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Can someone with Aspergers be good at reading people?

I will try. The first thing I'm going to do is talk to my doctor when I go back, but I haven't seen her since Feb. this year for obvious reasons.

I really appreciate all the answers, as it's a difficult time to struggle with questions of identity on top of everything else. If anyone can direct me towards any good reading material about Autism and women, that would be greatly appreciated.
 
 
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I am (as expected) lousy at reading facial expressions & body language, but I seem to be better at reading anomalous [voice demeanor?] and physical behaviors in their stead.

A local neurologist once gave me an IQ test (as part of a neuro exam). When he told me of my fairly high score, his voice demeanor was as if he was telling me that my dog had died. (Whenever I was apprised of my score in school it was always with a bit of fanfare.)

It seemed odd to me to state positive news in a "bad news" voice.
 
The existence of language ought to imply that you can assign meaning to anything. Still, I had to be told about it. After my diagnosis at twenty-five. Before that I could never bring myself to consider the "what this person's movements/face shapes/voice tone says about this person's mood/feelings" as or more important than the "how painful and disgusting this person's movements/face shapes/voice is to me".

After I knew what the deal was, I was able to slowly shift focus towards the language bit of "body language". They're just patterns, and you can learn them for a specific person, at least in situations where you are likely to be around.
 
MayBerry said:
Is it possible for a person with Aspergers to have behavioral analysis as an interest? To be better than most neurotypical people in reading and predicting behavior and feelings?
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yes, I believe so. @Progster said earlier :

Progster said:
Yes, I think it's possible to be on the spectrum and be able to read people....... But the understanding comes through studying, or trial and error, rather than intuitive understanding.
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My special interest and profession is in behaviour analysis across many animal species - I work in animal behavior management teaching people to train animals in zoos, labs and shelters. I am particularly good at this through years of practice to the extent that I 'see' behaviour as it will unfold through time in multiple interacting individuals, I suppose a bit analagous to chess. This practice has helped me with reading people to the extent that my diagnosing psychiatrist noted that my skill at reading expressions was better than that of people on average (read: NT). She made the point that this likely was a side effect of my passion for animal behaviour and animal training.
BUT in real time my processing and sensory issues make my brain overheat very quickly when it comes to people. So yeah, go stand in a paddock of zebra and in my case I'll be able to read you well....*lol*
However, I can imagine that others on the spectrum with a focus on the human animal might do very well.
What I do notice is that qualitatively it still feels like something I consciously do, not something that just happens, like breathing.
 
Suzanne said:
Obsessions help a great deal, because when I discovered aspergers, I became obsessed with it and that brought to the front reading people and I thought I was very good ie learnt, rather than natural, because as a child, I could not read people's expression and often was chided by my younger sister for this.

However, I soon realised that I MISINTERPRET facial expressions, but am so convinced, that it is hard for me to believe the person that their expression meant something else.

But from not being able to read even subtle changes in an expression, I am too sensitive to it now, when I am able to hold eye to eye contact.

Just to add that when I was seeing a neuro therapist, I was tested on emotions. Had pictures of people with different expressions and I thought I did pretty well in interpreting it right, but was told that it was the opposite. I did ok with obvious expressions, but really fell with subtle ones.
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This is my exact experience! :eek:
 
MayBerry said:
Would you be okay with telling me more about that? Have you always had that skill? Are you good at predicting behavior too? Does is come naturally, or do have to "force" yourself to do it?
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Reading people comes naturally, I’ve been doing it ever since I was a little kid. I think it’s because I’ve always been observing people from the sidelines and I’ve learned a lot from that.
 
Yes I grew up observing others, my parents kept up a continual bickering that me and my sibling seemed to be designated as audience to, and I got very interested in communication, and in helping people and educating others about communication and interpersonal skills. I wrote a text book on it. :rolleyes:

I did a LOT of personal therapy and I trained as a counsellor. I have very good recognition of facial expressions on tests. However, I do not find unstructured social interaction easy or sometimes even possible, I leave places where it's happening if I can. :eek:

Try looking at Jessica Kingsley publishers for some useful texts about girls and women with ASD, by women and clinicians, some of who are on the autistic spectrum.
 
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When I was being tested for Asperger's earlier this year (determination ASD 1), one thing they noted was that I had trouble picking up on conversational cues from the lady testing me...

Yet... I am also someone who has done candid street photographer and stranger portraits for over 10 years... That has taught me at least a little about reading people...

I do think that all of us can at least do some work on improving certain things, to a certain degree...
 
I think it's possible. But it takes a long time and is a LOT of work. Also reading people can be done in "logical" ways.
In my opinion, it's a matter of actually wanting to get better at it. Which means actually looking for social interactions rather than avoiding them. Reading about psychology can help a lot.
 
Finder said:
Any skill can be learnt. ASD comes about because the intuitive ability to read social cues and communicate is not there. But people with ASD compensate through masking. And there are psychologist with ASD.
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Yes, I know one psychologist who is on the spectrum. He advocates for people with autism.
 
I've been reading some of the links I got, and everything just makes sense. My actual diagnosis (avoidant, dependent and obsessive-compulsive personality disorders, with social anxiety and depression on top) have covered several of my traits, but there are some weird ones that never fit.

I talked to my mother about this, and she asked me if that means anything regarding medication/treatment. As far as I know, there is none? Is that correct? It can't be "fixed," but you can get meds that help with anxiety, sleep disorders and symptoms like that?
 
People skills? I'm innately bottom 10%. Pattern recognition? A Jedi Master, I am. So one must use the strength to compensate for the weakness.

Dishonest people reveal what they are in so many ways. Here are a few of my favorites:

*'My friend' can usually be interpreted as 'we're not friends, and I'm not honest.'
*"I'll try" = It will likely never happen.
*Saying ‘I swear’, ‘I swear to God’, ‘to tell you the truth’, ‘I don’t want to lie to you”, or similar (They lie so often, they’ve grown accustomed to being disbelieved.)
*Responding to suspicion with anger- even the slightest hint of it.
*Smiling through closed lips.
*Saying ‘yes’ while nodding head ‘no’ (or the reverse). The motion shows their true intentions.
*Pointing out his expensive Rolex and telling you how much it costs.
*Being conspicuously fashionable and trendy- Prada this and Gucci that.
*Looking up and to the left, right before lying- many people do this, have you noticed?
*When a lawyer says “I believe...” he’s about to lie. You’re legally allowed to ‘believe’ whatever you want.
*When denying guilt, those saying “I did not…” are more likely to be guilty than those saying “I didn’t…”
*Nodding head yes or no after making a positive or negative statement instead of during the statement.
*Addressing someone they barely know as family- someone who isn’t close to you shouldn’t be calling you ‘brother’, ‘sister’ or ‘son’ (ethnic exemptions apply).

There's so much more, but only if people care...
 
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MayBerry said:
Everything I have heard or read about Autism/Aspergers tells me there's "one" symptom that is universal: the inability to understand social norms, emotional reactions and body language/expressions.

I'm not sure how to phrase the questions properly without writing a wall of text, so please ask if you're confused about what I mean.

Is it possible for a person with Aspergers to have behavioral analysis as an interest? To be better than most neurotypical people in reading and predicting behavior and feelings? Excelling in professions like psychiatry, for instance?
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I think we can do whatever we put our mind to MayBerry. As far as reading others,,, sometimes yes, mostly no for me. Anything in the emotions realm takes a lot out of me. Day to day life with NTs takes a drain on me mentally. It seems the more i work at reading others emotions, the better i get but if i stop trying, i lose it. This is how it works for me.:cool:
 
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