Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Eye Contact

Eye contact is overrated for people with autism. They can find it difficult to take in everything a person's face is doing and pay attention to what is being said. If you think about all the movements a person's eyes make while someone is talking it really is a lot. 

People's eyes not only dialate, move, blink, and twitch but some change colors as well. For people with autism trying to focus and concentrate on what a person is saying and being expected to give eye contact  is too much. Within the past year, I've noticed Jonathon looking, not at my eyes, but at my temples. He will actually stop the conversation and move so he can get in just the right position. I've started to talk to him about what he is looking at because I would eventually like to hear, from him, the "why" behind his preferred eye contact, or lack there of.

I'm not a parent who demands eye contact. He glances at me enough for me to know he's listening... that's good enough!

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