can you "act normal"?

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I'm just curious. I've tried to mimic people my whole life. Short situations I think I do very well at passing, it's just when people get to know me longer or try to build a deeper connection that they realize I'm not NT and I get really freaked out and don't know how to act.

Yeah, I think I just come across as an NT with situational social anxiety.

However, like you, the trouble starts when people get to know me better. They suddenly realize that (1) I am super f****d up and it's not just ASD and (2) there's really no personality underneath.

I cant really mimick, I can modify myself to emulate more NT-ish behavior but I cant keep it up. If I focus, in the right mood and need to, I will. I dont really understand how people down right mimick NT behavior.

I'm hit and miss. I can appear normal effortlessly when I am not overwhelmed with stress. I've had long periods of time in which I felt like I was doing well and I have the self awareness to judge that. Then if something happens that puts me in psychological distress everything falls apart. I can't think as quickly so I make more mistakes. Then I notice those mistakes and I realize I'm falling apart and that makes me lose confidence. When I'm less confident I'm more anxious in social situations and that makes me seem even more awkward. Once I recover or come to terms with whatever's causing me so much distress I start functioning properly and it's effortless again. My system is either working or it crashes. I need time to reboot when it crashes.

Like Tyri0n I don't have much of a personality and that's also problem. I'm not sure if I'm just developing my identity late because I'm still 19. I've been getting more into music than I have been before. I'm experimenting with some things. Right now I don't have too many interests. Maybe I'll find some hobbies that I like or maybe I'll always be this dull.

"Fake it till you make it" works sometimes, but the genuine way (which is not always the easiest) is the best way.

I behave normal and feel at ease in most social situations, without any internal pressure of me trying to be someone I'm not.

Briefly. Sometimes.

I can hold a conversation with the right person, and I can be polite and chat about work with customers. I don't think I do good small talk although again with the right person you can talk about random stuff and still enjoy it.

I don't do eye contact much but I try to at least look in people's direction, it hasn't been pointed out to me in a long time, at any rate.

I can act normal but don't, no one cares if you break a few hundred folkways usually. Basically if you didn't know me you would either assume I'm a sociopath or downright crazy.

In my opinion, building a completely normal character is impossible. You're gonna always make mistakes and people will freak out.

What I do is building a slightly eccentric character, but making this eccentricty interesting. You must make your mistakes play in your favor (as much as possible, at least).

Watch a movie called 'Mozart and the Whale'. The female character shows autistic traits but she makes them look cute.

When I was diagnosed (in my senior year of high school) hardly anyone actually believed me because I can pass so well. Also, when people meet me if I tell them they're like, "Oh. I never would have guessed."

So yeah, often times I can fake it real well. But if I'm under lots of stress, the Aspie-ness just comes flooding out.

No

A lot of people see me as weird from the word go

If they get to know me though they'd see I'm probably far MORE conventional than most

That's the irony - a lot of seemingly normal people are anything but!

Open-minded people who just take people as they come and are kind and tolerant are ok towards me but the
type who are all about image and coolness usually hate me on sight lol

I seemed to fit in relatively ok as a child but as an adult I seem to be seen as progressively more weird - I think it's
due to me being overweight and society becoming more intolerant of difference

I don't want to fit in as much as I have done in the past; I just want an easy life with as little hassle as possible

Only in a short interaction with some people, I seem to manage to look normal.

In majority of the situations, I must be looking weird even in short interactions because I can see other people be puzzled or weirded out right from the beginning.

In longer-term relationships with people such as coworkers, it's impossible for me to be regarded as a normal person.

Most of us are mimics at least to some degree. We copy personas. We put up facades. We act normal. The keyword being "act" as in playacting. The older we get, the more polished our act gets. But the thing is, if you were an American living in Norway, how Norwegian could you act to continue fooling the native Norwegians? At some point, as they get to know you better, they're likely to detect that that's something not quite right about you.

Personally these days, I try to only strive for being tolerable and likeable. Not admired or adored, just likeable. And I strive towards trying to be nice. I think we focus too much on the most popular people. The most dynamic personalities to mimic. I've found that I can come across very well as someone who can have much to say using few words. And to be likeable by just being nice to people.

Does not work for me, my AS traits still show through pretty good. When trying to play NT I for the most part become a scripted robot and its clear im acting/not genuine. Outside of professional situations bing myself brings the most sucess(though limited), my old NT cover has yet to make any friends yet my true self has made 2 or 3. I wish I could pretend to play the game when needed as life could be alot easier in some situations.

you accidentally created 2 identical threads, ker08. i took the posts from the second thread and moved them over here then disposed of the extra thread

No, I can't pass for normal unless it's a short time once.