Why do I always forget what I look?

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Living a day not looking into a mirror and introspect is one of the worst things that'll happen to me. I often forget how or what I look, or what my facial expression is. It is mostly happening when I'm out of the house and interacting with other people.

But there are also times when I've been at home for a weekend then it feels such a long time that I'd forget how I'd interact with people when I'll get back to school. Idk if this is a trait of a Borderline Personality Disorder, Asperger's or Stress.

I would imagine the facial expression thing is from not having the same NT quick flash ability to see tiny nuances of muscle movement in faces and then adjust your own facial muscles accordingly. And really, that is an amazing thing if you think about it. It's a wonder anyone can do it.

Forgetting what your actual face looks like, or what other people's faces look like is called face blindness, I think? I haven't read about it that much academically, but it's a common problem for autistic people. I have read a lot of other studies that say that autistic people look at different details as opposed to non-autistic people. For example, an autistic person might be interested in a person's strange hairdo instead of their eyeballs, so when they see the person again, and that person has changed their hair, they don't recognize them. This does double duty of offending the non-autistic person, who doesn't know why the autistic person won't look into their eyes.

Anyway, if it's a problem, you could try to make a game out of it. Like, try to make other people's eyebrow movement or mouth movement to what they say or do. And you can focus on something non-changing on the person's face, like a mole or a crooked nose. As to seeing yourself in the mirror. I don't know what to say about that. I haven't studied enough about it.

Face blindness (forgetting what someone looks like and recognizing them right away) is common in autism, even your own face.

Also forgetting how to interact socially when by yourself for a while is common in autism too. And the stress of having to reengage after a weekend can cause disorientation as well. Mondays in school are always like the twilight zone for me.

I don't usually like my appearance when I look in a mirror or see a photograph of myself, so I'm glad I forget what I look like. It would damage my self-confidence.

thats true. i am able to read changes in others' faces, but i can't adjust my own facial expression accordingly, so people still assume i'm not understanding them, or whatever

Same. But I've got a bad memory for a person's face unless I've encountered significant events with them. Same with the person's name. There was one time Mom told me she also have encounters in her adult life when she had a meeting with a certain friend yet even at the middle of their lunch she cannot even remember who that person was exactly. My Mom doesn't have dementia, or Alzheimer's. I saw a lot of Aspie traits with my Mom whilst my Dad seemed to have Narcisstic Personality Disorder or some sort of Personality Disorder. That's why I was thinking that my Mom has also Asperger's and my Dad might also contribute to it. Though, I don't blame them for whatever I have inherited from them, I just wanted that somehow they'll see some significant things to take notice.

If anything, I look in the mirror TOO often.

There is a tendency for me to forget faces--especially if the person is in uniform one day, and out of uniform the next.

I'm so glad you brought this up. I've always believed (and was shown good evidence in college) that it's important for young children to have easy access to a mirror, and I think it's even more important for kids on the spectrum, but I know one otherwise-intelligent professional who deliberately removed a self-standing mirror from her class, leaving her students with nothing--not even when they were trying on hats and whatnot in the dramatic play corner.

Ironically, she was very superficial and vain and judged others very harshly based on physical appearance including the brand of clothes they wore. SMH.