In regards to article on home page

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I read through "Eye contact triggers threat response in autistics" and can't help but agreee with the findings of the article.

I find people staring at me to very un-nerving.

Dogs and chimps behave similarly I've heard...

Yes, and any verbal (or non verbal who could write or type) autistic could have told them how disturbing it is. I am not entirely sure that this is a defect so much as a genetic throwback. Think about animals. Nearly every species of warm blooded animal perceives direct eye contact as aggressive. I think humans have got to be one of the few who use it in a sociable friendly manner without aggression...at least..normal people do not seem to think of it as threatening.

Still, the end goal of the article, as always, was to fix us and make us less autistic. Soemtimes I wonder what will happen if they ever succeed at that, eradicating us I mean.

I HATE being stared at. When people do this i say, "can i help you?" when they say no i say quit starin' at me

Finally some research to substantiate what one always feels. Faces are bad enuf without eye contact, add that and gah, it's awful! I'd rather people went around in masks!

This is (ironically) an evolutionary throwback...

You confront dogs, chimps and other social animals by staring in their eyes... neat huh?

There are cultures in which it is considered impolite to look other people in the eyes. It is seen as rude and confrontational.

I can look my husband in the eyes, but other people looking at me unnerves me.

I am very tall for a woman, 6', so I am stared at a lot, particularly when I am with my hubby who is 6'5". We forget how tall we are until we are in a group of people and we can see over everyones' heads. So, needless to say we aren't looking people in the eye a whole lot.

I am also taller than a lot of men and they stare at my chest, which I guess means I get to avoid eye contact!

Tallgirl.

I'll have to use that one myself: "Errrm, no I wasn't staring at your breasts..... I was just looking downwards to avoid eye contact, honestly"