Autism resource for eye contact

[wendila]

I remember I was 14 when I was diagnosed with Asperger's and all the adults started forcing me to start making eye contact. My therapist wouldn't even let me talk at all unless I was looking at her in the eye. People told me that to make it less uncomfortable I should look at the bridge of their nose or somewhere in that general direction. Now, after 5 years, I can't not look someone in the eye when conversing, and it makes the other person feel very uncomfortable because I try not to blink. 8|

[misspinkpunkykat]

Eye contact was always a sign of a threat or challange to me. I only make eye contact with people when I am trying to be intimadating. In many Asian cultures, it's considered rude to look people in the eye. This whole "eye contact" thing is a western thing.

[DunedinMultimedia]

Again, thanks to everyone who has watched the video, and for leaving such thoughtful and informative comments. It's clear from the responses, especially those from people on the autism spectrum, that eye contact can't be forced, or demanded by others. For more on this topic see our iPad app, iGaze.

[getoman229]

The bet

[RUSSKAYAG]

Children under 2 years old are very sensitive to their mother's/parents subconscious state. They pick up any stress, material desire, pride, fear and etc. from their mom. What are the consequences? Autism, depression, violence and etc later on. Change within, your inner impression of the world, accept self forgiveness, love and your children will get better. And stop vaccines before they are 2 years old. If you have to do them, descrease their quantity and do only basic ones after a child is 2..

[gingerobyn]

@RUSSKAYAG Parents' stress or state of mind does not cause autism!

[RUSSKAYAG]

@gingerobyn there is no evidence of that, as there is no cure nor proof of cause..there are vaccines too. no proof that they are not causing it. just like depression- doctors try to kill it with pills! stupid fools..one has to cure the root of the problem, not try to numb it with medicine lol of course i understand they are doing their prescriptions because they get paid! everyone knows that but yet everyone keeps swallowing those pills.. go figure...

[MohammedRahil]

anxiety !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Rc258]

it is polemic...

[mamalusk]

ooo scary

[ediself]

ok i can't maintain it without getting adrenalin pangs in the stomach and turning to his cheeks or nose. wow scary with the blinking.....

[MissZebrafry]

I have asperger's, and although I *can* look at the video, I realised I just can't look at the person's eyes. Only their hair or the blue background either side of them.

[milascave]

In my case people get angry at me for not making eye contact, but also for staring at them. I have had to learn to remain hypervigilant as to what my eyes are doing, as it does not come naturaly.

[DunedinMultimedia]

Hello and thanks again for your interest. We have come back to this topic, and posted a new, improved animation

[spacedakini]

blink, blink, blink smile blink, blink, blink smile blink, blink, blink smile blink, blink, blink smile ... well, honestly, I rather focus on the communication. Because it is true contact. (diagnose with Asperger Syndome)

[ReverseFunk]

thats me (in the vid)

[we17children]

I PRACTICE MY EYE GAZE EVERY DAY

[machriderx]

Something about this just screams "uncanny valley" to me. It's kinda creepy.

[fredbobdotcom]

Me too.

[AutisticWhoLives4God]

Yeah, I just tried it again to make sure I hadn't changed. My comment still holds true. Thanks for your agreement.

[morpheus1x]

This is a great exercise for autism. i can only gaze about 5 before hightened flight starts in. people that know I have AS have gotten use to the shifty eye contact. its torturous at work and out in public where i struggle to maintain it without getting distracted and deeply analyzing the persons psyche instead following the conversation...so i distract myself to stay focused...weird! i do find it helpful to face someone from the side to minimize their gaze.

[kiddlyjesus3000]

i have aspergers this video really bothers me i cant look at it at all even for a second with out feeling like my head going to hurt and i want to hide

[GuacamoleKun]

Haaa

Extremely androgynous animated characters FTW.

[iwannabannana]

I never heard about autism, we spent 7 years trying to figure out my daughter, they gave us every excuse and reason why she was different less than 2 years ago took her and my son who had the same characteristics as her to a psychologist and got a 2nd appointment for both were diagnosed as autistic. As we learned more about it, we went through pictures and videos, and they had very few where there was minimal eye contact.

[clangergirl1969]

Even though this is not a real person with real emotions I find it difficult to make eye contact with. I simply cannot do it without feeling anxious. As for maintaining eye contact while holding a conversation: yes, it's socially acceptable but I get distracted and lose my train of thought.

[AspergerWomen]

Asperger Women Association approves this video

[DunedinMultimedia]

Many thanks for all your comments. The clip is from the Face-cards CD-ROM, where the faces appear (almost) life sized on the screen. Eye gaze is getting a lot of attention now from academics and other professionals, who are trying to assess what eye gaze is, whether people on the spectrum be encouraged or "trained" to do it, and so on. It's a hugely complex and controversial area, and science is a long way from explaining the phenomenon of eye gaze in both humans and animals. -Robert Clyde

[cannabischarlie]

you read my mind. Actually I would of said "What in the blue hell is this?"

I have Asperger's, but eye contact gets stranger with that, the heightened fight or flight extends to pictures and representations of the human face, sometimes people dont like animals looking at them.

However more often with Aspergers I have no concept of how to do this normally. Its either stare you down, or dont look at you at all.

[ralpheadsuz]

I like the comments here. I'm someone who never knew my lack of eye-contact (and social inclination) was such a big deal, till I had an autistic child.

[ildico111]

This young lady on the video has a very positive radiate. (smiling mouth, big, wide pupil, eyebrow goes up /showing of her interest in me/ and her face is very symmetric, so most of us will find her beautiful, etc.) ...easy to make eyecontact with her. :D Thanks for posting. It's funny and great test.

[CursedLittleLeg]

I tried to mantain eye contact with a (nice) guy on the street. he hit me with a punch. at least in this case autism is not a handicap

[milofire]

(continued) are being medicated for nothing. Please let me explain that I'm not heartless or cruel here, I truly feel for the children who have disabilities. However I think that the numbers are off, and there are many kids being misdiagnosed all in the name of money/greed. It is a shame. Peace.

[milofire]

People are too quik to label EVERYTHING as a disease nowadays. It is completely fine for humans to think, feel, and communicate in their own way. What may be uncomfortable for me, is not going to be the same for Jane or John, and likewise. Maybe 10 seconds of eye contact is awkward to John, and if you look at him for 10 seconds he will feel as though you are staring at him. It is a real personal, subjective matter. It breaks my heart to know children all around the world, mostly in the usa

[Xethavosh]

@milofire Autism isn't labelled as a disease, it's labelled a disorder.

[bleedingbanshe13]

@Xethavosh Yes. But it's being treated like a disease, with the "cure" thing going around.

[NebulizerChi]

The only thing that I can do that would pass for "socially appropriate" eye contact is to stare into another person's eyes...in which case I would hope that that person wouldn't be trying to communicate meaningful information at the same time thru the use of, you know, speech and facial gestures, because I wouldn't process a word of it --I'd be too busy concentrating on staring into his or her eyes.

[mitcheellsbunny121]

I dont have autism, but i physically can not look at this for more then 2 seconds. I just feel so uneasy, same with looking at people, me boyfriend (ex) who has aspergers have worked on the eye contact issue with eachother its getting better lol

[sigendymion]

The problem will never go away.

I've spent years training myself to adapt, to do what so many around me do and insist that I do too.

No matter how many times, no matter how long, it will still be impossible to both express and recognize eye movements at the same time. I've accepted that limitation but there are always more 'NT' doubters with "Oh, you're just shy" and "Stop kidding."

[xphilbertx]

do most youtube users fall into the autism spectrum?

[AutisticWhoLives4God]

Nice comment. I wouldn't be surprised because I find it so much easier and more comfortable to communicate through writing than through speaking. I bet a lot of autistic people signed up for YouTube because they long for communication, but find it difficult in person.

[jimbobg65]

Eye contact for me reveals far too much about how a person feels, and that level of empathy is overwhelming. With my Aspergers, I very much doubt the lack of eye contact is due to a lack of interest in social communication with other people. It's just the overload of feelings I pick up from people that I can't deal with.

[AdrianThePedestrian]

People reflect exactly what it is that you give them. Somebody will look at you like in this video ONLY if you look at them the exact same way. When eyes drift away and look uncomfortable, it may be that you yourself are looking that way for your own disdain for eye contact

[Grapejuice22]

I am not an autistic person.

But I just have to say a lot of non autistic people also find it difficult to make eye contact, so emagin how difficult it must be for a person with autism?

There are certain people I like and feel comfortable to make eye contact with.

However with some people I don't want to make eye contact. its a personal choice.

Also eye contact is a thing between people who like each other!

[dewhistle]

I can't look at real people for long, and yet you're right, this is just funny. I can look a doll in the face, and I can look this in the face.

[nace112]

i have High Functioning Autism and its really hard to look at someone in the eyes for a while.

[purplemutantas]

People on the autism spectrum should NOT be trained to make eye contract. Our neurology is not designed for eye contact. Making eye contact will raise anxiety levels and can cause headaches in some people. I understand that our society highly values eye contact. But, our society also highly values walking. But you wouldn't take my friend Dave's wheelchair away just because is capable of walking. We need to understand that some people have difficulties with some things and be ok with it.

[ledau]

My daughter with Nonverbal Learning Disorder and my son with PDD-NOS taught me this pretty quickly. They could listen or look, never both! But after eduacating myself, I was able to talk to them about facial referencing. Now they understand they have the option to glance quickly at a person's face to see how they are feeling. No staring into eyes at all, just a quick look to see if they are angry or happy, serious or playful. My kids get a bit of the nonverbal content without the stress.

[purplemutantas]

There you go. Thats the way it should be. I wish more people would understand this.

[ediself]

@purplemutantas indeed it's painful to watch. for all NTs out there, try to look at this while expecting a scary maze thing to appear any second and scream at your face....this is what this vid does to me: stress.the guy looks like he's preparing to jump out and hurt me lol.....

[TheStoicAgnostic]

i've never had any problem with videos

especially animation

until now that is odd

it's like dealing with a real person for some reason

eye contact sucks

[xxxzarayeahxxx]

i cant look face 2 face its impossible

[slayerbilly]

wow i had no idea ppl were like me,, i cannot look into ppls eyes much, and if i do its like im on a mission how crazy is that? i just get overwhealmed

[Egger3rd]

I try to look, but it just makes me laugh. I understand its purpose and realize that this video is not for me though. Good resource I suppose.

[Deelhs]

Not sure, but it's quite creepy.

[Applet2]

I don't understand what this is at all?