Before I knew I was autistic, and I'd only researched a little and knew only the basic stereotypes, I didn't realise that I struggled with eye contact.
When they say "struggle with eye contact", they don't mean staring off into space like a robot all the time and never looking at people's faces. No, you can have a difficult time making eye contact yet still do it.
Now, when they say that making eye contact is "painful" for autistic people, or it feels like you're "staring into people's souls", I don't think this is true. At least, not for me. I feel fine while looking people's eyes; it doesn't hurt or feel like they can "see my soul". I must admit though, sometimes when I'm talking to someone I'll "chicken out" and look away; it just feels easier to express myself or focus on whatever I'm doing. For me, I often feel like I have to know you very well or be rather comfortable with you to make decent eye contact with you all the time.
I don't particularly like making eye contact, especially with people I don't know or haven't been around enough to feel comfortable with. I can make eye contact with my super close family and friends, but anybody else, I've found that I usually avoid looking at their eyes a lot. While talking to people, I find it very difficult to look at them and focus on their face/eyes and I usually just end up looking around the room as I speak.
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Let me know if this helps, or if anyone can relate! :)
YOU ARE READING
Just An Autistic Teenage Girl
Non-FictionI am a teenage girl, and I'm autistic. I wrote this book in the hopes that it could help another autistic girl (or boy) out there who needs it. :) This is basically just a book of random things about autism and what it's like for me, and also a teen...
