Is it common for aspies to smile at inappropriate times?

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I notice that when I'm upset or mad or frustrated at times, I smile and I say what is bugging me to someone else but I smile sort of a sarcastic smile but I don't talk sarcastic. Does anyone else do this?

I smile inappropriately also.
When I was younger I learnt to smile to cover up social misunderstandings and it got to be a habit.
Unfortunately, it means I don't get taken seriously when trying to convey serious personal problems, people seem to think that because I'm smiling it's not so bad or some kind of joke.

Definitely an aspie/autism trait.

I think I do this sometimes.

I had no idea until it was pointed out to me by a drunk who was threatening me and kept asking what I found so amusing about the glass he was thrusting at my face. As I thought about it, I realised it's something I've always done.

I don't know about smiling but my face is nearly always showing the 'wrong' expression, sometimes with hilarious results.

e.g. when I'm trying to decide on a course of action I look 'sneaky'.
When I'm thinking deeply I look sad.
When I'm confused I look furious.
When I'm being sneaky I look suicidal.
I have Resting Blt6h Face.

No one ever guesses how I feel because I don't make the same expressions as NTs.

I tend to smile at inappropriate times. It's usually because I'm thinking about something else and am not really present in that specific moment.

Don't know if it is common. I do it.

That's on the drunk , not you, a smile does not always indicate amusement.

I chuckle or laugh at inappropriate times, and that likely elicits a smile.

I don't think I smile randomly without laughter.
Smiling is too much work.

I can't give a specific example, but I definitely recall times I realized I was smiling after someone told me something tragic and I changed my expression as soon as I realized.

It's not necessarily abnormal or inappropriate to smile in unhappy situations:

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/2017 ... t-the-same

It seems such a complicated subject that I long since gave up trying to emulate what may be thought acceptable.

Also I note that actors in soap operas smile inappropriately. e.g. when telling someone their relative has died.

I think with them it's just bad acting.

The problem with inappropriate affect is it can infuriate other people, and I kind of understand why.

Think of Full Metal Jacket and Gunnery Sergeant Hartman telling Pyle to wipe the smile off his face. Pyle doesn't want to be smiling, he'd like to not be smiling, but as much as he wants he cannot help it.

Part of mine is from Pseudo-Bulbar Affect (PBA) caused by my first stroke.
It's a type of brain injury that causes people to display inappropriate emotions.
Most people will laugh or cry involuntarily at the wrong time.

When I had my stroke I couldn't stop laughing.
I couldn't stand, walk, speak, or follow instructions but I was laughing hysterically.
Maybe that's why the ER doc first said I was drunk and tried to send me home.

*I know we don't all have this, just sharing. I kind of forgot I have it*

That's interesting. I've said before, the human brain is soooo complicated that it's not surprising it goes wrong a lot and we're all different.

I'm sorry you were nearly sent home, thank goodness they realised the truth.

It was awful.
I knew what was happening but couldn't self-advocate bc I couldn't speak.
I was with a big, strong coherent man (my best friend at the time).
He kept telling them I wasn't drunk.
It happened in front of my doctor and she called the ambulance.
She also said I wasn't drunk.

The hospital doctor insisted I was drunk and I was faking a stroke.
This, on a Tuesday afternoon?
It's not like it was Saturday night and they dragged me from a pub.
He put me in triage for a few hours for blood toxicology tests.
He didn't order MRI or any life-saving clot-busters which should be in the first hour.

He was angry when the tox screen came back negative.
It was a nurse with an autistic child who convinced him to do the MRI.

I guess he's never heard of PBA before?
I saw later he even wrote on my chart I was "faking it".

The stroke was so impactful it took over a year of stroke rehab to walk and speak.
Meanwhile he thought I was drunk because I laughed a lot.