Why do Aspergers people have that look?

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Pharyn
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13 Nov 2010, 12:19 am

"I happen to know that it is biological (medical is not a good word to use), in that there is a physical aspect that it relates to. I cannot recall at the moment if it is known on the chemical level (and therefore fully understood) but it is HIGHLY unlikely as the diagnosis itself is not understood completely on that level. "

If you have information about this I would love some citations. I have done google searches and have not found what I was looking for.

My youngest son and I share many distinct physical traits as well as autism, while my older son is NT and also lacks these specific physical traits. These are traits I consider odd and not present in my siblings or in many other people. Interestingly enough both my son and I also had to have corrective surgery for pyloric stenosis shortly after birth.



jojobean
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13 Nov 2010, 10:39 am

mom says the more stimuli I have going around me...the more blank my eyes look. However in a structured quiet enviroment my eyes are focused

the best way to explain it is...sometimes the tide is in...some times the tide is out...and other times, my brain is firing blanks


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LeeAnderson
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14 Nov 2010, 1:29 pm

About the aspie serial killer eyes...

I've been told that I do look like a killer. I have a perpetually blank expression on my face. I have tried to smile before but it's like my face is numb and it just won't do it. I've given up trying. It's hell, feeling the emotions but knowing that no one sees them on your face. I guess I could have a hell of a poker face but otherwise it's not helpful. My eyes never show emotion either. I've looked at someone tenderly before and they said that they were scared because I was looking at them like I wanted to kill them. It made me sad.

Still... don't judge a book by its cover. Like someone said earlier, most killers are smilers. Bundy, Dahmer, Harris, Klebold, etc. Then again... perhaps people with blank faces are killers as well. You never can tell.



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14 Nov 2010, 3:06 pm

LeeAnderson wrote:
Still... don't judge a book by its cover. Like someone said earlier, most killers are smilers. Bundy, Dahmer, Harris, Klebold, etc. Then again... perhaps people with blank faces are killers as well. You never can tell.


This is, of course, the whole point. If you could tell a killer just by looking at them, then murders would be preventable.

The real harm is in the effect such judgments have. If you judge a book by its cover, the worst that can happen is that you'll miss a good read. Not great, but you're the only one harmed, so if you're willing to risk it, I guess it's your call. But when you judge a human being by what they look like, you take the very real chance of harming another human being.

Yes, I know you're not disagreeing with me. :D I just think this can't be said too much. When people fail to read what is inside us, that failure is not just the fault of our inability to communicate in a way they can interpret - it is also the fault of their inability to read us correctly. It is a two way street, and NTs are no better at it (and no worse, by the way, lest anyone misunderstand what I'm saying) than we are. We can't read them or communicate in a way they can understand - but they can't read us or communicate in a way we can understand. The breakdown in communication is equal, and the only thing that makes our side of it the "disorder" is the fact there are more of them. If there were more of us, they'd be the ones struggling with this. :lol: (And, funny as I can't help finding that thought, my sympathies would be with them if they found themselves on this side of that fence.)


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Joe90
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20 Apr 2011, 10:37 am

Although I don't exactly physically look any different to anyone else (like deformities of any kind), I think it's just a sort of blank face I pull. I don't know if the medical reason being that perhaps our brains don't let us hold the muscle in our faces to keep the face maintained as a ''colourful'' expression, I don't know. I may be wrong, so don't go thinking I'm trying to be right or anything. It's just what I think.

Although I'm never in my own world because I'm too aware of the crowds and the noises, I still give off a blank expression, as though I am in my own world. God knows why that would make other people look at me in the street, but it does. Well, something does anyway, because I go out looking fashionable and presentable, and I walk up straight, and have a nice handbag, so it must be something in my face what draws people's attention to me. Today I went to Tesco, and on the way I walked past 4 people, and all of them literally stared at me as they passed, and even turned their head towards me to get a ''better look'' of me. Must be some stupid expression my stupid face pulls.

This is why I like sunny days, so that I can wear sunglasses and hide the stupid expressions I pull.

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Still... don't judge a book by its cover.

Love this saying!! ! I wish teenage girls would understand this!


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KBerg
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20 Apr 2011, 11:35 am

I know for me there's a neutral expression that feels natural. People see it as empty or even very sad (which is usually just them projecting their concern that their emotions aren't being mirrored in my face as is normal). It's just this neutral state of being and in a sense it's a bit calming when it happens because all those expressive states while being bombarded with sensory information - it feels like your mind and face are being pulled into a million different directions all at once after a while of doing it. I know it's the empty look because I have looked in the mirror and seen the both that and the other one...

When I'm happy and daydreaming, off in my own head... it looks a bit similar in that I don't really smile but in contrast it looks like I might be just about to, I know the eyes are much more relaxed as well. But it looks like I'm a million miles away. Not the same thing as the empty look. That's the 'oh, just thinking of back home in the fey realm' look people comment on. That's the relaxed happy look that's more natural to me. Laughing, or geez, constantly having to hold my face in a half smile so people don't constantly ask me "why are you always so sad?" - that sometimes physically hurts. It doesn't feel natural to hold on to for nearly as long as other people seem to wear those expressions. Same for making expressions with my eyes, ever had the muscles around your eyes ache as well as just about every facial muscle and your jaw? It's seriously uncomfortable, especially around the eyes cuz you ain't stretching that one out to make it easier! You'd think if you do it long enough it stops hurting same way that knowing what expressions to show gets easier, but so far... 30+ years in and I still go to bed some nights thinking "it's not fair my face can hurt like that without it being punched!".



SPKx
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20 Apr 2011, 11:36 am

Personally, I don't believe my asperger's has effected the way I look, other than the fact I usually have a goofy grin in most of my photos.



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20 Apr 2011, 12:06 pm

SPKx wrote:
Personally, I don't believe my asperger's has effected the way I look, other than the fact I usually have a goofy grin in most of my photos.


I pull ugly faces in photos, even though I am generally attractive. There are only about 2 photos of me where I look nice, but otherwise I always pull ugly faces, which upsets me because people always like taking photos and they think I'm being silly if I scowl away. I pulled normal faces in the photos of me when I was a child, but in the recent photos when I was a teenager and now, I find I always pull ugly faces. My eyebrows are always raised high, my eyes are gleaming red, my teeth stick out because I pull an ugly, wide smile, and I just feel angry looking at it. When somebody takes a picture of me unexpected (when I'm not posing), I find I'm never pulling an ugly face.


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20 Apr 2011, 3:27 pm

Everyone has a different expression of their symptoms. some may have a marked lack of facial expression, some may indeed be in their own world more often or not, some are contemplating the changing molecular structure of the iced mochalatte in your hand and others could, indeed be off with the fairies.

My whole life, I've practiced facial expressions. Many of my flaked out fantasy moments involve imaginary conversations complete with facial expressions that should go with it. I constantly run social scripting in my head. I seriously doubt anyone, on a first meeting would suspect anything. I'm the sleeper. The mole infiltrating your ranks. I have no doubt I'm an Aspie but no one would suspect it. I worked damn hard to make sure you couldn't.

That 'look' isn't always a dead give away and neither is it a requirement for Asperger's.