Shyness?

[cpooo7]

Hi everyone. I have a question for you all. I was diagnosed with dyspraxia when I started kindergarten. I was very talkative until it came to the 8th grade and ever since then, I have been very quiet and people think I'm weird and can tell I'm super shy. Some people even say that my shyness makes me seem like I have down syndrome since I'm that shy but in front of my family, I act completely normal and act like myself. For some reason, it's hard for me to look at people in the eye and talk and I look away as I do it and talk in one plain tone in front of strangers but in front of my family and friends, I have emotion in my voice. Does anyone else have or had this problem and if so, how did you deal with it and try to stop it?

[shadowgirl021]

Yep with my family and friends I am open and quite loud but in front of new people I am quiet and withdrawn, avoiding eye contact. With me I have to be at a place for quite a while for me to remain eye contact with people and open up to people. If its strangers you are are only going to see once to twice then I don't think it should matter unless you could use them as practice or ask your friends for tips. But for me it takes time to open up plus remain eye contact and people honestly dont mind it, I think they actually find it quite endearing. I also think this thought "well they like me now now so I could/act this way (being less quiet) helps with acting the way I do in front of friends and family.

[cpooo7]

I wish I knew what caused this shyness to happen. I hate it. I'm a really funny outgoing person but once I get in front of strangers, it just happens. My face turns red, I turn away, I start sweating a lot because I get nervous out of no where. A customer I was helping yesterday patted my back and thanked me for helping him and I almost punched him.

[shadowgirl021]

If they are customers you are dealing with then I got given a piece of advice when I had to go door to door for charity. "you are never going to see them again, it honestly does not matter how you behave/act unless obviously it is not unprofessional" Anyone who knows me at first would say I was quiet, but while I was on peoples doors I would eventually (it did take me around three months to do this) ask people questions about themselves and even once to someone said me and my friend are in the middle of a game can you help us? Yes, people were uninterested and on more then one occasion people would slam the door in my face but you move on. At the end of the day who cares what they think and if you do go red in front of customers, like the customer you had, they will properly try and be helpful but like I said before you will more then likely not seem them again.
If they are strangers then I would try and get someone on a one to one basis or if not I would blush in front of a group but I would always ask questions to seem interested which is I would say, the key. You may go quiet and red but its not like you do not care and I am sure people see that.

[cpooo7]

Thanks for the advice. I'll have to try that.