"Geez, give me an expression! I can't read your face!&q

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ActingUpAgain
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07 Oct 2011, 12:00 pm

My boss said that to me the other day when he was doing some sales training with me and another sales rep. Some might have taken offense to this, but I didn't for a number of reasons:

1. He was trying to lighten to mood a bit, since it was a lecture. Not the most effective way to do it, but his intention was clear.
2. Since I'm undiagnosed, I've never brought up my self-diagnosis of Aspergers at work, so he's unaware this is a common trait.
3. Part of my "expressionless face" is intentional. If I don't give a tell on what is going on in my mind, the advantage remains mine, so my comfort level is higher.

My reply: "I'm just taking it all in and making sure I understand what you're saying." We had a laugh and moved on.

Not sure why I brought this up here, but I felt the need to share. Have you faced comments like this? How have you reacted to them?



Last edited by ActingUpAgain on 07 Oct 2011, 12:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.

alieninahaystack
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07 Oct 2011, 12:08 pm

I like your reply, it's safe and doesn't offend.



alieninahaystack
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07 Oct 2011, 12:08 pm

:D



Last edited by alieninahaystack on 07 Oct 2011, 10:00 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Dots
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07 Oct 2011, 12:31 pm

I have a friend who used to tell me often that I had no expression on my face. She also constantly asked, "Are you okay?"

I would just nod yes and we'd move along.


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Mayel
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07 Oct 2011, 1:10 pm

Yes.
I have a friend who tells me this often, too. That she can't read my face, that I don't have much if any expression in my face most of the time so that she has difficulty knowing if I'm serious with the things I say.
She says "Are you okay with it? Really?" and I tell her that I am.
I get that from other people, as well from time to time.....e.g. on photos: "you aren't smiling" and I say "I am."....and so on.

Another case related to my facial expressions goes the other way: Another friend used to tell me how my reactions seemed highly exaggerated most of the time, and my facial expressions unnatural because of it and again that she couldn't be sure if I was being serious.
This incidents occured when I was trying to make better use of facial expressions after I was told I wasn`t making any....since my use of facial expressions didn't work like I'd expected I went back to tone it down a bit and now I get comments on how I'm expressionless ...again.

I don't care anymore. I do what I'm able to do.



techstepgenr8tion
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07 Oct 2011, 2:26 pm

"I'm processing a wealth of depth and wisdom here"

Then again that would really depend on your mood, whether they were getting into good/practical nuts and bolts, and whether you could deliver it like you're pleasantly BSing them rather than being sarcastic.


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