Aspergers and the 'look'?

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In more depth what does it mean if someone says "you look like you have aspergers"?

If it is really about the "look", I suppose it would mean an inexpressive face or a face showing things that can be interpreted by neurotypical people as expressing inappropriate emotions. Autistic people are usually not good with facial expressions - both perceiving and expressing them (which are linked processes in the brain anyway) - and as a result what their face "expresses" to NT people has little to do with how they are feeling.

Alternatively, it may refer to the way you dress, your hairstyle, etc. and various personal image things. It is another meaning of "look". Many people seem to assume that people with Aspergers pay no attention to their appearance at all and dress like stereotypical nerds, but I think this is a gross generalization. Many aspies dress in a particular way, but in my (very limited) experience, some really don't care about their appearance, some will dress in a nondescript and generic way to minimize the chance of being "inappropriately" dressed (more or less my case), some will buy many sets of the same clothes and rigidly stick to one or a few outfits, and some have often beautiful and highly expressive "alternative" looks. This is made even more complicated by the fact that many autistic people have touch hypersensitivity issues that make some specific clothes pleasant or unbearable.

But if someone says "you look like you have aspergers" it is more likely to refer to your general behaviour and the way it fits the specific preconceptions or stereotypes that person has about what typical aspie behaviour is :/

Someone should do one of those face morphs of people diagnosed with Asperger's to see if there is any overall resemblance. It is interesting to note that many with AS are said to physically appear younger than their actual age. Not in regards to the way they're dressed, but rather, their face looks younger than most their age.

That isn't true for everyone, and not everyone who looks younger than their age has AS, but it's been a common theme here and elsewhere.

What does it mean if someone says that?

It means you're dealing with a moron who's got a big mouth and an empty head.

Stereotyping is one of the worst forms of bigotry.

Cursory glances and snap judgements, especially from an unqualified person, are dangerous.

I'll agree that people with Asperger's apparently do tend to be taken as younger than they really are, but there can be plenty of reasons for that, and if that's their sole reason for thinking someone has Asperger's, they need to find a new hobby.

Like maybe playing in heavy traffic.

the Stereotype that Asperger men look like nerds.
so,nerds equal Asperger men,for alot of people.

That would be interesting indeed. And there are other visual analytics and classification methods that could be applied to this. I wonder is some research had already be done about that; I will have a look.




I agree. I also read about longer limbs and bigger heads. AFAIK it is scientifically established at least for heads (see Fidler et al., 2000 for example) but the correlation is not very strong (albeit clearly statistically significant) and nobody really knows why it is that way.

You're approaching this with too much intelligence and dignity. I prefer bluster and hostility, for the moment.

I've read that thin lips and an asymmetrical face are common features. (Both of which I have!)

Other ways in which my autism affects my appearance:
- no makeup, very simple hairstyle
- wear the same type of clothes every day
- asexual / agender means I don't wear anything too feminine
- no expression or 'strange' expression (people always say I look confused)
- tilted head (because I have visual processing problems)

There is no physical Aspie "look." Period. We've had many threads on this topic and they always end the same way, full of contradictions.

Despite my previous comment, I agree that it's impossible to tell if someone is Aspie just by looking at them. Otherwise I wouldn't have made it to age 40 before getting diagnosed.

There have been threads on the topic where I have posted pictures of my interpretation, but I don't do that anymore. I don't want to give ableists and eugenicists the satisfaction.

anytime someone joins the words "you look like you" to reference a behavioral diagnosis, they're almost always coming from a place of narrow-minded preconceptions that might be true in two case, false in ten others. and even in the case of the two — unless they're androids their behavior will hardly model the script every femtosecond of the day. people aren't invariable functions. they change quite a lot, even on minute intervals. it always annoys me when people get into the: "person-x looks like they have x condition" rhetoric. it comes from a place of stereotyping and hardly makes any sense because they're never referring to genetic conditions that have morphologic ot craniofacial markers. 

i suppose to answer your question, though,  the aspergers "look" probably refers to someone with flat affect or visible awkwardness. your stereotypical nerd who isn't fashion forward and doesn't seem socially refined.

I have rather full lips, a symmetrical face and a smaller than usual head for my size. My hands are also small for my size. However, my feet are abnormally long and thin for my height. Most guys' that are the same height as me have feet 2-4 sizes smaller than mine. I have never met a guy my height that wears the same size shoe.
My feet are usually bigger than guys more than several inches taller. One extreme example was my friend in college who was a whopping seven inches taller than me; we both had the same size feet and wore the same size shoes, the only difference being his feet were significantly wider than mine.

Well apparently there's an autistic stare. I look stoned with an expressionless gaze for example

I suppose that "look" could sometimes encompass everything in someone's personality, actions and physical appearance. although if someone just comes up and says that its probably just them being a git.
but if you have told someone you have Asperger's and they then say oh you do look like you have Asperger's than they are just saying that it does not surprise them.


but the statement is insulting, especially if "look" does just mean physical appearance or mannerisms.

I do some strange gaze when I'm in stressful situations like parties ....my daughter stares at me and says " dad ... Stop acting weird " ! !