Body Language

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As I speak, there is a documentary on History International regarding body language, here in PA it is on until 2 am, and it just started....

sorta like a foreign language, ain't it?

Could be interesting. I have a book on it but thinking about body language face to face with people is hard, in other words: I just forget it.

I've seen it and it looks so inaccurate. People interpret it different and no wonder there are tons of misunderstandings. One NT told me people read each other wrong all the time so no it's not an aspie thing to read body language wrong. I don't know why they have to make it an aspie thing.

I am so glad I rely on words than bodies.

I don't think aspies are reading it wrong, they can't read it at all. Some do that, not all. I'm kind of good with faces and tone of voice.

But when they try, they read it wrong. I did that when i was 15 and I quit trying because I was reading it all wrong and it was causing me problems.

I'm terrible at interpreting body language and when I try to express myself like an NT I overdo it terribly and confuse people. If only humans were as easy as cats or horses. I wish I could see the documentary - somebody should write a guidebook as if for an intelligent alien species and it should probably be one of us.

i found recently [DUH ] that my lack of facial expression bothers some people, actually bothers them. this i don't understand, how something so plainly innocuous could be offensive to some.

yes I have a blank face too. So many people have told me to 'smile dear it might never happen' or
'whoever he was he isn't worth it' that I tend to go the other way now and react extravagantly.

As long as you use some inflection, there should not be any problems.
Although that could just be me though.
I do not really mind to watch people's faces to know anything.
It tells me nothing, really, they could very well be faking.
But maybe they want to know your emotions and cannot be bothered to ask.
That may be a bit annoying.

Body language is harder for me to understand than foreign languages (my case anything but english)...

My parents' favorite was "Don't smile, your face'll crack." For years, I had no idea what the hell they were talking about.

People react very badly to my default face. If humans are looking at me I try to put something on my face. It seems to make a massive difference.

The problem with relying on words (and I sympathise, because I feel the same) is that very little actual relevant information is conveyed with them inside a 'normal' conversation.

The worst part of body language for me is gestures, when somebody is talking and flailing their hands around at the same time it distracts me and I want to scream at them. What's the point of gestures?

Here's an interesting exercise. Watch a conductor conducting an orchestra. See how his actions affect the music. Now watch a gesticulator in conversation.