Toddlers with autism spend less time looking at the eyes of an actor in a video than do typical children or those with developmental delay. Anecdotes from teens and adults with autism paint a more complex picture. These individuals say they do not understand the need to make eye contact — or that eye contact is unpleasant. We have studied this topic for six years. Based on our research and clinical experience, we believe that these findings are not contradictory.
An early lack of interest in eye contact may cause children with autism to miss out on social cues, leading to low social motivation and interest down the road. Feeling obligated to make eye contact when you are not motivated to do so is unpleasant, and this may cause some adults with autism to actively avoid eye contact.
A study supports our theory. The researchers measured gaze in adults with and without autism as they viewed faces with happy, fearful and neutral expressions. Between the face presentations, a cross appeared on the screen in different positions to direct the participants to focus on a particular area.
The researchers found that people in the autism group showed both a decreased preference for looking at eyes and active avoidance of the eyes when the cross cued them to look at the eyes 2. Those with the condition typically claim it feels "unnatural" or express anxiety over making eye contact, but psychologists have been uncertain if the discomfort is sensory or stems from conflict over the social importance of looking a person in the eye when you communicate.
Previous research suggested the latter, but a team of neurologists from the Massachusetts General Hospital in the US suspected the problem might be over-sensitivity of the parts of the brain responsible for emotional perception.
In part, they were persuaded to search for a neurological cause by reports from those diagnosed with the condition, who claimed looking into the eyes of others was stressful, that it " feels yucky ", or even that "it can actually make my eyes burn or water while doing it.
Specifically, the researchers looked to a part of the brain called the subcortical system , a variety of structures that integrates information from the outer cortex with the peripheral senses to give rise to movements and other behaviours. Within this system are pathways that carry visual information from the eyes to parts of the brain that stimulate emotions, and helps newborn babies recognise and turn to familiar faces and influence a range of other social actions.
They are teaching tools. If your son is already seeing a behavioral therapist, eye contact and attentiveness are wonderful skills for them to work on together. A behavior analyst or educator can work with you and your son on personalized recommendations.
The therapist may begin by completing a behavior assessment of your son. Ideally, the therapist will observe how your son interacts with others in a variety of real-life settings.
For instance, the therapist will want to observe your son in several settings with varying demands and collect information on how often he directs eye contact and when he might avoid gaze. If this is not possible, he or she may ask you to describe these situations. Based on these observations, the therapist will work with you to develop a plan to increase eye contact in specific situations.
Along these lines, your school district may have a social skills coaching group. Or a school counselor may know of one in your community. These strategies should serve as a springboard for additional behavioral supports that enlist the help of professionals.
As we describe above, we want to encourage you to take advantage of autism specialists and resources in your area. We hope these strategies and suggestions prove helpful. Please let us know how you and your son are doing by emailing us again at GotQuestions AutismSpeaks.
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Resource Guide. Autism Response Team. Our Mission. Our Grantmaking. If the person still fails to look as directed, misinterpretations of why the person isn't "complying" may fuel futile power struggles that only frustrate everyone concerned and further thwart the abilities of individuals with autism to respond.
Whether requesting eye contact is a wise approach to focusing attention depends both on the person who has autism and on circumstances surrounding the expectation. Sometimes getting an individual to "make eye contact" becomes a high priority that falls under the rubric of "compliance and direction following" training. As an example, consider an objective that states, "Will increase eye contact when in social situations with peers.
Student will make eye contact X number of times every 10 minutes when involved in shared activities. While attempting to maximize adaptive behaviors on the part of individuals who have autism spectrum disorders, we too must adapt when observed responses clearly indicate that our purposes are not being achieved. A number of "higher functioning" folks who have autism have described difficulties with making eye contact. One of the more humorous explanations was shared over lunch with a brilliant, well- educated, year-old man who has Asperger's Syndrome.
With a mixture of cynicism, good humor and pleading for understanding, he discussed his difficulty with making eye contact, but even more to the point, with expectations that he "read" and respond to the subtle socioemotional messages conveyed via the eyes. In summarizing his message, he said, "If you insist that I make eye contact with you, when I'm finished I'll be able to tell you how many millimeters your pupils changed while I looked into your eyes.
Several individuals who have autism have described similar difficulties, if not such analytical approaches. Some candidly share exasperation with folks who insist on eye contact while demonstrating considerable ignorance concerning ways interactive sensory, motor, social and emotional anomalies impact one's abilities to orient and make sense of environments and expectations.
People who have autism spectrum disorders have difficulty with reading even the most overt social cues in context. They have extraordinary difficulty with reading more subtle body language, including messages often conveyed via the eyes.
In addition to difficulties with attending to and interpreting information that is embedded in social context, some have great difficulty with attending to and coordinating two sources of sensory input at once.
For example, astute teachers often observe that a student with autism "looks out the window all the time, just doesn't appear to be paying attention at all, but then can tell me everything I said. Insisting that he make eye contact might well render him unable to take in and store auditory input.
Educators who are relatively unfamiliar with autism are often understandably perplexed by inconsistencies evident in an individual's response patterns.
There appears to be a natural inclination to assert that, "if he could do it in that situation, I know he can do it in the other
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