the DSM-IV criteria and it all seemed to match... but it could be that i have social anxiety and something else like OCD or ADD... idk).

Something I forgot to mention: Even when I'm by myself I have the same problems (no facial expressions, bad body language, etc), so it's not just around other people. But in my mind i can see what other people would do... i just can't get myself to do it, like out of bad habit or something

Everyone is different, but I for me, I just don't get it. Nada, zilch.
Wow--the whole table gasped after that young lady thrust her chest.
I must have missed an awful lot of nonverbal clues...

And, I've even zoned out and not really heard folks yelling at me even though they are just a few feet away.

I don't know if this applies to you but I often intellectually understand what I should be doing in social situations but I can't usually replicate this behaviour. I don't intuitively understand it so I can't perform the behaviours quickly enough to seem normal. I think I actually seem even stanger when I try to act like an NT than when I'm just myself. I'm very good at recognising facial expressions in pictures but in normal social situations people change their expressions very rapidly and I can't interpret them fast enough. I have learned what various expressions mean but I don't intuitively understand so I need to use my intellect to work out what people are expressing. I wasn't diagnosed as a child so I had to discover for myself what facial expressions mean.

I also match all the criteria for DSM-5...

What does it mean to "act normally"? It seems like for people of my age and gender, it involves bragging about having a new truck or banging tons of women or getting really wasted. That's not the type of person I am, and I don't know how to fake it, nor do I want to. I know I'm weird, and I know a lot of people don't like that, so for that reason, I tend to avoid hanging out with "normal" people. I can't relate to them, they can't relate to me, and I frankly don't want to have anything to do with them.

It's not uncommon for Aspies to feel like they're wearing a mask or pretending to be someone else when out in public. I think what your naturally like when your comfortable can help you tell if your autistic or not.

Well, made a nice, overlong reply, then tried to post it and had been signed out so it was lost.

So anyway, in summary, OP and coroonb could have been describing me, though not at exactly every minute point. Also, I don't think I fit the full DSM-5 criteria.

The point is, you are in common company here. I can't attest to this being an Asperger thing myself though because I don't have a diagnosis of full-on AS. It's more like ADHD with autistic features because I do have some social cognition, however fragile it may be.

As people with Asperger's gain experience, they, though using their cognition, acquire at least some "NT" abilities as far as reading social cues, sarcasm, facial expressions, subjects of conversations. etc.

It's learned, rather than innate in people with Asperger's--but you do acquire the knowledge. You're almost forced to.