A humorous video about imitating NT body language
Mona_Pereth
Citizen
I recently came across the following humorous YouTube video by an autistic person, about imitating NT body language:
by Nathan Selove, Sep 4, 2019
Comments
I get so distracted trying to show the person that I'm listening to them and trying to focus on masking that I end up horrible at actually listening to them.
A few years ago, I volunteered as a Samaritan. The training was excellent and focused very much on active listening techniques. I learned more than in any other role I've ever done - and both the training and my experience as a volunteer have helped me with interaction in every part of my life since. The explanations, role playing and being taught how to listen for cues and help the other person to open up were all ideal for me.
I suffer from agoraphobia and scopophobia, so every time I leave the house I feel like I'm on display and I run an internal dialogue about how to "walk". This is because my grandmother was a model and she used to criticise my posture or make me walk with books on my head. I am always self-correcting my posture ("head up, shoulders back, relax, don't relax too much, use your core muscles, don't be too rigid, swing your arms, swing your hips, don't swing too much, resist the urge to walk on the curb, don't do a pirouette in public, keep moving, take longer strides, take shorter strides ...") That's no exaggeration.
Thanks for the video because it's very true.
I also always feel on "display" in public. I don't think I have a particular reason for it, I'm probably just used to being criticized enough that I'm now aware anyone could be looking at me and disapproving of me in some way. It's very stressful and I don't like being outside because of it, unless it's a rural, less populated area.