Hmmm, I'd say we do have feelings. In fact, I'm a very emotional person. I shed more than my fair share of tears, for sure. 

@sparrowrose - Don't you have trouble reading enties? We're still the majority, you know. Do you read auties better than enties do? Because if you read auties effortlessly, you might have a point there. Otherwise, auties have a communication deficit.

@BobRichter@xanga - p.s. just because your people are the majority doesn't automatically make you right and my people wrong.

@sparrowrose - Yeah, enties = NTs. Looks better to me, don't ask me why.

The general emotional state of a neurotypical person is generally as plain as the nose on their face. Some can learn to hide it or even to manipulate it, but it's actually hard for a neurotypical person to shut down or manipulate those nonverbal channels. You could even say that neurotypical people have a deception deficit.

The causes of emotions may not always be immediately obvious, and conflicting emotions can get confusing, but the channel is there for enties, where it's often noticably absent with (for example) aspies, which is one thing that makes neurotypical people uncomfortable around them or tend to ignore them.

p.s."my people"? "your people"? Those are terms of association not classification. My aspie is "my people" (actually, she's the most important person in the world to me) and I'm sure you'd count some enties among "your people." And it's not about "wrong" and "right," it's about utility. If my form of communication is more useful to me than yours is to you, it's objectively better. That's where the majority comes in. The odds are better than even that any given person you or I will have to deal with is neurotypical, meaning that neurotypical communication is more generally useful.

@Springingtiger -  Neurotypical people are highly reliant on channels of nonverbal communication. Everybody projects, but if you cut off those channels, that's all anyone's left with. That's part of why everyone on the internet is such an asshole.

I've actually found that my aspie is at an advantage on the internet. She doesn't rely on nonverbal communication like I do, so when it's removed, she's still at the same place she is interacting face to face.

To the accusation that neurotypical people have nothing useful to say -- you just called me boring and stupid. That's an opinion, which makes it factually nonevalulable. I will say that there are a number of people, neurotypical and not, who would disagree with you. My aspie thinks I'm funny and smart.

I have never been diagnosed, but I have lived with mild autism for fifty nine years.  My emotions are sometimes not visible to the uninitiated,  and because I usually handle chaotic or noisy situations with a slow but sure approach, I have been blasted for being "too laid back" by those you call"enties".  One observant soul once looked at me and remarked "Still waters run deep".
My noisier and more emotional wife is fine with my behavior.  So are my non-autistic son and siblings, and most others with whom I'm close in sunny Phoenix.

@BobRichter@xanga  Thanks for clarifying your position. In terms of utility I use very little face to face communication and when I do I tend not to look at people - my focus is on content. NTs habitually dissemble there are many books about the ways they do it and they can learn to hide their emotions - we can't hide, so any emotion or thought we reveal is genuine (not always a good thing).

Whoops, I never meant to accuse you of being " boring and stupid" and on reflection I don't think I did and I certainly don't think you are or I wouldn't bother to reply. I was merely commenting that much of the content of most peoples conversations is unnecessary and that body language does not convey content and so is of little relevance. Like your aspie (how long have you owned her?) I prefer this mediumof communication.

Tossing in my $0.02...
My youngest, who is a high-functioning, moderately autistic teen, has always had a fuller and deeper range of emotions than the average NT - but rarely showed it or had direct cause->effect that I could discern.

How to read the emotions was the tricky part - his face would be still, his words would be specific, but the subtle pitch of his voice would shift at some point, or his eyebrows would peak if he was under high stress, or he'd specifically look over a person's head, rather than looking directly into eyes. Little things that NTs would miss, nearly every time.

I've seen him with about five different emotions in a full range - and NTs generally feel one emotion at a time - with more than one emotion causing confusion. He'd have a full depth of emotions, but no real words to express it - only a few verbal habits to help identify it.

I've also seen that, as he interacts with NTs, they can't quite read his emotions - while he, simultaneously, can't always grasp theirs. I used to intercede to explain/translate - but now, as a teen, he's more comfortable with me holding a distance than with me being on-site [he's that age...]

It's hard, and, these days, getting harder to read his "tells" - the expressions in his eyes or his verbal patterns or his physical actions. We do what we can...

@Springingtiger - She owns me, not vice-versa, and that's a surprisingly complex question. We've known each other for over a decade now, she was my High School sweetheart.

You seemed to be suggesting that neurotypical people had nothing interesting or useful to say. That would make us all boring and stupid. Of course that's not what you meant, but that's how it came across to me. Now, I think you're saying that the nonverbal channel is useless -- that's not quite right. It doesn't carry content so much as context, but it still makes for more effective communication.

It probably seems useless to you -- but that's the exact "communication deficit" we're talking about.

I am an Aspie and consider myself a very emotional person. The problem to me is that my emotions are mostly on the inside (my mind) but if I need to talk about it, or express it, it doesn't come out right all the time.

It's almost like interpreting for a foreign person when you don't know the language, I can say things like moods, "I'm mad" or "I'm happy" easily, but if someone asks, "Why do you like me?" I know if I do but I can't say why without really taking my time to think about it and process it. If someone wants a rushed answer, I'll say what I think logically fits, not what I feel...

When I can't communicate my feelings, I get frustrated and have had tantrums. I'll also cry at the drop of a hat at movies. I have no idea why. I can't control it well. Something I've noticed (about myself at least) is that when I love someone or like someone, it's forever. I don't change how I feel based on changes. I still love my ex-wife even though she hurt me bad. I like all the friends I've ever had and would do anything I could to help them, even if they hurt/betrayed me.

I've noticed that most NT's lie, cheat and hurt each other on purpose, I would never do that on purpose. My ex cheated on me, and I could have never done that to her. If someone I didn't like at all or "hated" came up to me and asked for help, I'd help them. I've noticed that even NT's I've been friends with will treat me like crap or ignore me if I've made a mistake and they don't want to be friends anymore, even if I beg them...

Billy