Chapter 1: Eye Contact Look at me when I am talking to you Are you paying attention? Are you even listening? These are all phrases many of us have heard, thought and maybe said before. Eye contact is seen as an indicator for how engaged someone is in a conversation, specifically how closely they are listening. Not giving eye contact is often seen as rude. But for many autistic individuals this is far from the truth. “For many autistic people eye contact is difficult and may actually be painful, as it can be extremely anxietyinducing. For some we cannot concentrate on what you are saying if we are giving eye contact. So we trade off being able to engage properly in the conversation for looking like we belong in the conversation.”
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