Comments on: Editing and Projection

By: QOTD: Empathy and projection « Urocyon's Meanderings

QOTD: Empathy and projection « Urocyon's Meanderings — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:29:21 +0000

[…] has written some excellent things about projection*–from facial expressions and body language on “up”–before, but yeah. I get the horrible impression that too many people are […]

By: The Integral

The Integral — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 06:03:10 +0000

and you don’t feel like you should put yourself on display any more than you already do, right?

I agree……..very strange thing to ask………

Welcome back to health.

By: ballastexistenz

ballastexistenz — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 05:21:34 +0000

You thought something very inaccurate then, or at least distorted (I lost speech in infancy then regained speech in an atypical manner, although I did use more typical-sounding speech, in an atypical way (and with highly atypical comprehension) as time went on — my mom has a bit of a description of it near the bottom of this post). I don't have a copy of the video online and don't intend to (nor do I have a means to). And you can't tell a person's "functioning level" on the basis of a video, no matter who they are, that's just strange (and contrary to the point of this post).

By: bth

bth — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 02:03:23 +0000

I thought you were fully verbal at a child, and developed language with no delay, and that you were a verbal communicator in your childhood?

Do you have this film you mention in your above post? Can you put it on Youtube or a clip here to show your functioning level.

By: Susan

Susan — Sat, 05 Aug 2006 01:04:06 +0000

Maybe I’m the odd one here, but all I see in those pictures is a beautiful little girl.

By: laurentius-rex

laurentius-rex — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 16:16:55 +0000

I don’t believe photographs at all, but then I wouldn’t I am a photographer :)

One thing I noticed in my DVD is that I have an annoying tick when I talk I seem to jerk my head to the right which looks like a discontinuity in the film. I was showing the DVD to a very old friend, who has not seen it yet, (her DVD broke down before we got to the end) but she told me, she knew about that tick years ago.

I think I am probably at my most inscrutible when I am laughing, you never know what it betokens because I laugh in the most inappropriate of situations and to be honest I sometimes don’t even know myself why I am laughing. Another autistic friend would break out into fits of laughter whenever I attempted to smile.

By: Athena Ivan

Athena Ivan — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 10:44:36 +0000

on the subject of blank stares, my father tells me I do that alot too. especially when I am getting scolded loudly. I know I don’t really move my face but most of the time I don’t feel like smiling even though I might be happy. There are other ways to let people know my feelings if I wish, other than facial expressions. I learned in my speech class in college last semester, that most people use facial expressions to communicate nonverbal cues. I did a mini-speech on my autism, and I told the class that a lot of what we were learning, about facial expressions, eye contact, body language, and things related, were very difficult for me. I never got an A on a speech because of these difficulties, but I’d told my teacher beforehand….I know this is off-topic but I can’t help but recall this event.

I’m here because I’m not leaving today, I’m gone tomorrow, and heck I can’t resist this blog. It’s only the truth, after all.

Jennifer, I agree with you about the photos.

By: n.

n. — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 08:03:45 +0000

Jennifer, I agree.

J, a reverse example: sometimes I see a lot of “blank stares” in the classroom and I have to tell my (mostly NT) students “I can’t read your faces. Are you bored, confused, or just tired?” after they get used to someone being so blunt about that, they answer me, with what I think is some degree of sincerity.

Amanda, I would have guessed wrong about your expression in pretty much all of those photos. I wonder if I could read you in 3d, but I don’t know. Probably as bad at reading autistics as I am at reading NTs.

I still can’t tell whether my (unofficial AS) husband isn’t listening to me becos he’s mad, or doesn’t hear me becos he’s programming. I’d have to look at the screen. And if he’s mad AND programming, then I still could get it wrong. (this is meant to be funny, but it’s based on what actually happens)

[Evonne, you’re right about classifying people, including oneself. I would like to see a “human spectrum” instead. But… for now, it helps me try to figure stuff out.]

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 19:31:17 +0000

I hope that you don’t think that I am being facile, but what a beautiful child you were Amanda. And you’ve grown to be a beautiful adult (in more ways than one).

Maybe it’s just me, and loving the way my daughter looks, but I hope that everyone else sees the beauty in Amanda’s face in these pictures.

By: J

Wed, 02 Aug 2006 15:50:46 +0000

Okay, I confess. My first impression was ‘blank’.

However, because I’d read your blog and seen your description of yourself in various photos, I was able to keep that impression from turning into a stereotype. It’s obvious from reading this blog that you’re a person, with a full set of experiences, perceptions, and opinions of the world around you, so I knew that when I saw ‘blank’, it didn’t mean ’empty’. I hope I wouldn’t have made that asumption anyways, but in this case I knew it wasn’t true.

I also knew by your descriptions of your state of mind when the photos were taken that there was no connection between what I saw as ‘blank’, and you being lost in thought or daydreaming, or being in a certain mood, or necessarily thinking of anything particularly profound. So ‘thoughtful’ and ‘serious’ are out. They would be projecting.

The answer I hit on, something I’ll try to remember when I see someone looking ‘blank’, and I’m not sure why, is this; I am not recieving your signals. I don’t get any message from your facial expression, because I don’t know how to read it. So presumably, if I were dealin with you, or someone else who’s expression I couldn’t interpret in person, it would be important for me to be aware that I didn’t understand, and make a point of relying on forms of communication that I could follow.

Hopefully this doesn’t come across as offensive. I was just trying to show how examining my assumptions taught me something useful. I think “I can’t read your expressions.” is a more useful and equitable way to look at it than “You’re not expressing anything.”, and is a valuable lesson in its own right. After all, no one tells us NTs that we’re not expressing happiness because we don’t flap.