So... topic about... well, it says on the tin what it's about.
But I should elaborate a bit more from a personal experience.
It is often said that we don't understand body language presented by others, and that might be a fair claim. However, what I feel to see with any interaction with a healthcare professional is that there's an assumption that just because I don't understand someone else's body language, my own body language couldn't be wrong in any possible way.
If anything, I think that body language is more ambiguous than verbal language.
A few years back I had an assessment and while I was giving out a lot of personal information towards this psychologist, he still stated that I had a closed body language. Closed as in; my arms across in front of me. Apparently this is a cue in body language to underline that someone is closed and reluctant to share information. The fact that this person ended up writing 10 pages in about an hour on me... I'm probably missing out on something.
So eventually push came to shove (proverbially speaking) and he called me out on it. To where I replied "how can you assume that my understanding of body language is the same as everyone else?". I was retorted with a blank stare. I think it hit him where it hurts.
This was way before I got my diagnosis, though I think this comment made him think that I might be on the spectrum, since... you know, body language and failing to notice social cues is often associated with autism.
Up until that day (and by that day I was well in my late 20's already) I never ever wondered or worried about body language as a concept. So with that, I might not have the faintest clue what exactly he meant... and perhaps because of my odd relationship with "universal body language" I might have evoked reactions with certain people in the past.
So with that it often makes me wonder because I didn't (and still not really) have a clue on how body language works for me, how it translates to understanding body language in general. I hardly recognize these cues... and honestly I don't have the desire to, since having both spoken information and body language telling me something might be an information overload. I deal better with written communication since that takes out the physical component.for a large part.
What's worrisome about this about failing to understand body language, especially when it comes to "acting the right way" is that some people will still automatically assume that your body language tells something and the fact that body language might be a foreign language to some (or some just had terrible training and aren't as adept in it) just seems odd.
All the times I had run ins with the authorities in my area because body language might give off a wrong signal... I mean, it's good they are trained in it, but it's quite a nuisance.
On a somewhat related, albeit dystopian note (it might create some paranoid feelings with some, so don't put to much weight on it). Surveillance and gathering information on citizens is a big thing. However, all that data is too much for people to check. I mean, even the NSA can't check up on all the information they gather just by manual labor. So computers screen this based on word searches and algorithms. CCTV systems (and drones) are a thing and it wouldn't surprise me if eventually even human behavior will be digitized so a computer can recognize "suspect behavior". But these algorithms will most likely be based upon someone who understands and expresses normal body language. Having unpredictable behavior is one of those things a computer can't work with. I guess I feel somewhat concerned that just based on that I expect a lot more run-ins with the law.
But I should elaborate a bit more from a personal experience.
It is often said that we don't understand body language presented by others, and that might be a fair claim. However, what I feel to see with any interaction with a healthcare professional is that there's an assumption that just because I don't understand someone else's body language, my own body language couldn't be wrong in any possible way.
If anything, I think that body language is more ambiguous than verbal language.
A few years back I had an assessment and while I was giving out a lot of personal information towards this psychologist, he still stated that I had a closed body language. Closed as in; my arms across in front of me. Apparently this is a cue in body language to underline that someone is closed and reluctant to share information. The fact that this person ended up writing 10 pages in about an hour on me... I'm probably missing out on something.
So eventually push came to shove (proverbially speaking) and he called me out on it. To where I replied "how can you assume that my understanding of body language is the same as everyone else?". I was retorted with a blank stare. I think it hit him where it hurts.
This was way before I got my diagnosis, though I think this comment made him think that I might be on the spectrum, since... you know, body language and failing to notice social cues is often associated with autism.
Up until that day (and by that day I was well in my late 20's already) I never ever wondered or worried about body language as a concept. So with that, I might not have the faintest clue what exactly he meant... and perhaps because of my odd relationship with "universal body language" I might have evoked reactions with certain people in the past.
So with that it often makes me wonder because I didn't (and still not really) have a clue on how body language works for me, how it translates to understanding body language in general. I hardly recognize these cues... and honestly I don't have the desire to, since having both spoken information and body language telling me something might be an information overload. I deal better with written communication since that takes out the physical component.for a large part.
What's worrisome about this about failing to understand body language, especially when it comes to "acting the right way" is that some people will still automatically assume that your body language tells something and the fact that body language might be a foreign language to some (or some just had terrible training and aren't as adept in it) just seems odd.
All the times I had run ins with the authorities in my area because body language might give off a wrong signal... I mean, it's good they are trained in it, but it's quite a nuisance.
On a somewhat related, albeit dystopian note (it might create some paranoid feelings with some, so don't put to much weight on it). Surveillance and gathering information on citizens is a big thing. However, all that data is too much for people to check. I mean, even the NSA can't check up on all the information they gather just by manual labor. So computers screen this based on word searches and algorithms. CCTV systems (and drones) are a thing and it wouldn't surprise me if eventually even human behavior will be digitized so a computer can recognize "suspect behavior". But these algorithms will most likely be based upon someone who understands and expresses normal body language. Having unpredictable behavior is one of those things a computer can't work with. I guess I feel somewhat concerned that just based on that I expect a lot more run-ins with the law.