I can read facial expressions, im not an aspie?

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I took the mind's eye test and scored a 31 that is an above average score, so does this mean i dont have aspergers?

Facial expressons can be learned, online tests can be inaccurate(unsure of this one), and not all of those that fall on the autism spectrum match all of the symptoms all of the time. You may very well still be an aspie wihout matching all of the criteria.

DSM IV - Aspergers Syndrome (link)

First of all I am still trying to get diagnosed so I can't claim to have AS with authority but I myself feel certain. That said, I actually did quite well on the online tests relating to reading eyes and faces. I still feel that IRL people still seem like blank canvases most of the time leaving me with little confidence that I know what they are thinking or feeling. I even have problems gauging how I am thought of by people I have known for years so much so that I become a little paranoid and start to worry (possibly with pause or possibly not) that I am disliked or looked down on despite doing all I can to keep my differences hidden.

I think part of the problem is that, in these exercises, the examples are very simplistic. In practice though I feel a hell of a lot more lost in terms of picking up on how someone is really feeling.

I also score there pretty well and I'm not that bad in identifying facial expressions, but I have a lot of other autistic characeristics since very early on. So I asume that I'm more PDD-NOS actually.
So, you still can be on the spectrum, but maybe you just learned it or just have some autistic characteristics.

I did really well on the test as well. But looking at pictures of eye expressions is different than real life. With the still pictures you have time to think and process what you see. In real life facial expressions vary or change in the blink of an eye, if you pardon the pun. It's not like we're totally hopeless and can't learn what expressions look like, almost every kiddie show I watched while taught about "feelings". They would cover the basic stuff that's pretty universal - happy, sad, angry, scared - but then there are all these more subtle expressions that even NT people can miss. Like "micro-expressions" which "leak" out because society has taught us to often hide our true feelings. For example they say if a person's eye pupils' dilate and it isn't dark they're aroused and stuff. I'd probably think they were just high or something.

If you look at the research into the 'mind in the eyes test', although the mean score for AS was lower, the standard deviation indicates that approximately half of AS people score in the normal range on that test. So I wouldn't worry that a normal score invalidates your diagnosis. It's not a very sensitive test.

I think the lack of confidence to know what people are thinking or feeling comes from how well society has trained people to hide their true feelings and thoughts. Before I trained myself to devalue the audible words people say and instead trust my skill at discerning non-verbal communication, I had almost no confidence to know what others were thinking or feeling.

After I took the 'mind in the eyes test' and saw my perfect score, that helped a lot to change my life. That information, along with having a grown NT daughter to trust for honest feedback, enabled me to train myself into having great confidence in knowing what thoughts and feelings others are experiencing. I'm finding myself to be far better at this skill than anyone else I know. I never would have guessed this is how my life would end up. It's both a blessing and a curse. In truth, it's a blessing. In feeling, it feels like a curse quite often.

I must add one other factor, even though a lot of people may disagree with it. I believe my faith (confidence, trust, etc.) in God may be the biggest factor. Throughout my life, I see a pattern. When a gift is rightly used, it becomes strengthened. I don't want to sound like I'm patting myself on the back for the ways I've progressed in my life. I have no confidence in myself. What appears to be confidence in myself is actually faith in God providing. Even my faith is not of my own doing. That too is a gift.

Speaking of reversals, when NTs meet 'quiet' Aspies they don't know, they generally are clueless as to what the Aspie is thinking or feeling. It actually disturbs them tremendously, but they won't admit it. I know this because of taking my daughter with me to meet other Aspies. She knows me, but those whom she is unacquainted with make her extremely uncomfortable. I've noticed this same experience with others in the same situation too.

I fail on all the online tests to do with reading any non=verbal expression, but I generally have no trouble with picking up verbal and non-verbal social cues when being with or around people during everyday life. Strange, eh?

I don't know the test, but it is fairly easy to score highly on multiple choice tests by simply ruling out obviously wrong answers and then leaving it down to chance.

I have mild autism including speech delay and difficulty speaking at times, but I easily scored 31 above average. Reading facial expressions means being confused about facial expressions and what they mean in relation to you rather then completely misunderstanding what they mean.

Oh okay, thanks for the explenation, half of the ppl with AS, that's much.
I didn't know.

I got 34, and I am a social dunce in real world.

The distinction is you don't do it instinctively.

You have to focus and think.

Nt's typically do it subconsciously.

I scored high on that test and I feel like I'm not too awful at reading facial expressions in real life...perhaps only slightly below what is considered average. I genuinely think this is something that I've learned to do over time and if I'd taken the test in my early teens, I would have done far worse than average for others in the same age range.

Thank you everyone, a lot of great feed back, you guys and gals are great! And im not sure if i remember if it was mentioned before in this thread but, I also do agree that reading the expression of a person's eyes alone is not enough to tell if you are good at reading social cues. What if the eyes tell a different story than what a person is verbally saying? Does an aspie tend to just intellectually go by the words and believe the words a person is saying, rather than creating an opinion on both the words and the facial expression during a conversation? im not sure.

Hm, I'm pretty sure being able in reading most of those social "cues" one by one. But the problem starts when there is a complex social situation with a lot of social cues, some even at the same time.
This just works upto some degree and then I'm lost.
So for me, I have difficulties focusing on the "big picture" and not so much the details.
But for everyone autism is a bit different...!