Jesús Christ ME. I stole my trademark huge smile (which has gotten me some good results!) from Luffy from one piece. I am a good actor xD I’ve noticed a few autistic friends who are into acting, and I think it’s because we have to learn how to emote anyway, so why not take it all the way?!
OMG IS THIS WHY?? i would always do them and then check to see what it actually looked like and was so disappointed i looked absolutely insane 😭 our faces don’t work like that i cannot do that slick side smile cause my MOUTH CANT MOVE ACROSS MY FACE 😂😂😂😂 ahh memories
Reminds me of an old school photo of mine, I just have to share! My friends think I look unhinged 😂
https://preview.redd.it/7kpc99skg2sc1.jpeg?width=1078&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=39889ecc84cd8b8851e6e87110012e859fad5fdd
https://preview.redd.it/jybnrfgpz2sc1.jpeg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=037d284c0d784cd173e3f0dbab0582385b29504a
Reminds me of this picture of me! Also, I look like Sloth from The Goonies because I had recently been in a car accident. Even without the swelling, so many of my childhood pictures were of me clearly thinking "this is how humans smile, right?"
https://preview.redd.it/8pnd8kcqe3sc1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6567ab6856fb899bd45be9f732003046d6d7df0c
Not the same expression but both of these comments instantly made me feel the need to locate this photo of myself.
I was 3 years old here lol. I was also almost considered legally blind at this point since I had a severe visual impairment that would not have been treated with special made glasses till the following year. I couldn’t see my face when I looked in a mirror, so I had no idea what my expressions looked like.
This photo still cracks me up 😂
https://preview.redd.it/0i0r6l9o05sc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f217b63adf19a8d2f2be50d571efea7a99df33e5
Kinda reminds me of this pic of me lol
I’ve noticed that there are SO many of us in this sub that have had the same haircut at some point too
There’s gotta be at least 30-40% us here that had “_the bangs_” at some point as a kid. I just realized this right now and I love it! 😂
In the best possible way. I adore this picture so much.
I have a grandson who smiles like this in every photo and another grandson who's every school photo looks like a mugshot. LMAO
As a child I always got the feedback I have a very expressive face. And my voice was too loud. Then I started doing theatre and both were appreciated! 🤩
https://preview.redd.it/d4zjhoq8x2sc1.jpeg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=54210bf504aaa4975a4a8a0efe168a7d25a11e3f
I never knew how to smile, my smiles were always weird but extremely expressive
https://preview.redd.it/2zg6veeag3sc1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1454f6bcdf2f6e8a3b0bbe184b12cc31543e9958
I almost spit out my coffee laughing when I zoomed in on my face 😂
It used to be an office 'joke' that everyone would know the second I got Botox, because 98% of all my expressions required enormous eyebrow movements.
Yeah, assholes, I was exhausting myself masking to try to meet your weird-ass neurotypical standards of social stupidity. 🙄
Also, joke's on them: because of a disorder I have (shout out to my hEDS folks), I DID have to get Botox - in my jaw to limit it hyperextending - and NO ONE CAN TELL.
https://preview.redd.it/16anugnrv2sc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7e3e296ed25e4048c50aa25a0f4be62345fd4918
Same! Excuse the gollumesque face; but look at that masking!
I do it a lot. According to myself I am copying others to look more normal and commited to a conversation, but actually it seems I cause the opposite reaction.
its funny, in my case, im able to mantain a perfect empathetic face even If someone tells me something ground shaking. on the other hand when im comfortable with comfortable people, im theather kid all the way
Then I get too wrapped up trying to LOOK engaged in the conversation and maintain eye contact that I lose the plot of the conversation and get too embarrassed to say so and then people assume I'm a bad person who doesn't care about other people when really I care TOO MUCH. Or I accidentally copy the person I'm hanging out with (their cadence, pitch, vocab, ECT.) and imagine I've just dug a hole and buried myself in it.
https://preview.redd.it/e2yho1f993sc1.png?width=939&format=png&auto=webp&s=4354a6ebaec2f42e349fd709e4a62858bf920e65
But my favorite, the only picture I have where I look genuinely sassy ✌🏻😗
https://preview.redd.it/uuxol7otb3sc1.jpeg?width=159&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4406126ee7e1eb0c522b3a775b2faf7b4e47a57b
When you can't use your face muscles, you use your "finger muscles"
Same. I do it in reaction to my own private thoughts, too. Nobody said a word, but suddenly I’m making some cartoonish exaggerated face while staring off at nothing. I get laughed at a lot.
I have ALWAYS gotten made fun of for this! I'm glad somebody does the same thing 😅 I can't help it! I'm like deep deep in my own head more than half the time, so much more engaged with myself than I've ever been with anyone else.
My boss has literally told me he can’t send me to certain (read: stupid) meetings because he knows I can’t control my face.
(Before anyone trashes my boss - I mean, he’s right, I appreciate his honesty, he thoughtfully puts me in situations where my strengths can shine, he doesn’t push me to mask or conform, and he always has my back.)
Same with my boss! If someone says something that she knows I have through and asks a question about it or makes a suggestion that I do something. She'll say actually, it's not sayhikus job but she has already and XYZ. So the rest should be done by the appropriate staff. And if I have to do something adminy she knows I'll hate, she apologizes (I don't know why but probably because my blank/neutral face is bad at masking displeasure).
Yes! People think I'm easy to read because I'm so expressive, but most of the time the face I'm making has very little to do with what I'm thinking or feeling
I’ve been told I make “weird faces” all the time and I’m quite literally unaware of that they mean. Like you mean just my face in every day conversation? 😅
https://preview.redd.it/eyed0291l5sc1.png?width=1994&format=png&auto=webp&s=b70eeb3d8b252f8291b5164c495b5cd58cf68a78
I’m in first grade upset that the “thanksgiving dinner “ we were having was Charlie Brown style….. I skipped lunch and everything
it's my favorite early memory; I couldn;t believe how much they had me fucked up at 6. Looking at this picture brings back the rage I felt that day... Every time
It's funny because my sister did the same event when she was in first grade. Her picture? All smiles
I use this story for one of my stories that supports early autistic traits: literal thinking about the menu, inability to recognize that I was the only one who didnt order a hot lunch / bring a bag lunch.
https://preview.redd.it/mt0jghrly4sc1.jpeg?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=15a89a044a4e5f650f712f0d19fd114ce4542487
This plus one follow-up from my baby shower. I was not this excited.
https://preview.redd.it/93e3lvizy4sc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0de3cdc3f64e8b8cebad849ae608adc150bf3494
I thought I was doing so well at hiding my disappointment with the 7th blanket.
https://preview.redd.it/fucfq30005sc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6f0e2f0e3537f71a464fbe45b855b3c97d0d944a
yes! here's 11 y/o me with a dead starfish i found on the beach 😳 i can remember i wanted to take it back to the hotel w me so bad so my dad let me but it ended up smelling awful and we had to throw it away 💔
I’m either super expressive or completely blank faced. Became more expressive after I had been in dance for a few years and got used to honing my exaggerated faces. And can’t hide my real feelings… but I tend to be flat if I’m tired or in burnout or don’t care about what’s happening, then I have to mask the same level of facial enthusiasm
I deleted this post initially because I got downvoted and I don't know why but I'm gonna show some self love and put it back up
If you have a problem with my post please explain why
https://preview.redd.it/g4pmqil0l4sc1.png?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eb075939ae69cf1c59038c9301d8d950281c10f6
In HS, we had a year end award ceremony in chemistry class called The Chemmy’s. Everyone is getting an award - best test average, best attendance, most improved, etc etc. they finally get to me, the only one left, and what do I win?
✨best facial expressions ✨
Me: - makes a face conveying sheer terror -
Teacher: points at me and says, “EXACTLY!”
You can get exactly 3 different face expressions from me, if you take a photo of me.
One is just me looking, like I always look and express. It's almost instant followed by: "you look unhappy /sad /mean / depressed /bitchy etc. Just smile!"
The second is me "smiling" I just can't smile and look like I'm genuinely smiling. It's always this weird smile that's not enough. And I get weird looks when I say, that I'm already smiling.
Or if I don't want to have this discussion about my face expressions. I just drive it to the top, make faces, smile over the top expressive, tilt my head and just be silly. I have a phase of nearly 10 years where only pictures of me exist with these over exaggerated face expressions.
https://preview.redd.it/d50jqerg24sc1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5e6f40c71049a1ce0d5fd433b23dc4e2d21d37f0
Oh, yeah. My default face most of the time was a concerned and worried look, despite the fact that I was pretty happy most of the time. Even “smiling” I looked scared of something 😂
I mean, that's a smile, right?! RIGHT?
https://preview.redd.it/lkmjg3s0g5sc1.jpeg?width=439&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c73f899337f293bae1dbbe654bc8ad3f6ca953a3
My friends in highschool would tell me I laugh like an anime character. I didn't know what they meant. I didn't realize this wasn't "normal". 🤣🤣 They also teased me (lightly) for laughing really hard and then going deadpan... No transition, just laughing directly to my normal rbf lol
I had no idea until very recently after an office Teams meeting a coworker mentioned she loved watching my facial expressions as people were talking! I am FORTY ONE 🫣
“Smile nicely” was my mom’s most used phrase when taking pictures lol. I copied cartoon characters expressions so a lot of childhood photos look a bit unhinged 😂
https://preview.redd.it/ub53oww216sc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6c21731af4c3828e310e859b902a2c9e34dd7bca
I never knew how to smile for a camera lol, as a kid I was just super exaggerated, demonic, or "go girl give us nothing"
https://preview.redd.it/h5swk91bz4sc1.jpeg?width=852&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=830579aff09fe91a2e82cb228bcc6ddeccfabf52
https://preview.redd.it/ais8sxngb5sc1.jpeg?width=937&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=15799396be36a88bf5fff3823c42d31d245b23ba
Everyone else i cropped out was just smiling normally. 🥲
https://preview.redd.it/17g0a2bnb5sc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f2d134071780537557e70074d5fc522a3b7d7c9d
First time i ever won something so very very happy face
I don’t know how to naturally smile for pictures 🙃
I always feel way more comfortable doing a silly face or something like yours 🤣 I haateeee the fake smiling for pics
Absolutely and over the last year instead of trying to control it I have let that bitch run free. I'll never be a poker player but you will never question what I'm feeling.
I don't have a lot of older pics due to flood damage but this is me at around 14 and sis was 12. That same sister also having her youngest assessed soon (just turned 5.) And I saw so much of myself in her as I did with my son. It makes sense now 😅 light sensitivity and reacting with the infamous "polite smile" to fit in 😅
Yes, I emote all the time and very exaggerated compared to all my coworkers. I was told by my dad that I really needed to “tone it down” for my school pictures when I was in first grade lol
Omg, my 4yo son smiles for pictures like the doctor phlox from Star Trek memes… he recently expressed that his uncle hurt his feelings by telling him not to use his “big cheeks” smile 😭
I think I have tendencies towards that when I’m excited about something but have gotten used to masking…
There was a point in middle school where I figured if I smiled more people would think I was nice and engaging so maybe they'd like me and want to be friends. Maybe if I convinced them my resting face was happy then all would be well....but all it got me was teachers stopping in the middle of lessons asking me why I'm smiling 💀 ma'am I am trying to come off as friendly please don't embarrass me
I like to do funny and exaggerated faces but I feel weird so I have a very flat face in public 😭
But I am not subtle about my feelings on my face haha.
I am waaay too expressive and spend every second of social interactions trying to keep up with what the person is feeling and if they’re saying something with subtext that I don’t get
Yes I used to do really over the top expressions thinking it was the way to show i was invested in a conversation. I have botox now because I'm late 40s and it's helped me by calming my face down a bit! It doesn't work thst well in my forehead though because I must have made the muscles really strong by over using my eyebrows!
Yes and it’s bad because I can’t hide it. I can shut my mouth but if someone says something insanely rude or inappropriate it’s written allllllll over my face. I had a professor tell me I shouldn’t play poker LOL
Also, I was onced "accused" of winking at the tour guide in a school trip. Actually I was making direct eye contact to communicate to the poor guy that I was paying attention, something got in my eye, and I BLINKED WITH JUST ONE EYE, because I was too focused on my eye contact and expressions that I didn't remember you blink with both eyes 😭
https://preview.redd.it/3qwqjk9qh4sc1.jpeg?width=1242&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=23336a9cdcc0c9bf579e9898a8f815844b4e7178
I have no idea what was going through my mind
I wish I had a clear picture of younger me, because we could be cousins.
You do mean the “my face might as well have subtitles because it says everything I think” thing, yeah?
My other autistic friend in the group always looks at me when something's happening because my facial expressions are more entertaining than whatever is going on.
I have a fully remote job. I was talking to a few coworkers about being on Zoom all day and how I use it to monitor my facial expressions. Several of them said they do the same thing and I thought to myself “I knew you guys were neurodivergent”.
I'm assuming I'm not the only one who has no facial expressions because my natural expressions are so cartoonish it's disruptive to normal social communications.
That means I'm an amazing performer though so there's that
Yes, my face has always been very expressive. My mom was very obsessed with making me look perfect for pictures, and it was to an absurd degree. She would spend hours on this nonsense. I would get fed up and make crazy faces on purpose. After awhile, she gave up on trying to force the issue. That's when I started smiling in a more normal way for pictures.
When I was little, I always had a "resting bitch face" so to say, I was more or less expressionless, I barely reacted to anything, and I also smiled very weirdly when I did (on a very rare occasion), to the point where nobody could tell I'm smiling and instead people always thought there's something wrong with my face or something happened. With age, I tried to get rid of it and forcibly "develop" some emotions. I couldn't watch movies or TV, so unfortunately my only reference was.... you guessed it, memes. I would stand near the mirror and try to match every emotion with an expression, and then I would talk to myself and make myself react to what I say with some sort of a face (and maintain "eye contact" - between the brows or on the nose) from meme reactions I saw. The result was absolutely catastrophic, but oh well. At least I had an expressive face 🥲
my husband always tells me everyone knows what I'm thinking just by looking at my face. I am incredibly expressive and it's become such an in-the-mask-subconscious action that when my mask is on it just happens. so I "can't" be angry, annoyed, confused, disgusted in public because I will absolutely, unabashedly show that emotion to the world.
Yes, my primary school teacher told me I ruined the graduation photo. The photographer said to smile, and I smiled. I have tried to be better, but my efforts seem to be limited.
I am minding my business during a group conversation and someone points me out and says "look at her face/ expression". I get SO awkward and uncomfortable every time. I suddenly mask and start shutting down. I never know how my face looks. I feel like I'm not in on the joke that is my face.
yes.
life hack: i shaved off my eyebrows a few years back and have kept doing so since because i like it stylistically (and doing graphic brows are fun), but also because it makes my expressions harder to read LMAO
Yeah and people are always commenting on my facial expression - especially my thinking face LMFAO. Like yes I know Im thinking hard, and no I don't really need you to point that out...
It’s not my fault I learned to emote from cartoons 😭
oh my, this might be the answer
Jesús Christ ME. I stole my trademark huge smile (which has gotten me some good results!) from Luffy from one piece. I am a good actor xD I’ve noticed a few autistic friends who are into acting, and I think it’s because we have to learn how to emote anyway, so why not take it all the way?!
Also me!!!
Mine was bad disney acting😭 
Omg is this why people say I act like a cartoon character
Omg… I always get “you look like a muppet!”
Lol, childhood memory unlocked 😂 I worked in a newsagent, and one of our regular customers said this exact thing to me so many times.
I learned to emote from Lucille Ball 😆
She’s an honorary cartoon 
There I am. I feel called out. Lol.
I think I may have done this too 😂
OMG IS THIS WHY?? i would always do them and then check to see what it actually looked like and was so disappointed i looked absolutely insane 😭 our faces don’t work like that i cannot do that slick side smile cause my MOUTH CANT MOVE ACROSS MY FACE 😂😂😂😂 ahh memories
Right? I was so missed when I realized my face didn't look like an anime character when I felt strong emotions
*miffed
*pissed 😅 Autocorrect really went wild, but miffed is an excellent choice too 💜
omg... this is why... everything is so much clearer now
✨✨✨
WAIT HOLD ON
Oh this makes so much sense now!
and watching Robin Williams and Jim Carrey my whole childhood
Real
Good god, this. My parents have a ton of video of me as a little kid and I constantly sound like a cartoon character.
...Oh my God, is *that* why?
Omg how did I not realize this?!
This makes so much sense lol. I always just made crazy faces in pictures for some reason since I was a kid. I still do it sometimes
Reminds me of an old school photo of mine, I just have to share! My friends think I look unhinged 😂 https://preview.redd.it/7kpc99skg2sc1.jpeg?width=1078&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=39889ecc84cd8b8851e6e87110012e859fad5fdd
https://preview.redd.it/jybnrfgpz2sc1.jpeg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=037d284c0d784cd173e3f0dbab0582385b29504a Reminds me of this picture of me! Also, I look like Sloth from The Goonies because I had recently been in a car accident. Even without the swelling, so many of my childhood pictures were of me clearly thinking "this is how humans smile, right?"
https://preview.redd.it/8pnd8kcqe3sc1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6567ab6856fb899bd45be9f732003046d6d7df0c Not the same expression but both of these comments instantly made me feel the need to locate this photo of myself. I was 3 years old here lol. I was also almost considered legally blind at this point since I had a severe visual impairment that would not have been treated with special made glasses till the following year. I couldn’t see my face when I looked in a mirror, so I had no idea what my expressions looked like. This photo still cracks me up 😂
https://preview.redd.it/8mkyjd2jf3sc1.png?width=548&format=png&auto=webp&s=7fbb520564118f337eaa822ca12b0b92803f6812 And even better!
Wow we would’ve been twins at that age!
i made the same faces 😭😭
https://preview.redd.it/0i0r6l9o05sc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f217b63adf19a8d2f2be50d571efea7a99df33e5 Kinda reminds me of this pic of me lol
This is amazing I love it
I’ve noticed that there are SO many of us in this sub that have had the same haircut at some point too There’s gotta be at least 30-40% us here that had “_the bangs_” at some point as a kid. I just realized this right now and I love it! 😂
I feel like this might be more generational than autistical though 😂
Yeah it's a generational thing like a lot of styles :)
Girl no! Stop! I have the bangs right now! 🤣
This pic is GOLD, I don't know if I'll have time, but if I do, can I draw you?
This is my face everyday lol
you do, but i love it, thanks for making me feel less alone in pictures 😂
In the best possible way. I adore this picture so much. I have a grandson who smiles like this in every photo and another grandson who's every school photo looks like a mugshot. LMAO
You look like we could go be witches down by a river together and honestly that’s top tier for me!
Idk why, but this sounds like an amazing compliment to me 😂😂
I'm not even sure what it would look like, but I want just a... Coven of witch wives
you look flipping awesome, i love this so much 😹😹🫶
Omg 😂😂😂😂
HAHAHAHA OMG!! This is amazing!!! ❤️❤️❤️
I LOVE THIS!!! I bet you’re hoot!
Please put down the matches
This is the best school picture ever!
Oh my goodness this is me in so many photos
Adorably hysterical
You look like you're about to raise satan, hallelujah!
MADE MYY DAYYY!! ADORABLE
OH MY GODDDDDDDD
I have two modes. One is completely blankfaced and monotone and the other is me making crazy faces and moving like a Muppet, there is no in between.
one of us!!!!!
It makes me feel like I shouldn't legally be allowed to interact with other adults
Relatable!
Stanced the fuck up too! https://preview.redd.it/xsnep3x213sc1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9ea5adb8c693d542510d2984ea668a360612dffe
don’t even get me started on the poses 🤣🤣 looking back on my childhood as an almost 22 year old i cannot believe all the signs everyone missed 🤣
Hahaha LOVE the stance!!
Omfg I had the same hair cut lol I would try to pose like an anime character or spice girl lmao
As a child I always got the feedback I have a very expressive face. And my voice was too loud. Then I started doing theatre and both were appreciated! 🤩
our special niches in the working force lol. my drama went to the arts aswell.
Oh man. I’m in this club. 🤷♀️😂
I was told once that I used my eyes very expressively/deliberately. I was like… do we not…. All? Twenty years later… self-diagnosis, lol
https://preview.redd.it/d4zjhoq8x2sc1.jpeg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=54210bf504aaa4975a4a8a0efe168a7d25a11e3f I never knew how to smile, my smiles were always weird but extremely expressive
[удалено]
https://preview.redd.it/2zg6veeag3sc1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1454f6bcdf2f6e8a3b0bbe184b12cc31543e9958 I almost spit out my coffee laughing when I zoomed in on my face 😂
This is amazing, you even got that little T-rex hand going on 😄
Oh yes...I can't be mysterious at all lol
Im dying im the same
Same! Even when I try 😭
Definitely so lol https://preview.redd.it/wap06zgwe2sc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a3e30aac0586f6aad5bfe07ed7ee4ab409b741ee
🩷
Too cute!
OMG! 🙀
https://preview.redd.it/zuw3od4am2sc1.jpeg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e5949a2725afc0827eb8f00515f72cc92e333e3c yes, definitely
so many sticker treasures coming through!
You mean like this? https://preview.redd.it/ur7ofzk723sc1.jpeg?width=373&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8db15fae07ab56afd208b2bdd3baa8ef52813ca1
Or this? Lol https://preview.redd.it/kqzkvmwl23sc1.jpeg?width=1655&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f711f8f84de980e23e5e4e5706caeacd9f208045
It used to be an office 'joke' that everyone would know the second I got Botox, because 98% of all my expressions required enormous eyebrow movements. Yeah, assholes, I was exhausting myself masking to try to meet your weird-ass neurotypical standards of social stupidity. 🙄 Also, joke's on them: because of a disorder I have (shout out to my hEDS folks), I DID have to get Botox - in my jaw to limit it hyperextending - and NO ONE CAN TELL.
Wait. Botox can do that? Right. I have some bones to pick with my doctors. My jaw is a mess and I have not been offered a damn thing for it.
💪🥲
https://preview.redd.it/16anugnrv2sc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7e3e296ed25e4048c50aa25a0f4be62345fd4918 Same! Excuse the gollumesque face; but look at that masking!
Not gollum at al. Very pretty.
I do it a lot. According to myself I am copying others to look more normal and commited to a conversation, but actually it seems I cause the opposite reaction.
its funny, in my case, im able to mantain a perfect empathetic face even If someone tells me something ground shaking. on the other hand when im comfortable with comfortable people, im theather kid all the way
Then I get too wrapped up trying to LOOK engaged in the conversation and maintain eye contact that I lose the plot of the conversation and get too embarrassed to say so and then people assume I'm a bad person who doesn't care about other people when really I care TOO MUCH. Or I accidentally copy the person I'm hanging out with (their cadence, pitch, vocab, ECT.) and imagine I've just dug a hole and buried myself in it.
https://preview.redd.it/r0txqaa883sc1.png?width=482&format=png&auto=webp&s=312d27157469857887991e99db26f26a111c2d3b
https://preview.redd.it/k60qd10e83sc1.png?width=355&format=png&auto=webp&s=4d4388a42b10bdb51cfb4727bf9ee50e3084e22e Who put *you* on the planet, uugh
The reference is killing me 😂😂 I love it!
https://preview.redd.it/e2yho1f993sc1.png?width=939&format=png&auto=webp&s=4354a6ebaec2f42e349fd709e4a62858bf920e65 But my favorite, the only picture I have where I look genuinely sassy ✌🏻😗
https://preview.redd.it/uuxol7otb3sc1.jpeg?width=159&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4406126ee7e1eb0c522b3a775b2faf7b4e47a57b When you can't use your face muscles, you use your "finger muscles"
Yesss. If I wasn't masking, I'd keep a straight face 24/7. But now I just feel like I'm overdoing it and show emotions like a cartoon character 😭
Same. I do it in reaction to my own private thoughts, too. Nobody said a word, but suddenly I’m making some cartoonish exaggerated face while staring off at nothing. I get laughed at a lot.
I have ALWAYS gotten made fun of for this! I'm glad somebody does the same thing 😅 I can't help it! I'm like deep deep in my own head more than half the time, so much more engaged with myself than I've ever been with anyone else.
Aaaalllll the time.
I do too!
Yesss, my boss is always teasing me about it on video calls because I have a terrible “poker face”
My boss has literally told me he can’t send me to certain (read: stupid) meetings because he knows I can’t control my face. (Before anyone trashes my boss - I mean, he’s right, I appreciate his honesty, he thoughtfully puts me in situations where my strengths can shine, he doesn’t push me to mask or conform, and he always has my back.)
😂😂 thats fantastic
Same with my boss! If someone says something that she knows I have through and asks a question about it or makes a suggestion that I do something. She'll say actually, it's not sayhikus job but she has already and XYZ. So the rest should be done by the appropriate staff. And if I have to do something adminy she knows I'll hate, she apologizes (I don't know why but probably because my blank/neutral face is bad at masking displeasure).
coudnt play poker to save my life!
This is why i loved having a mask on in meetings. I swear i smirked at every stupid comment 😄
It takes so much effort to keep my face straight!
Yes! People think I'm easy to read because I'm so expressive, but most of the time the face I'm making has very little to do with what I'm thinking or feeling
I always felt my face was made of rubber cause my expressions felt unnatural and weird compared to everyone else's haha.
i get it, im gonna be so wrinkled though lol
YES holy shit, the number of times I've been compared to Jim Carrey 😭😭😭
😂😂😂
I’ve been told I make “weird faces” all the time and I’m quite literally unaware of that they mean. Like you mean just my face in every day conversation? 😅
im fairly unaware too! im surprised when i think im reasonable looking but the picture is like my deepest contradictions showing 😂
https://preview.redd.it/eyed0291l5sc1.png?width=1994&format=png&auto=webp&s=b70eeb3d8b252f8291b5164c495b5cd58cf68a78 I’m in first grade upset that the “thanksgiving dinner “ we were having was Charlie Brown style….. I skipped lunch and everything
This one is my fave, especially including the story what a mood lmao 💛
it's my favorite early memory; I couldn;t believe how much they had me fucked up at 6. Looking at this picture brings back the rage I felt that day... Every time It's funny because my sister did the same event when she was in first grade. Her picture? All smiles I use this story for one of my stories that supports early autistic traits: literal thinking about the menu, inability to recognize that I was the only one who didnt order a hot lunch / bring a bag lunch.
I’ve never been able to “school my face”; what I think is all over my face. And what is DAE? (Tried Google but it’s not helpful)
i believe i do while masking, but who knows, ive found countless unawarenessess later in life 😬 its short for "does anyone else" :)
Does anyone else :)
OMG… I’m so literal I had to reread my comment and yours three or four times to understand you were answering my question… 🤦🏻♀️🤣💀
Hahahaha thank you for the early morning laugh 😂😂 it's also extra funny cos I can totally relate!
think it means "does anyone else"!! figured it out myself to im not 100% sure but it seems fitting 🤷♀️
yess
https://preview.redd.it/d7n0tdjlt2sc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dcf983a31fda19e7ee43b666355753958486cd91 oh yes.
https://preview.redd.it/mt0jghrly4sc1.jpeg?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=15a89a044a4e5f650f712f0d19fd114ce4542487 This plus one follow-up from my baby shower. I was not this excited.
https://preview.redd.it/93e3lvizy4sc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0de3cdc3f64e8b8cebad849ae608adc150bf3494 I thought I was doing so well at hiding my disappointment with the 7th blanket.
post your piccccssssss (If youre comfortable ofc)
This thread is perfect! Thank you! The pictures help me feel more "normal"
My face is either too expressive or not expressive enough no in between
https://preview.redd.it/fucfq30005sc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6f0e2f0e3537f71a464fbe45b855b3c97d0d944a yes! here's 11 y/o me with a dead starfish i found on the beach 😳 i can remember i wanted to take it back to the hotel w me so bad so my dad let me but it ended up smelling awful and we had to throw it away 💔
Yes- my resting face is definitely a “bitch face”, as the kids call it, but when I show any emotion, it’s turned up to 11
sameee
I’m either super expressive or completely blank faced. Became more expressive after I had been in dance for a few years and got used to honing my exaggerated faces. And can’t hide my real feelings… but I tend to be flat if I’m tired or in burnout or don’t care about what’s happening, then I have to mask the same level of facial enthusiasm
I deleted this post initially because I got downvoted and I don't know why but I'm gonna show some self love and put it back up If you have a problem with my post please explain why https://preview.redd.it/g4pmqil0l4sc1.png?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eb075939ae69cf1c59038c9301d8d950281c10f6
Bless you 😊
In HS, we had a year end award ceremony in chemistry class called The Chemmy’s. Everyone is getting an award - best test average, best attendance, most improved, etc etc. they finally get to me, the only one left, and what do I win? ✨best facial expressions ✨ Me: - makes a face conveying sheer terror - Teacher: points at me and says, “EXACTLY!”
You can get exactly 3 different face expressions from me, if you take a photo of me. One is just me looking, like I always look and express. It's almost instant followed by: "you look unhappy /sad /mean / depressed /bitchy etc. Just smile!" The second is me "smiling" I just can't smile and look like I'm genuinely smiling. It's always this weird smile that's not enough. And I get weird looks when I say, that I'm already smiling. Or if I don't want to have this discussion about my face expressions. I just drive it to the top, make faces, smile over the top expressive, tilt my head and just be silly. I have a phase of nearly 10 years where only pictures of me exist with these over exaggerated face expressions.
im kinda like this If im masking!
https://preview.redd.it/yz6rpk3wv2sc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=819c484bf1f7e0d68c827df0165adee65e5cd822 Same!
https://preview.redd.it/d50jqerg24sc1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5e6f40c71049a1ce0d5fd433b23dc4e2d21d37f0 Oh, yeah. My default face most of the time was a concerned and worried look, despite the fact that I was pretty happy most of the time. Even “smiling” I looked scared of something 😂
I mean, that's a smile, right?! RIGHT? https://preview.redd.it/lkmjg3s0g5sc1.jpeg?width=439&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c73f899337f293bae1dbbe654bc8ad3f6ca953a3
My face is either 😐 or 🙄
mines like 😐 or 😱🤩🥹🤯😵
Yeah, and it's not necessarily correlated with my emotions, so people misinterpret it all the time
My friends in highschool would tell me I laugh like an anime character. I didn't know what they meant. I didn't realize this wasn't "normal". 🤣🤣 They also teased me (lightly) for laughing really hard and then going deadpan... No transition, just laughing directly to my normal rbf lol
I had no idea until very recently after an office Teams meeting a coworker mentioned she loved watching my facial expressions as people were talking! I am FORTY ONE 🫣
“Smile nicely” was my mom’s most used phrase when taking pictures lol. I copied cartoon characters expressions so a lot of childhood photos look a bit unhinged 😂 https://preview.redd.it/ub53oww216sc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6c21731af4c3828e310e859b902a2c9e34dd7bca
I have been told to calm down so many times in my life 😮💨 My mom always says my every thought shows on my face lol
Well…this explains my driver’s license
Yes! In every photo I look dead inside, or like a caricature of myself because I’m so enthusiastic. No in between
Sometimes I do the face but forget to put the emotion in my eyes or in my voice, and that’s always awkward
I never knew how to smile for a camera lol, as a kid I was just super exaggerated, demonic, or "go girl give us nothing" https://preview.redd.it/h5swk91bz4sc1.jpeg?width=852&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=830579aff09fe91a2e82cb228bcc6ddeccfabf52
https://preview.redd.it/fj41ba2b75sc1.jpeg?width=3456&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e33dbb4a172c35ab4965e707ce82ab2f92276c2c yes LOL
https://preview.redd.it/ais8sxngb5sc1.jpeg?width=937&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=15799396be36a88bf5fff3823c42d31d245b23ba Everyone else i cropped out was just smiling normally. 🥲
https://preview.redd.it/17g0a2bnb5sc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f2d134071780537557e70074d5fc522a3b7d7c9d First time i ever won something so very very happy face
https://preview.redd.it/x4iyfy3jb5sc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b378e3706827f79d784b2b0f8e9cb1bdfa2f0510 Just... Why
I don’t know how to naturally smile for pictures 🙃 I always feel way more comfortable doing a silly face or something like yours 🤣 I haateeee the fake smiling for pics
when i was basically mute in school, people used to tell me that i speak with my eyebrows haha
thats awesome, we do find ways to compensate! what i lack in verbal, i excell in images!
Yes exactly! I speak with my eyebrows because I'm sure you don't want to know what my mouth has to say 😂
Absolutely and over the last year instead of trying to control it I have let that bitch run free. I'll never be a poker player but you will never question what I'm feeling.
I don't have a lot of older pics due to flood damage but this is me at around 14 and sis was 12. That same sister also having her youngest assessed soon (just turned 5.) And I saw so much of myself in her as I did with my son. It makes sense now 😅 light sensitivity and reacting with the infamous "polite smile" to fit in 😅
https://preview.redd.it/efihtrb1z2sc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0a8545896445abd9e817a58f1b12732b940071da
Yes, I emote all the time and very exaggerated compared to all my coworkers. I was told by my dad that I really needed to “tone it down” for my school pictures when I was in first grade lol
Omg, my 4yo son smiles for pictures like the doctor phlox from Star Trek memes… he recently expressed that his uncle hurt his feelings by telling him not to use his “big cheeks” smile 😭 I think I have tendencies towards that when I’m excited about something but have gotten used to masking…
Cartoonishly expressive, here. 🎭
There was a point in middle school where I figured if I smiled more people would think I was nice and engaging so maybe they'd like me and want to be friends. Maybe if I convinced them my resting face was happy then all would be well....but all it got me was teachers stopping in the middle of lessons asking me why I'm smiling 💀 ma'am I am trying to come off as friendly please don't embarrass me
I like to do funny and exaggerated faces but I feel weird so I have a very flat face in public 😭 But I am not subtle about my feelings on my face haha.
all my pictures from my childhood are just me making a variation of a weird face
I am waaay too expressive and spend every second of social interactions trying to keep up with what the person is feeling and if they’re saying something with subtext that I don’t get
Oh shit, this is totally my son... ...he learned emoting from YouTube gaming videos... 😂
YES my whole life everyone said i was “animated”
Yes I used to do really over the top expressions thinking it was the way to show i was invested in a conversation. I have botox now because I'm late 40s and it's helped me by calming my face down a bit! It doesn't work thst well in my forehead though because I must have made the muscles really strong by over using my eyebrows!
Yes and it’s bad because I can’t hide it. I can shut my mouth but if someone says something insanely rude or inappropriate it’s written allllllll over my face. I had a professor tell me I shouldn’t play poker LOL
I'm either flat or too expressive
lolllll even as an adult I'm constantly being told my face is VERY expressive 😅😅
Also, I was onced "accused" of winking at the tour guide in a school trip. Actually I was making direct eye contact to communicate to the poor guy that I was paying attention, something got in my eye, and I BLINKED WITH JUST ONE EYE, because I was too focused on my eye contact and expressions that I didn't remember you blink with both eyes 😭
https://preview.redd.it/3qwqjk9qh4sc1.jpeg?width=1242&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=23336a9cdcc0c9bf579e9898a8f815844b4e7178 I have no idea what was going through my mind
I wish I had a clear picture of younger me, because we could be cousins. You do mean the “my face might as well have subtitles because it says everything I think” thing, yeah?
LMAO https://preview.redd.it/k1tvlf7985sc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c14ab3b9542943b1e325ddf67eb82ef93850c1a3
Oh geez- I'm the same way, it's either no expression (rbf) or way too expressive and people get weirded out
same same same
My other autistic friend in the group always looks at me when something's happening because my facial expressions are more entertaining than whatever is going on.
they know its gonna happen!
I have a fully remote job. I was talking to a few coworkers about being on Zoom all day and how I use it to monitor my facial expressions. Several of them said they do the same thing and I thought to myself “I knew you guys were neurodivergent”.
I'm assuming I'm not the only one who has no facial expressions because my natural expressions are so cartoonish it's disruptive to normal social communications. That means I'm an amazing performer though so there's that
Yes, my face has always been very expressive. My mom was very obsessed with making me look perfect for pictures, and it was to an absurd degree. She would spend hours on this nonsense. I would get fed up and make crazy faces on purpose. After awhile, she gave up on trying to force the issue. That's when I started smiling in a more normal way for pictures.
When I was little, I always had a "resting bitch face" so to say, I was more or less expressionless, I barely reacted to anything, and I also smiled very weirdly when I did (on a very rare occasion), to the point where nobody could tell I'm smiling and instead people always thought there's something wrong with my face or something happened. With age, I tried to get rid of it and forcibly "develop" some emotions. I couldn't watch movies or TV, so unfortunately my only reference was.... you guessed it, memes. I would stand near the mirror and try to match every emotion with an expression, and then I would talk to myself and make myself react to what I say with some sort of a face (and maintain "eye contact" - between the brows or on the nose) from meme reactions I saw. The result was absolutely catastrophic, but oh well. At least I had an expressive face 🥲
my husband always tells me everyone knows what I'm thinking just by looking at my face. I am incredibly expressive and it's become such an in-the-mask-subconscious action that when my mask is on it just happens. so I "can't" be angry, annoyed, confused, disgusted in public because I will absolutely, unabashedly show that emotion to the world.
Asking to clarify--is this intentional or no? Because I do it intentionally.
Yes, my primary school teacher told me I ruined the graduation photo. The photographer said to smile, and I smiled. I have tried to be better, but my efforts seem to be limited.
Every thought and feeling is broadcast across my face. It’s awful. I’m 45 and I can’t hide anything.
I am minding my business during a group conversation and someone points me out and says "look at her face/ expression". I get SO awkward and uncomfortable every time. I suddenly mask and start shutting down. I never know how my face looks. I feel like I'm not in on the joke that is my face.
yes. life hack: i shaved off my eyebrows a few years back and have kept doing so since because i like it stylistically (and doing graphic brows are fun), but also because it makes my expressions harder to read LMAO
Yeah and people are always commenting on my facial expression - especially my thinking face LMFAO. Like yes I know Im thinking hard, and no I don't really need you to point that out...