Facial expression - speaking without making a sound is the biggest part of making a first impression. It determines how people will respond to you immediately.
It's also a very difficult skill for most of us to learn but, a look can say more in one second that words can in an hour and, if you need to make a good first impression, it's a skill worth learning. It can also get people to back off and leave you alone very quickly without you ever having to speak, or invite them to come across the room to talk to you, if that's what you want.
It's a skill I and others in my line of work have to learn well, and even NTs have to be taught to do it flawlessly and, control it. We all have to learn how to create the right impression using facial expression and body language. That may or may not agree with what we are thinking or feeling but, with practice, it can and, usually does reflect what's going on internally. Being on the spectrum makes it a lot harder to learn. We don't interpret those looks or body language signals the same as NTs and, we may not even notice them unless we make a conscious effort to do so.
That means that using expressions and body language as well as reading them is entirely a conscious effort and, a learned skill for us but, we can learn and, we can do it and, send the right messages. It's never natural to us but, it does help us pass and, help us get along better in the NT world we have to live in.
I don't want to flood this thread with pictures, but looking at photos of any celebrity will give you examples of how a look can say so many different things. I suggest them because celebrities are actually coached and taught to use "silent speech" effectively so, they provide the best examples. I'd be happy to teach you all some of that if you all and the staff here think it's worth a thread flooded with pictures.
It's also a very difficult skill for most of us to learn but, a look can say more in one second that words can in an hour and, if you need to make a good first impression, it's a skill worth learning. It can also get people to back off and leave you alone very quickly without you ever having to speak, or invite them to come across the room to talk to you, if that's what you want.
It's a skill I and others in my line of work have to learn well, and even NTs have to be taught to do it flawlessly and, control it. We all have to learn how to create the right impression using facial expression and body language. That may or may not agree with what we are thinking or feeling but, with practice, it can and, usually does reflect what's going on internally. Being on the spectrum makes it a lot harder to learn. We don't interpret those looks or body language signals the same as NTs and, we may not even notice them unless we make a conscious effort to do so.
That means that using expressions and body language as well as reading them is entirely a conscious effort and, a learned skill for us but, we can learn and, we can do it and, send the right messages. It's never natural to us but, it does help us pass and, help us get along better in the NT world we have to live in.
I don't want to flood this thread with pictures, but looking at photos of any celebrity will give you examples of how a look can say so many different things. I suggest them because celebrities are actually coached and taught to use "silent speech" effectively so, they provide the best examples. I'd be happy to teach you all some of that if you all and the staff here think it's worth a thread flooded with pictures.
