Anyone else practice their facial expressions?

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I tend to not be aware of the facial expressions I make during conversations. My friends used to find it hilarious and they'd always be like, OMG your face right now. But over the years they have gotten used to the fact that I just react interestingly with my face for some reason. So lately I have found myself practicing my 'mad' face or my 'surprised' face. This morning I realized I probably look ridiculous just making faces to myself. I guess I'm wondering if this is something other aspies have to deal with?

I've been told by my GF that my face does not match my emotions. I've decided to accept this and have no wish to have another set of rules of how my face should act Mind you I am nearly 50 and anti-social I can see how this might be an issue for younger people.

Yes. A couple of year ago, when I was working in customer service & kept getting complaints, I tried taking pictures of my expressions to see what others saw. I still don't feel very aware of what my face is doing. TV has help me build an understanding of facial expressions on others (to a degree) but I don't think it's helped with my own expressions. It's puzzling when someone comments "you look [specific emotion]" because it's usually not how I'm feeling.

I took acting classes as a teenager and there was an exercise to make the other person believe you with a single phrase like "I love you". It seemed I was always the last person to have the other person believe me. I didn't understand why I was the last as it didn't seem like that would be hard. "I love you" - I just said so! I must have gotten better at it, b/c I received some acting awards later.

I have a piercing/disapproving neutral face. I've tried working on it. I still have many encounters where I pass someone I know and forget what my face is doing until the second after they've passed me. Delayed smile.

Yes, so does my brother who has PDDNOS and my sons.

Maybe it's just a human thing but I know for me I do it for reassurance and making sure I can get my face to match my feelings as seen in tv shows and such..as I have a complex about that.

Not only others but my mom also yelled at me regularly, thinking my face was saying something else and my words something else that didn't match my facial expression which was too 'flat' according to her (she said this about my voice too) ..
(she thought i was being sarcastic or mocking)..


Watched Silent films specifically for this - as well as the siilent part since it was during having a baby --
because they were meant to exaggerate expressions and tell the story more from that, than the dialogue.

Reassurance comes from the practice in the mirror because I feel disconnected from myself (disoriented) mostly and seeing myself sort of reassures me that I am still me. Disoriented is like.. feeling so wrapped up in sensory things around u--

that you get a floaty lightheaded feeling, as though you are an awareness of the things around you, only and therefore have no idea what u yourself are thinking or feeling or supposed to be doing - in the moment.

I used to practice facial expressions but I think it's a waste of time. After I dealt with suppressed emotions, my facial expressions became normal on their own so it was clear that for me at least that those unconscious emotions caused my facial expression to be abnormal. It used to bother me but I now realize other people understood my emotions better than I did.

No, but I'll exaggeratedly pantomime them to communicate ideas/make punchlines/etc.

I don't.

If anything else, I tried to do the complete opposite.

Because my intense emotions, along with my natural expressions are both done in excess.
It mattered not if it matches my emotions or not -- I simply show too much.



Also I wouldn't have to.
For some weird reasons, if I'm not bothered doing manual minding elsewhere or overwhelmed, have the means to channel emotions and convey it in ways I want.

I'd still hold back. It's always been that way.


My moods usually calls the shots. That's all.

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