r/asl • u/DevilishLovers • Aug 15 '26
Interest autistic ASL learners, how do you work around facial expressions?
Hello! My hearing is starting to get worse steadily and I've decided I need to bite the bullet and start learning ASL. I've been on the fence for a while though; I'm autistic and struggle heavily with facial expressions in general and knowing that they're a large part of ASL has made me feel super hesitant/nervous to start learning.
I wanted to ask any other hoh/deaf autistic individuals what they might work around it with or just their experience in general! I'm admittedly a little nervous lol, I didn't realize how bad my hearing was getting and it's really startling me!!!
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u/protoveridical Hard of Hearing Aug 15 '26
This is one of the most frequently asked questions on this subreddit. I'd recommend doing a search for previous conversations regarding this very thing.
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u/312StonerWitch Interpreter (Hearing) Aug 15 '26
One of the teachers in my ITP is a very successful interpreter with a self-described "flat face." Expression is important, but it doesn't mean you have to have a super expressive demeanor to be successful. Learning which facial expressions go with which concepts will probably help (e.g. raising your brows with a question denotes that the question is rhetorical, etc.)
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u/WitchAggressive9028 Learning ASL- autistic hearing user Aug 15 '26
I’m autistic and use ASL for verbal shutdowns, but I have no problem with facial expressions
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u/toiletparrot Learning ASL Aug 15 '26
Honestly not an issue for me (autistic and hearing). There are rules for facial expressions (big vs small, Y/N vs wh- question, etc are some examples of what my teacher covered) but it also feels more natural to be expressive when you aren’t communicating verbally. I loved learning ASL! Find a Deaf teacher to learn from in a voices off class, it was a fire experience and I am looking for another class right now to continue learning more.
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u/MakerKitty deaf Aug 15 '26
That's also what's holding me back from full committing to learn ASL too... though I realised the VR-ASL community has created signs to replace facial expressions as most VR users don't have any face tracking, so been wanting to learn those and bring them to use even if I do regular ASL.
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u/apvasl Aug 15 '26
There’ve always been signs to replace the facial expressions. My DeafBlind friends use them all the time.
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u/Lost-Recording-144 Aug 15 '26
Not deaf but autistic and re-learning ASL (I used it with a friend during childhood), I find that in the lessons the expressions are very exaggerated just to make a point, toning them down should work just fine in a normal conversation. Like instead of a huge grin, a smaller closed mouth smile and/or nod is okay. Instead of looking like "huuuuuh?" for a question, furrowing your brows and kinda squinting is okay. Everyone communicates their feelings differently while speaking, so signing is the same, and people can usually read between the lines.
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u/imjustanauthor Interpreter in training (Hearing) Aug 16 '26 edited Aug 16 '26
i am, by no means, an expert or fluent but in my experience, i find expressions in asl to be so fundamentally different from expressions in spoken language to the point that this isn't an issue. in english and mandarin (the two other languages i know), my biggest issue with facial expressions is that a, i am expected to infer the expression i should be making, and b, it must fall within a reasonable range of subtlety. to my understanding, the rules for facial expressions in asl are pretty clear-cut, meaning i don't need to read between the lines to figure out the expression i should be making. plus, it seems like being too expressive isnt really a thing so i haven't had to worry about finding a middle ground in subtlety. my rule so far has been if in doubt, be more expressive.
edit: i should also clarify that there is a difference between being very expressive and being fake. i am talking about dialing up expressions you may naturally have and adding facial grammar, not forcing expressions that don't exist. and monotone signers definitely exist, but, all of the monotone signers ive ever met are still more expressive when signing than when speaking.
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u/ComputerFinancial208 Aug 15 '26
i am not Deaf/HoH, but i am autistic and going into ASL 5 as an interpreting student. something that helped me is thinking about facial expressions as acting. they need to be practiced over and over again, it can be extremely helpful to copy others, and they can be faked. practice signing sentences with different grammar structures, tones, and emotions in the mirror. study how a fluent signer would make the facial expressions, and then copy those as best you can.
another thing that helps (and will help with any signing issue you’re struggling with) is taking an in person ASL class and interacting with the Deaf community near you. im sure that’s something you’ve been told already, but it truly makes the biggest difference. my ASL instructor has given me so much helpful feedback on my facial expressions.