How can you tell that people are bored?

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I heard one of the defining characteristics of autism/apsergers is that autistic individuals have a problem telling when the listener is bored of what they're saying because apparently they don't effectively read their body language. How can you personally tell people are bored?

I personally can tell that people think I'm boring when they start yawning after talking to me. I think that's probably an obvious sign, though, and there are subtler signs of disinterest that people use to tell, and I don't know if I'm missing these subtler signals or what.

So, I'm kind of wondering where I'm at on the "I can tell they're bored" ability scale, and I wanna know if I'm somewhere in autistic territory.

I can't....if they started yawning, I'd just assume they were tired.

There are quite a few "tells" that hint at one's apparent boredom; excessive sighing, fidgeting, glancing around the room, looking down at their hands, and so forth.

It is by no means a small feat to discern boredom in people, but it can be done with plenty of practice -- it's how you react to someone's boredom that is of greater import.

If I sense the tell-tale signs that someone I'm interacting with is experiencing acute ennui, I'll usually become quite hostile in regards to the show of disinterest, especially while discussing interests and things of that nature.

Is it really so hard to at least feign interest, at least in order to placate me as I proceed in my trance-like rambling?

Um, based on my own experiences, when people are bored, they might...
1) Switch the topic
2) Tell you that they need to leave soon
3) Stare elsewhere
4) Say "yeah, yeah" or "um, um" whenever you finish a sentence
5) Roll their eyes
6) Look as though they are asleep with their eyes wide open
7) Fold their arms
Shake their legs
9) Twirl their hair
(I usually bore people.)

There are some ways to tell. Yawning is one but people have other ways of coping with their boredom. One thing someone might do when bored is change the subject. Another is make an excuse to get out of the conversation. They will try to find a distraction if possible, like a book or cell phone. They might start talking to someone else if they are available. Eventually, if nothing else works they might possibly fall asleep.

Apparently I can't. My husband says that I often repeat something I've said due to a lack of response from my listener because I just assume they didn't hear me, when he says it was obvious they did hear and just weren't interested. He does tell me to shut up when he notices me doing it (thank god, most Brits are too polite to tell you stuff like that, especially when you're undiagnosed and they don't realise you have a problem), and it does make me cringe a bit. Luckily my friends accept me the way I am and I've learnt over the years not to worry so much what other people think of me.

Oh, and SIGHING is supposedly bad. One time I went to a play with a friend and her dad. I sighed all the way through it and the friend chewed me out later for all that sighing. I admit I sighed so often because the play bored me to tears.

Usually I can tell if somebody's bored from the following:-

-they change the subject
-they interrupt a lot (more than usual)
-they don't give full replies, just ''mmm'' and ''uhh''
-they use a flat tone of voice when they give any reply

I don't go by yawning. Somebody was saying something what I was really interested in once, and I yawned. I just said, ''excuse me'' afterwards, in case they might have thought I was bored!

I can't.

I assume most people are bored most of the time. Which I attribute to the pervasive Apathy built into a society that provides quick fix conviences to every whim. Which I hold in utter contempt, and therefore have no sympathy or respect for boredom. Rather arrogant of me, I suppose.

For me it's when they aren't actively involving themselves in the topic, which specifically means.. asking relevant questions or making relevant comments, or looking away/physically focusing on something else, or obviously changing the subject. Yawning would be one too..

Sometimes though it is simply hard to tell, in which case I generally slant towards the 'not interested' interpretation. I figure that if someone is really interested in what I am saying, it should be pretty obvious.

When they start to walk away from you, it is a good sign that they have reached Himalayan heights of boredom.

I read that people roll their eyes when they are bored or keep sighing or they are giving you short answers or not saying much in the conversation. I was even told that they will fold their arms and look away. I read in a book that if they are not looking at you, they are bored.

If I am talking to someone and then all of a sudden they started talking to another person, I get the hint but it makes me mad they do that because I find it so rude. I also get the hint if they aren't saying anything or showing any reactions. I just assume they are not interested because that is what I do when I am not interested. I don't say anything.

I'm glad I can tell if people are bored or not. It does help.

When they aren't saying anything, and are just kind of looking away at their surroundings. That's if they have no choice but to listen to me. If they have a way out, in the form of a different conversation partner, then I get ditched in a split second.