Emotional Blindness?

[Jordan]

I couldn't tell whether one of my parents was crying on the phone and I didn't recognize it.

Even when out at college, and someone is supposed to be crying, I never see the tears.

Does anyone else with AS experience this? And is it common?

Could this also be linked in with reading people's mental state wrong?

 

[tree]

I know about feelings.
I have feelings. I know that other people have feelings.
I don't always recognize what other people are feeling from what they say or do.

When I play back some conversations mentally, I realize that I am seeing a color in my head.
Then I match it up, if possible, with another time when I heard that color.
If I don't already have an entry for that color/emotion/feeling, I repeat the words the other person said,
using different words that mean the same thing.

After awhile I get the color of the voice translated to a meaning in English words.
I add it to my file, so next time I can recognize what is going on.

When the feeling isn't obvious to me from the words, eventually I work the meaning out.
Not during the transaction. Later. Hours or even days later. I don't have to do this
every time I hear a person because not every instance of speech that I hear is colored.

It seems that I am cross-wired.
Synesthesia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I use what analytical ability I have to work this to my advantage.

 

[AsheSkyler]

Crying and laughing sound the same to me. Thankfully, not just us. One of my art buddies animated a video that transitioned from laughter to tears. While she herself laughed throughout the entire video, it quite convincingly sounded like crying with the sad animation coupled with it. Many times I have to be looking directly at my kid to tell if he's crying or laughing for the same reason.