Facial Expressions Take So Much Effort. What about you?

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People are constantly telling me that I always look bored. The only thing is, I'm actually NOT bored. The facial expressions that NTs use on a day-to-day basis feel so awkward for me. My real smile doesn't even look like an actual smile unless I totally stretch my face and contort it. LOL

Facial body language just feels *so* fake, dramatic and over-the-top when I use it, but then I look in the mirror, and I actually look like an NT!

I think I'm just hypersensitive to every little twitch and movement in my face.

Is this an Aspie thing or is this just me being an oddball? I also rarely laugh out loud. I do this weird silent laugh thing with my unsmiley smile, and it just looks like I'm smirking but my body is shaking from laughing. Weird...

And from inside my head, my voice sounds expressive, but when I listen to what I sound like on tape, I sound monotone!

It's not just you.

I know how you feel. My mom continually asks if I'm okay because I hardly ever smile. The thing is, I'm usually pretty content - I just don't like the sensation of making myself smile when I genuinely don't feel that way.

I was at a team morale event this morning, and someone was taking pictures. I was sitting and chatting with one of my teammates, and the person with the camera comes up to take our picture. I just sort of looked in the direction of the camera with a reserved, thoughtful look on my face, which got me a "Come on Ryan, smile!" To which I responded, "I'm not sure how." Everyone thought I was joking; I was not.

I can twist my mouth into a smile, but it looks so fake if I'm not really smiling about something (and I do smile when I have things to smile about). Given a choice between a goofy looking fake smile, and my normal reserved, thoughtful look, I chose the later. Besides... I'm an old-school kinda guy; I hearken back to a time when it was not customary to smile in photos; I wanna find whoever started that silliness and slap him. I'm actually smirking in my avatar pic; can you tell?

Also, I have this interesting mannerism that has caused me some fun times... The look I get on my face when I'm concentrating and thinking about something very hard - is the exact same look I get when I'm really annoyed. It has a lot to do with furrowing my brow I think.

Most of my own "facial" expressions are expressed through my eyes; very few are those who are able to read me well by my facial expression.

Good fortune,

- Icarus smiles with his eyes...

I'm sometimes accused of staring at people. Really, I'm just trying to decipher what's going with their face. Obviously I know happy and sad( or I think I do), but it's all the hundreds of expressions in between that have me stumped. I think when I'm staring I'm just going through my memory bank for a match to an emotion. Unfortunately my memory bank is low on funds.

I'm constantly being accused of looking pissed off. I'm generally not, it's just that I'm usually concentrating on something and I think it makes my brow furrow and my mouth turn down. I have a hard time taking pictures too. Digital cameras tend to have some delay to them and I always feel like I need to freeze my face into something that I think looks like a smile, but on film looks like some demented woman trying to suppress evil thoughts.

I have kind of the opposite problem. I am constantly making facial expressions that people are always interpreting wrong. I don't really seem to have good control over it. It just happens.

listen up. i get into the same situations as you. eventually people will get that whatever they say to you has no freaking effect on you at all! and will leave you alone.

Sometimes my facial expressions match my emotional state, sometimes they don't. It's all part of having AS. Now when other people sign to me, I tend to understand their facial expressions better, but when other people speak to me, I totally ignore their facial expressions & only pay attention to their words. That's called having an auditory-visual sensory disintegration. When speaking, I rarely add facial expressions to what I have to say. But when signing, I always add 'em in, except when signing to the Deaf-Blind, since they can't see 'em.

Oh, no, I find facial expressions easy. They come naturally.

Though I don't tend to smile in photographs, but that's personal preference because I don't photograph well.

From the time I was a kid until a few years ago, I was frequently told that I should smile more, that I looked too serious or mad about something. But like someone else stated, when I am in thought, I guess I look upset or something.

A few years ago I got tired of hearing how I always look like I am mad about something. So I started practicing smiling. If you concentrate on pulling the corners of your mouth up, and if you keep you eyes open wide, you look like you are happy.

I can't believe how many people smile at me when they see me looking like I'm smiling. It's almost like they can't help it.

Or, maybe they can't help laughing at the goofy expression I have on my face that I think looks like a smile. :-S

Sometimes people tell me I look bored though really I'm not. Or I forget to smile at people. But otherwise I think I'm pretty good at faking facial expressions, especially smiles. There's nothing wrong with that, NTs fake smiles all the time. Have you ever wondered what percentage of smiles used in everyday life is truly genuine?