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whateverusay
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18 Jan 2006, 5:18 pm

I'm sure this should be posted in the parents section but they probably know just as little as I do.

I've noticed that some of the posters here are determined to improve their eye-contact skills while others don't care one way or another if they make eye-contact. I've also read that eye contact for someone with asperger's or autism can be downright unbearable, so I'm wondering if it wouldn't be a good idea to work on improving my three yr old autistic son's eye contact. He does make some eye contact, especially if I make funny faces to make him laugh, and he has GREAT eye contact while drinking through a straw (can't figure that one out). I guess I'm asking if you wish you would have learned to make eye contact as a child? Or is making the decision as an adult better? I'm asking because I don't want to make him uncomfortable or force him to do something that may be unbearable for him. I just don't know what to do. Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated.



Last edited by whateverusay on 18 Jan 2006, 10:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.

alex
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18 Jan 2006, 5:44 pm

Eye contact is something that just comes naturally to me. I don't know why, but I had good eye contact ever since I was a baby. Maybe its because my parents helped me with it.

I think an aversion to eye contact would only be caused by an unfamiliarity with making eye contact. In other words, if you're used to eye contact, you probably won't worry about it or think about it. At least thats what I think.

Welcome to WrongPlanet, by the way. :D


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GroovyDruid
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18 Jan 2006, 7:08 pm

whateverusay wrote:
I'm sure this should be posted in the parents section but I'm sure they know just as little as I do.

I've noticed that some of the posters here are determined to improve their eye-contact skills while others don't care one way or another if they make eye-contact. I've also read that eye contact for someone with asperger's or autism can be downright unbearable...


I don't know whether you know about this, so I'll trot it out:

There's a definite reason autistics have trouble with eye contact: it triggers the fight/flight mechanism in their brains. This doesn't happen to NTs, and it's very uncomfortable for some with AS/autism. They just figured this out recently using fMRI scans. While habit may play a part, there's also brain structure involved.

For myself, I learned to brave it out. It has been hard, but I wanted to be able to make eye contact and hold it as well as any NT if I felt like it. It was a lot of work, reading, and will power, but I've got it. It's a good skill to possess.

I would say, let your kid be until he can grasp what's going on. Then explain to him the significance of eye contact for NTs. He may or may not be able to or WANT to learn it, but at least he'll understand why NTs want eye contact so badly and can make an informed choice.



KingdomOfRats
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18 Jan 2006, 7:18 pm

Good advice,GroovyDruid,I agree,it would be fairer to leave him as he is,and let him develop in his own pace as he gets older,insisting on eye contact/or forcing it might have a 'regression' affect with the eye contact he does have.


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Tolian
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19 Jan 2006, 6:48 am

I'm going to try the straw thing today. :p


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Roybertito
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19 Jan 2006, 7:49 am

It's hard for me to make eye contact only because I get cross-eyed a lot very quickly. That's apparently part of my nearsightedness... luckilly I'm getting glasses soon.


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whateverusay
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19 Jan 2006, 1:27 pm

Thanks for the replies and thanks for the warm welcome :D

He is kind of young, so I will take your advice and wait a bit until he can understand more. I certainly can't complain about the amount of eye contact he does make.

I swear on the straw thing! If I'm holding his cup while he drinks from a straw he will stare right into my eyes (almost too much)! Maybe drinking distracts his brain or something??



hermit
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19 Jan 2006, 6:07 pm

GroovyDruid wrote:
There's a definite reason autistics have trouble with eye contact: it triggers the fight/flight mechanism in their brains. This doesn't happen to NTs, and it's very uncomfortable for some with AS/autism. They just figured this out recently using fMRI scans. While habit may play a part, there's also brain structure involved.


Just to fill in the neurobiology behind it a little.

The amygdala is generally regarded as our emotional center, and this is where the fight/flight mechanism is located (recognizing a threat anyway, the systems that deal with acting on that threat are elsewhere).

Brain scans of autistic spectrum patients often (though not always) reveal asymmetric differences between the halves of the amygala, or other abnormalities.

One section of the temporal lobe (t. caudate nucleus) is "recognition software" and highly connected to the amygdala. Often this section is likewise abnormal.

Abnormalities with other connected areas of the brain also exist (between amygdala and). Esp parts of the prefrontal cortex (this is where ADHD symptoms come in)

It has been suggested that the emotion center, then (amygdala) is generally dysfunctional in Autistic Spectrum individuals. Cross wired in some, giving you the wrong response (fear/flight) when it should be responding with 'recognition' answers. (to use this example)

One interesting breakdown I did recently supports this assessment. (part of this hypothesis is my own, so bear with me, but I'm sure some of the researchers are thinking it, I just haven't read Everything yet, but I'm sure trying)

Taking the Adult Eyes exam, I scored slightly lower than, but within one standard dev, of the average for AS/HFA.

Breaking it down further, when the photo showed DIRECT eye contact, I was just under half- 47% correct.

When the photo showed INDIRECT eye contact, I was correct 75% of the time. To check I ran some stats and they are statistically significant.

I found the more piercing gazes very uncomfortable.... they overwhelmed my ability to properly judge the expressed emotion, and just made me look away. So to me anyway that's pretty strong evidence for this dysfunctional-amygdala-cross-wiring theory.

Side note: problems with the left side amygdala are generally Dx'd as AS/HFA while problems in the right side tend to be associated with NVLD.



Musical_Lottie
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15 Feb 2006, 8:18 am

I tend to make total eye contact whilst drinking through a straw! Had never thought about it though; never actually noticed as such.


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