Strange body language?

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Do you have strange postures or gestures not seen in NTs?

I have this eerie "threat signal" thing, like an atavistic reflex, that I instinctively do when scared or surprised. I coil myself up in a defensive stance and curl my fingers like an animal's claws. I don't consciously do it, it's more like a reflex. I did this once in the supermarket when a friend surprised me...happily, though she was freaked out, we both laughed about it..

Tell us yours if you have one...

When walking I sometimes hold my arms up like a praying mantis (or like Mr. Burns....) it feels very comfortable to me, but I know it looks weird

I have no idea if my facial expressions don't match how I feel or if my body language is off.

My husband has thought I don't like something because I get a look on my face and he has thought something was wrong due to a look on my face or how I had my body. It gets annoying but luckily it doesn't happen all the time and imagine if I got that from strangers all the time, that be hell annoying.

My mom has pointed out my odd looks and try and correct them. Back when I was still living with her she try and give me something to do to calm me down when I felt I was fine. One time she rubbed my head when we were on the place because it was bouncy and I was rocking my body because it was very bumpy. It only lasted a few seconds.

I've had people tell me I look angry, hostile or scary sometimes, but this only happens if I am tired or feeling overwhelmed. I can look normal and happy, but this wears out after a few hours and then I go blank or whatever. I can't keep that sort of thing up for an 8 hour shift. I can appear normal only for a short time if I am away from a routine and have to deal with a lot of strangers or people I haven't seen in years. When I am not appearing normal, all the symptoms like noise sensitivity, trouble recognizing speech, and loss of voice tone and volume control comes right back, in spite of my best efforts. The only remedy is a lot of time alone. If I move to a different place, it takes a week or two to settle into another routine.

I tend to hunch my back and prowl when I feel threatened also when confronted I make my body rigid by getting my forearms ready to block and deflect. I too tend to make my hands claw like also

I do the claw thing as well, it's comforting. I also don't use body language much. If I'm telling someone about a plane crash I might use my arm to imitate the plane but it takes effort and it doesn't feel natural. When talking I don't move my arms around to emphasize things.

If I'm in danger I hunch over slightly and jump into a corner... that's how I am...

Yes, I have some weird facial expression when I think something will break. A collegue told me about it, and now I know I always do this naturally in those situations.

People tell me I have hostile body language and facial expressions, which is strange because I almost never feel that way. My hubbie often thinks I am angry or panicking and tells me to calm down when I'm fine.

I also tilt my head a lot, and gesticulate far more than normal people.

Apparently my "expressionless" face looks intensely scary to people. And it's the face I wear 95% of the time. I've even had an NT refuse to serve me at a Dairy Queen because I looked to scary. It was a coworker that told me that when the NT walked away from me. Despite having been told I look scary before, that was rather... surprising. Mostly because I'm normally quite afraid myself when I go out in public. Reminds me of the analogy "Wolves are as afraid of people as people are of them."

I also claw my hands quite often, normally when thinking. Stretching and bone cracking is something I do extremely often, on the order of every minute or two.

I don't if this last one counts, but I always walk on the balls of my feet. Gives me much more reaction time and balance.

you think thats bad, my natural face is a smiley face and i often get in trouble when i use my "normal face" in the wrong situation

"Stop smirking!"

Yeah, I've heard that before. I have no idea why or how, because I almost never smile, it hurts.

I have been told that I have a "distinctive walk" by several people over the years. They will not tell me what makes it so, however. When I am stressed, it's like my spine collapses and I get rather bent over.

I alternate between being very stone-faced and having very exaggerated expressions. People at my last job told me I made faces all day long. Now, I get complaints that I show no emotion.

People have told me I look mean and people ask me what is wrong when nothing is wrong. I tend to walk on my toes and also tilt my head severely to the right... not such a good thing to do, I guess, as I had a class once that said if you head tilt to the right you are likely lying... I also do not naturally swing my arms when I walk. A girl down the road commented on this when I was young so I asked her to show me what she meant and how I should walk. I pissed her off when I started swinging my arms in this exaggerated manner and told her something like, "Oh I get it, you walk like this." She thought I was making fun of her or something. I still do not get the whole arm swinging while walking thing.