Making Eye Contact

[coldscoolparadise]

REAL. i grew up respectable so my signs of neurodivergency are quite hard to see. I grew up thinking "That is disrespectful; disrespect leads to punishment." so i rarely ever show signs.

[hannahrubin]

I’m either disassociating or locked. In. No in between. 🤠

[BirdInnaBeanie]

Me: why don’t people try to engage with me more?
Also me: *staring deeply into the souls of those who dare strike a conversation*

[meghanbaker]

My father thought I was lying if I didn't look him in the eyes while speaking.

I'm now comfortable with long silences, STRONG eye contact maintained to the breaking point, and naturally display a completely neutral face. So I became a counselor to get paid for my "pyschotic" behavior.

[BrokenNighty]

looking at skmeone feels like im putting my hand on a stove.

but if i zone out when looking at someone, thats a different story

[cats_shall_rule_the_world]

I at some point figured out the perfect looking away- looking at them ratio and when I talked to my psychologist for the first time at the start of my ADD diagnosis process she told me I seem to have no problem listening to people. I had no idea what she had been rambling about for the past 20 minutes. I’m just really good at masking. Not only when it comes to eye contact. I‘ve always been easily overlooked even when I dress bold and I‘m very good at hiding mistakes and lying so I never got in trouble much. The irony is that that’s what’s preventing me from getting diagnosed now because nobody at school or at my internship noticed any symptoms so I don‘t fit the criteria of showing symptoms in all areas of life. Not because I don’t experience them but because nobody notices them

[akstormtrooper]

The worst part is: We'd stop looking into peoples' souls if we'd been told to "look at the face, " rather than "make eye contact."

[uniquelygeekly]

Dude I used to just stare directly into people's eyes the entire time because that's what I thought making eye contact was. 😭

[The_REAL_Standford_Pines]

My parents changed their style of parenting drastically when my brother was diagnosed with autism. They always told me that you have to make eye contact otherwise you're being disrespectful, but they tell him he doesn't have to if it makes him uncomfortable. So whenever we talk to each other, it's literally him looking around in every direction while I'm staring right into his soul

[Bexgaming]

My examiner told me to STOP giving him eye contact and "act like you would at home..."

[Wi_xia]

If I’m the one talking I can’t make eye contact but if it’s someone else talking it’s like I’m staring into their soul

[web.error_]

Then there’s the category of people who get so locked in and focusing on staring at their eyes that brain goes “Eye? Which eye? Switch eye? Will they notice? Wait what did they just say? Just smile and nod dear god-“

[Rayne_stone]

I hate making eye contact with people, I find it scary, embarrassing, and want to disappear if I do. But when I’m with friends it’s a decent amount easier to make eye contact.

[msjkramey]

If I overthink it, I panic and I'm like "which eye do I look at?? When was the last time I blinked?? Are my eyes too big??" If you're not very good at making eye contact, something you can do is look at something close to their eyes like their eyebrows or upper nose. They can't really tell unless they're really, really looking for it. Also, it's a lot easier If you're feeling otherwise comfortable and unstressed. It's okay to look away at points, too. Good times for that are when someone says something really funny or dramatic or whatever. Looking away can actually emphasize your reaction to them and give you a quick break

[Cait-i-Cat]

Yep, now I see why I scare people when I actually look them in the eyes

[totoro]

gosh i adore staring at ppl like that, you can alot abt a person by their reaction. some ppl get uncomfortable, others may stare back, and some smile or engage in conversation

[cheyenneorr]

Same! Taught to make eye contact cause it's respectful. I don't even make eye contact most of the time. I just look at their eyebrows.

[nickwasinger]

Personally, I realized that it was weird that I didn’t make eye contact and others did and realized that eye contact was normal, so I just trained/taught myself to stare deep into people’s souls :))

[kagomekirari]

I'm staring right in your eyes while we're talking. I already did a lot but then I had a friend in college who was like, "you always make eye contact during conversation and it feels nice, " so I kept doing it...except during therapy when I'm looking anywhere but at my therapist lmao

[Dax_Zahrie]

I couldn’t get tested for autism because my doctor said I didn’t have it, just cause of my good eye contact. But I was just sternly taught to be respectful and keep eye contact during conversations 🙃