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Annmaria
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29 Oct 2011, 7:17 pm

All I can say is that I don't believe there is a look, I feel I fit the diagnosis Autism Spectrum like my children. Its been very difficult for me to get a dx for my son because of the way he looks. He has a dx but its disputed why? because he looks normal?

I think its so wrong that you can't explain to a person that is having real difficulties in their lives because they look normal. What it normal its not a look its how a person manage themselves.


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LadySera
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29 Oct 2011, 7:53 pm

I don't think that my face in general is weird looking or anything. However if I'm straining to make conversation with someone without reason, especially a stranger I may try 1 of 2 things, both are prone to making people react uncomfortably or angrily to me. Sometimes I am so nervous I even seem to make them nervous. I either am not in the mood to pretend and have a blank face or I am trying to seem nice & have an awkward forced smile/laugh.

I watched a video by an aspie one day. He said that he noticed that many aspies have dark circles around their eyes and look angry (but we are really confused or working something out in our minds).



turkey87953
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30 Oct 2011, 7:47 am

people are always telling me to smile but when i do smile without being told they say stop smiling...
people are weird...i dont get it!. if i smile at myself in the mirror which i rarely do i hate mirrors i creep myself out.



Muggle
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30 Oct 2011, 8:25 am

My mother stresses that I look funny, I talk funny, I walk funny, and because I'm different i have to change. How come when we're little everyone talks about treating others nice and we're all special and different, and then we get older and if you don't fit this exact mediocre category you are shunned or have to pretend. Everyone says I need to get away frome science and do more girlish things like shop. Why can't the girls just start liking science, at least that would be productive for the world. The answer? That would be wrong becaus the girls have to be themselves. Why is it different for me because I'm an individual?

Okay, got that out. Close the curtain on the rant, I'm done.


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Fiebre
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30 Oct 2011, 12:08 pm

I've often been called very serious (usually it goes together with 'quiet'). A couple of guys also said I had this look as if I hated them, which not always was the case. And the latest addition was the word 'iceface' which really made me sad because I thought I looked pretty much as everyone else in the group. But usually people get past these things when they get to know me better.



TheDoctor82
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30 Oct 2011, 9:50 pm

Muggle wrote:
My mother stresses that I look funny, I talk funny, I walk funny, and because I'm different i have to change. How come when we're little everyone talks about treating others nice and we're all special and different, and then we get older and if you don't fit this exact mediocre category you are shunned or have to pretend. Everyone says I need to get away frome science and do more girlish things like shop. Why can't the girls just start liking science, at least that would be productive for the world. The answer? That would be wrong becaus the girls have to be themselves. Why is it different for me because I'm an individual?

Okay, got that out. Close the curtain on the rant, I'm done.



because they believe in being yourself....as long as your "self" is like who they are.


Yeah, they don't believe a word they spew; it's one of the reasons I challenge the status quo, and often.

The whole point is for "normal" people to look impressive to each other.

Just remember that as an Autistic person, you have zero social status. That will pretty much never change. That's not a bad thing though: you'll find out very fast who the good people are, and who the bad people are...and you'll find out one category completely outnumbers the other. With no social status, people show you their true colors up front because they fear no repercussions since you really don't have any influence. Again, you can use this to your advantage.

As Rorschach said it best in Watchmen: "and the world will look up, and shout 'Save us!', and I will whisper 'no'".

He also said "Never compromise...not even in the face of Armageddon itself". You'd be wise to remember that :wink:



ValentineWiggin
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31 Oct 2011, 1:47 am

My mother, and a new friend, often comment that I look like I'm "mad" or "troubled".
It's because I'm deep in thought, and that affects my expression!


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arielhawksquill
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31 Oct 2011, 10:12 am

Muggle wrote:
Studies have shown that when something is so closely human that we only dwell on the infintesimal things that are not right, it tends to dusturb us and we want to look away.


The effect you are referring to is called the "Uncanny Valley". You are not the first to speculate there might be a connection; there have been a few threads about it on here if you search for the phrase. One explanation put forward for the Uncanny Valley is the inherent unease humans feel toward a corpse--which the "dead" look of a creepy doll or robot, or of an Aspie with slack facial muscles and unfocused eyes, resembles.



RobotGreenAlien2
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31 Oct 2011, 9:53 pm

Muggle wrote:
How do you make a good NT mask?

I feel like the plaid zebra the rest of the herd avoids because I alter the pattern. Some deep involuntary instinct. How do I look more normal?


Get some images of the basic set of emotions, I know 6 for reading but I only use 3 for making faces. Happy, Angry and Sad. I learned an angry "back off!" face when I was a kid. Sad I don't use much but I do it's a funeral or something so I want to get it right. Happy get used most.

Study the eyes, eyebrows and mouth for each emotion and practice in front of a mirror. I had to build up the muscles for smiling a bit by over smiling I was out for walks, I would have looked like the joker if people were around. move you face around until you get a smile you like, remember to squit the corners of your eyes just a little bit. and remember the position, For me I know my top lip should be half way up my canines.

When your dealing with people you can't have a frozen face either, it's weird apparently. so you can take the smile down a notch or two until say the peak of someones story or the punchline in a joke. It takes practice and there is some stage fright at first. By you can practice with a lower key version.



RobotGreenAlien2
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31 Oct 2011, 9:56 pm

It could be a mechanism for spotting psychopaths too, I know I've been mistaken for one, by bullies >:-)



Tamsin
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31 Oct 2011, 10:17 pm

I've been told over and over and over again that I have a blank affect. When I was in school sometimes my teachers or caring students would try to do things to make me laugh because I was told I always look so serious. Obviously they cared, but it was really frustrating because I didn't understand what they were talking about. I've also been told I slouch a lot. When I was younger my mother kept telling me to stand up straight, shoulders back, because I always slouched.