Poll for people with high functioning autism

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Do you memorise facial expressions? (For example from a book.)
Yes. 20%  20%  [ 11 ]
No, but I can understand facial expressions without memorising them. 37%  37%  [ 20 ]
No, I can't understand facial expressions and I don't bother memorising them. 19%  19%  [ 10 ]
Not sure/other. 24%  24%  [ 13 ]
Total votes : 54

frogfoot
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15 Jan 2015, 11:45 pm

Do you memorise facial expressions or do you know facial expressions instictively?



nick007
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07 Feb 2015, 9:56 pm

Acording to online tests/quizzes posted on this site, I'm great at recognizing them but I never look at people's faces offline which may partly be related to my ADD & a rare low vision disorder.


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rollermonkey
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08 Feb 2015, 11:48 pm

If I'm doing an online quiz, where there's unlimited time, I can normally get a really great score, but IRL situations I miss most emotional stuff at the time and realize what someone else (or even myself) was feeling only in retrospect, and sometimes by process of elimination. (I'm not angry, I'm not happy, maybe I'm sad? Yes, I am sad, that's it. ...and then a week later, I'll realize that I was actually horribly depressed.)



Einfari
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25 Feb 2015, 12:41 am

I don't remember ever memorizing facial expressions. I've just learned to associate them with different behaviors and outcomes over time. Additionally, I feel that cartoons and art have helped me with facial expressions. A lot of my own emotions go into my drawings.



princessarachne
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31 Mar 2015, 1:16 pm

I memorized them.
Also I listen to the tone of their voice.



Caelum
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12 May 2015, 10:26 am

I used to study them when I was in the military. Everything mattered so much more then.



Kiriae
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12 May 2015, 11:29 am

I'm not sure.

I am not interested in books about facial expressions and when I see 2 pictures of the same person having 2 different face expression I feel like I am looking at pictures of 2 different people(yes, I have prosopagnosia).

I find the tests of reading expression from face and eyes utterly boring - I can guess the expression correctly 2/3 of time but it requires a lot of focus and still leaves me with the feeling "I guess that might be it", instead of "That must be correct!". My strategy is trying to mirror the expression I see in the picture and focus on "What feeling would make me comfortably setting my face muscles like this?". But since I am just as bad in naming my own feelings it doesn't help much. I am sure whatever this expression is a bad or good one but I can't distinguish anger from embarrassment, happiness from excitement, boredom from sadness...

I am way more accurate guessing what someone might feel when I know the situation, either by seeing it myself or hearing about it.
Tone of voice and way of speaking are secondary - I learned to recognize emotions in the voice of people but I am still not sure if my guess is correct till I ask(I end up correct 80% of time though).
Body language is the third - if I pay attention I can sometimes guess what someone might feel by looking at the way he stands and moves, but it's not something I would rely on.
Facial expression is the last thing I pay attention to when I try to understand someone and if I don't focus really hard I am wrong most of the time - unless of course someone is obviously smiling, crying or showing teeth like an angry dog.