EYE CONTACT: It Differes From Day To Day...

Page 1 of 2 [ 19 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next

ReGiFroFoLa
Velociraptor
Velociraptor

User avatar

Joined: 15 Nov 2008
Age: 36
Gender: Female
Posts: 455

28 Jan 2009, 4:28 am

...Anyone else experiance it? I mean - sometimes I have problems with my eye contact and sometimes I don't. There are times that I don't make any eye contact ( I stare at the floor, mostly) or it's fleeting; and the other times I tend to stare at others... Is it just me, or is it quite common?



28 Jan 2009, 4:34 am

I can make good eye contact when I am feeling comfortable.



jawbrodt
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 26 Jan 2008
Age: 51
Gender: Male
Posts: 7,766
Location: Eastern USA

28 Jan 2009, 4:38 am

Yes. My confidence levels can vary greatly from day to day, and it directly effects my eye contact duration. If you were to talk to me on a day when I was at one extreme, and then the other(on another day), you might think I was two different people, if you didn't know me well.


_________________
Those who speak, don't know.

Those who know, don't speak.


Heartcooksbrain
Deinonychus
Deinonychus

User avatar

Joined: 22 Jan 2009
Age: 37
Gender: Male
Posts: 344

28 Jan 2009, 4:40 am

I am usually very good with eye contact, I do look to the side, or down when speaking occasionally, but that is more so to make it appear I'm not STARING or GLARING. I can't look at my parents eyes for longer than a few seconds or it makes me uncomfortable.



ReGiFroFoLa
Velociraptor
Velociraptor

User avatar

Joined: 15 Nov 2008
Age: 36
Gender: Female
Posts: 455

28 Jan 2009, 4:43 am

Yeh, I think it indeed might be the cause of my eye contact variations... Feeling comfortable or feeling stressed...

Oh well, I just can't tell; loads of things happen in me and around me and I am just sometimes unable to link them somehow together...



DeLoreanDude
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 10 Oct 2008
Age: 43
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,562
Location: FL

28 Jan 2009, 4:47 am

ReGiFroFoLa wrote:
...Anyone else experiance it? I mean - sometimes I have problems with my eye contact and sometimes I don't. There are times that I don't make any eye contact ( I stare at the floor, mostly) or it's fleeting; and the other times I tend to stare at others... Is it just me, or is it quite common?


Yeah this happens to me, too, also I am better at eye contact with some people than I am with others.



Fidget
Supporting Member
Supporting Member

User avatar

Joined: 29 Jun 2008
Age: 36
Gender: Male
Posts: 919
Location: Illinois, US

28 Jan 2009, 4:48 am

I'm sure some days it's better than others, but eye contact is always extremely hard for me. Even with family and my closest friends.



Acacia
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 12 Dec 2008
Age: 44
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,986

28 Jan 2009, 8:11 am

ReGiFroFoLa wrote:
There are times that I don't make any eye contact; and the other times I tend to stare at others... Is it just me, or is it quite common?

This is what I do.
Either total avoidance of eye contact,
or forced, uncomfortable stares.
It just depends on the day and the other people involved.

As I understand it, this is a very common trait for someone with AS.


_________________
Plantae/Magnoliophyta/Magnoliopsida/Fabales/Fabaceae/Mimosoideae/Acacia


skybluepink
Blue Jay
Blue Jay

User avatar

Joined: 16 Jan 2009
Age: 57
Gender: Female
Posts: 80

28 Jan 2009, 9:10 am

It varies a lot for me too. Sometimes when I was young I would stare at people if I wanted them to go away. I couldn't understand why it didn't work - to me it felt like such an aggressive thing to do.

In Spain where I live, even more eye contact is expected than when I was growing up in the UK. Some days, especially when I have PMS and am tense anyway, I can't manage it. I have 2 ways of dealing with this - one is to always wear my running shoes so I have an excuse to just wave and say 'later' when people greet me, the other is to take my dog. It's amazing how few people will interrupt me when I'm talking to my dog in whichever language they don't speak.

The chap who diagnosed me remarked, about an hour into the session when I felt quite relaxed - 'your eye contact got much better in the last 10 mins'. Of course then I lost it completely. That was when I knew I was going to get a positive diagnosis.



sartresue
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 18 Dec 2007
Age: 71
Gender: Female
Posts: 6,313
Location: The Castle of Shock and Awe-tism

28 Jan 2009, 10:06 am

Eyeball to eyeball topic

I look at a person's eyes if I am staring at an interesting feature in them. I know of the four second rule--but sometimes an eye is fascinating so that I hyperfocus on that.

ReGiFroFoLa's experience is interesting. :) In my case, though, I think it is just a staring thing, not eye contact. :(


_________________
Radiant Aspergian
Awe-Tistic Whirlwind

Phuture Phounder of the Philosophy Phactory

NOT a believer of Mystic Woo-Woo


Detren
Velociraptor
Velociraptor

User avatar

Joined: 7 Feb 2008
Age: 47
Gender: Female
Posts: 410
Location: in the connection between the ansibles

28 Jan 2009, 10:23 am

depends on my mood and my, I guess, confidence level. more of a self worth level than confidence i guess.



WurdBendur
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 2 Dec 2007
Age: 41
Gender: Male
Posts: 648
Location: Indiana

28 Jan 2009, 3:59 pm

I didn't know there was a four-second rule. I would expect a safe maximum to be more like two seconds.

I don't usually have a problem making eye contact if I think of it. I usually just don't feel the need to do it, even though I know I'm supposed to. Sometimes, though, it's hard to force myself to look at people's eyes, and I avoid it..


_________________
"If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them." - Isaac Asimov


RoisinDubh
Deinonychus
Deinonychus

User avatar

Joined: 24 Jan 2009
Age: 57
Gender: Female
Posts: 341
Location: Somewhere else entirely

28 Jan 2009, 5:48 pm

I couldn't make eye contact with anyone, at all, til I was in my mid-teens. These days it varies, by situation and by person. Usually I can manage to at least fake it, but depending on my stress levels, it's easier or harder to do.



mixtapebooty
Deinonychus
Deinonychus

User avatar

Joined: 25 Dec 2008
Age: 44
Gender: Female
Posts: 381
Location: Richmond, Va

29 Jan 2009, 5:38 am

Yes. I make good eye contact sometimes. I have worked really really hard at it.



poopylungstuffing
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 8 Mar 2007
Age: 50
Gender: Female
Posts: 6,714
Location: Snapdragon Ridge

29 Jan 2009, 7:16 am

Every time I accidentally make eye contact, I end up thinking...ooh...wow...I must be neurotypical after all.....(just kidding).....(sort of)....

I know I need to work harder at it, but it is so stinking hard. The people I spend the most time with don't make eye contact either, so we blissfully go around not making eye contact with one-another.
It is easy to forget that anyone thinks that it is important.
I can make it happen sometimes though.



RarePegs
Deinonychus
Deinonychus

User avatar

Joined: 20 Oct 2008
Age: 61
Gender: Male
Posts: 333
Location: Northern Ireland

29 Jan 2009, 1:07 pm

poopylungstuffing wrote:
Every time I accidentally make eye contact, I end up thinking...ooh...wow...I must be neurotypical after all.....(just kidding).....(sort of)....



And I start worrying that other people will see any sign of eye contact as proof that my claims of AS are not genuine.