Does anybody here have any tips on showing excitement.
My friend had spent a very long time (months) doing something for me (which was very nice of him since I hadn't even asked him to do it), and when he actually did it for me he said to me "I thought you would be more excited about it than that". I was actually really excited about it, but my 'flat' face and voice, didn't give that impression. I ask because I don't want to give him the impression I am ungrateful for what he has done/doing.
Speak more loudly, and more enthusiatically.
Watch movies.
I realise I should have put this in the support section. Sorry.
The main reason is that I am not 100% convinced he is NT, since he is similar to me in so many ways, and I am not sure that he himself could give a good impression of excitement. Also I think one of his special interests is doing this for me, because he spent months doing it even though I hadn't seen him at all during those months. I don't want him to be dissapointed at my show of excitement and stop doing this for me.
I did say Woo-Hoo!! quite loudly in a Homer Simpson-esque way. 'It didn't seem to 'cut the mustard'' (sorry it has been stuck in my head for weeks and I had to get it out. I have no idea why it means what it means, it is quite stupid really, but it means it was inadequet)
Can you show your excitement in a way that is natural to you, even after the fact? For instance, writing down how much it meant to you (ie. I appreciate all the time and effort you spent on this and it has changed my life or made my life better in this way... I am so lucky to have a friend like you) - or do something in return... or take a picture of yourself with whatever it is this friend did for you... or anything that can get accross to your friend how you think/feel about it.
Communication doesn't have to come in the same style for everyone. And I've found that by using my own style to say the same thing that would convey excitement to someone else can often mean more because it is sincere.
Or, you could just fake a smile and give a "Galaxy Quest- alien" hug...
It wasn't a life changing event, but it is very rarely that somebody does something this nice for me, and then expects nothing in return. But you are right 7oclock and I will try to show my gratitude in my own way. Thank you.
Some people did a lot of work for me a couple of years ago but when I returned home, about the first thing I did was cry as they'd thrown out and damaged some things I'd specifically asked not to be touched.
I was really grateful for all the good stuff that they did and wrote letters of thanks to everyone I could but the organisers turned against me after that and it's kind of left a bad taste.
They had been told I have Aspergers but sadly not how it would affect a person in day to day life. The woman in charge had been giving orders to me prior to their doing the work on the house and I became overwhelmed and couldn't do everything.
She told me I should always wash my hands after handling my pets as I would get ill but I thought I was doing that. She also said how to do housework but this didn't really address the executive issues such as getting started in the first place.
There was an article in the local paper which was good advertising for her firm but it didn't really give such a good picture of Asperger's as I was misquoted on a number of occasions.
A later article in another local paper did very good coverage on various people (including me) who were affected by Autism in themselves or a family member. I even got a photo in the paper with my favourite pet rat.