Eye contact research

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Why Is Eye Contact Different in Autism? New Yale Research Sheds Light

I’m sorry, I’m having trouble comprehending how a “non invasive”cap can “emit(..) light into the brain”

Skulls are opaque, are they not?

What about ASD people who don't have any difficulties making eye contact or have never had that symptom even as a baby?

Yes I'm rather surprised that they would be able to not only penetrate bone, but also take meaningful measurements of what got reflected back or transmitted out of the other side. Not saying it can't be done, just don't see how.

I don't make eye contact because it makes me feel uncomfortable, there's too much information. That phrase "the eyes are a window into the soul" has a ring of a truth to it. I need to be able concentrate on what's being said, I can't handle seeing how much pain somebody has gone through in life, or how annoyed they happen to be that day, etc. that's confusing for me when trying to process language at the same time.

What if they're in a good mood, or a child who hasn't lived long enough to be disgruntled with life? I'm asking seriously, not facetiously.

What if nobody's talking (no language to process)? I rely on eye contact to emit MY feelings and disposition, like the time I stared down the three creeps on a subway at 1 am who, after sitting opposite me, looked me over. My eyes told them, "I'm not one to be messed with!"

I'm pretty sure my interest in eye contact has reached special interest level.

Since my diagnosis I've been keenly interested in eye contact. I always used to think that autistics avoided it because they just didn't like people or weren't interested in the person they were conversing with. I now know this isn't the reason. In fact, when people are afraid of someone, they usually stare dead INTO their eyes, which is why victims of violent crime can give enough details to a sketch artist for the artist to come up with a pretty good composite drawing.

I've met autistic people, both in person and online, who told me they've never had issues with eye contact. Likewise, some autistic people don't have issues with fluorescent lights or being amid a group of people with several loud conversations going.

Nevertheless, gaze aversion is seen in autism far more than in any other ongoing condition (the two others are ADHD and social anxiety). Though NTs will avoid eye contact on an episodic level.

So, I have no problem holding eye contact when being spoken to at length. I DO have a problem if I'M the speaker, as it's distracting, so I glance away a lot when I'm speaking long.

Brief back and forth talking, eye contact feels natural, though.

But, can anyone here offer an insight as to why, when I'm watching people talking on TV (whether in a sitcom, drama, a news person or someone being interviewed), my eyes tend to hang BETWEEN their eyes? I'm looking also at their nose and mouth, and only occasionaly hold eye contact. This has nothing to do with difficulty hearing (I hear fine).

At no point in my childhood do I recall being told I need to "look people in the eye" or anything like that.

I've also noticed that for very brief acknowledgements of people, like when I enter the gym and the desk person greets me, I tend to look between their eyes for that split moment and then move on with checking myself in. But if they say something other than a greeting, like a compliment or ask me a question, I will then look them in the eye. Or, if I have a question or comment, I'll look them in the eye. But for just the superficial greeting? I usually glance only between their eyes. My theory is because, for such a brief, superficial exchange, direct eye contact is a bit too much of a connection. Whereas, NTs love making this level of connection even for just a one-second "Hi!" by a desk clerk.

That is a really good question.

So I went playing in Google ...

And selected from the finds are,

a PDF from Harvard ...
https://www.nmr.mgh.harvard.edu/DOT/cou ... er1997.pdf



also,
https://scitechdaily.com/kernel-flow-he ... n-imaging/

Kernel Flow Headset: A Wearable Device for Noninvasive Optical Brain Imaging
TOPICS:Biomedical Engineering Brain Medical Imaging Neuroscience

By SPIE--International Society for Optics and Photonics January 20, 2022

My eye contact isn't horrible but I make it a point to look away a lot because I've noticed it's easy to freak people out if they feel like your gaze is penetrating into their character too far (I didn't understand that back when I'd believed that life was about cooperation and 'playing along to get along', I understand it better now though).

Ironically I was watching a doctor a few days ago talk about cancer prevention and he was mentioning that being outside in cloud cover or mild sunlight allows infrared to penetrate as much as a few inches into your body and trigger cellular melatonin production, which is supposedly a good thing in that regard.

So yeah - it sounds like certain wavelengths of light perhaps can penetrate your skull.

I once tried looking at my boss' face while talking with her, but it seemed to make her more aggressive towards me. It might have been a cultural thing - she was Malaysian.

My father got into this habit of staring long and hard at me while he was explaining things to me at length, and although I'm sure he meant no harm, I didn't like it at all. It made me feel trapped.

So these days, I just give people the occasional glance and try not to turn my back on them when we're supposed to be engaging with each other. I never could get into the habit of doing a lot of eye contact anyway. I don't consider it to be much of a "window into the souls" of others anyway because it doesn't seem to tell me much that's of any use, and I'm not comfortable with my "soul" being on display to all and sundry. I don't hold with this notion that if you're innocent then you've nothing to fear. Depends who's deciding what is meant by innocence, for one thing.

I've known people on the spectrum who I've talked to in other places who had the impression that NT's were somehow almost 'psychic' and could 'just know' if you weren't thinking positive thoughts. I think that's more the illusion of getting dirty looks, having people project, and somehow feeling wide-open and vulnerable. IMHO you could have just killed a couple people, weighed the bodies down with rocks, and dumped them in a lake and if you present confidently at the local Starbucks or McDonalds it's business as it ever was, meaning it's a bit of an illusion.

I've no desire to actually run that experiment but I've noticed no actual correlation between where you've just been or what you've been thinking about and how people treat you. Really it's at it's most distressing when you're actually full of benevolence, like back in my days when I was in AMORC and wanting to think wonderful/warm thoughts to warm the world around me, encourage Peace Profound, and I looked as much like a scruffy guy in his 30's and potential weirdo / rape threat as I would have otherwise. No evidence that internal states map to the outside world other than through body language.

^
Indeed. Lie detection is a thing many people think they're good at, but there's no known way of detecting a lie for certain. I suspect the whole eye contact thing might have been more useful in a primitive society when maybe there weren't so many people skilled enough to fake things, when a smile and a frown were usually genuine. So maybe these days it's more of an outmoded relic of better times, though possibly young children still have a use for it. But that's all just conjecture on my part.

all this fuss over eye contact! It is a social construct, and definitely not required for effective communication. In many cultures making eye contact is considered insulting or offensive. I was raised NOT to make eye contact with older people, social superiors, authorities, etc. and punished and corrected if I did! Like many other parts of life, eye contact is something some societies welcome and others avoid. Testing to see if we "do it right" in the societies where eye contact is encouraged is the height of absurdity. Your opinions might vary.

Making eye contact is not a social construct; avoiding it is. This is why in cultures (mainly Southeast Asian countries) where making eye contact is heavily discouraged, this is actually taught from early childhood because avoiding it is not natural for NTs. In Western cultures, eye contact comes naturally to NTs (and some Autistics but perhaps not most). All animal species have an inborn drive for eye contact, and the more intelligent or "higher up" the species, the more that eye contact means MORE than just "I wanna fight you."

During my assessment, my eye contact was noted in her notes, but I was not tested in it. Her notes said it was normal but at times "intense."

Eye contact IS require for effective communication. When I was a personal trainer I was explaining things to gym members sitting opposite me, trying to talk them into buying pricey training packages. As I got into my explanations .... I'd find myself glancing to the side while speaking, because maintaining eye contact or even face contact was very distracting. I'd have to remind myself to return my gaze! When THEY were talking (e.g., expressing desperation at not being able to lose weight), I kept my eyes on theirs.

Imagine how unconvincing I'd be if, while I'm trying to talk them into why they should hire ME as their personal trainer, I'm avoiding eye contact the entire time. And imagine how neglected or blown off they'd feel, if while THEY were expressingi themselves, I avoided eye contact.

So yes, there IS a place for it. I've been able to make creepy men back off just by giving them "my look." I've gotten refunds and gift cards without a hitch by establishing firm eye contact with retail managers when service went bad. But when I walk right past people at the gym (I'm no longer a trainer; different gym), inside buildings or on sidewalks, I avoid eye contact, because there is no need under those circumstances to "get my way," be convincing or establish dominance. Kids who avoid eye contact are far more likely to get bullied. I was considered weird growing up, but not bullied proportionately. This might be because I gave good eye contact to my classmates.

My experience is similar.

When I was young my parents told me it was polite to look at people when I was talking to them so I did. They never said I had to look into the other person's eyes and I don't. Since I tend not to stand too close to someone when I'm talking to them I suspect me looking at their head passes as adequate. That I know of, it has only been an issue a very small number of times...most entertainingly when I got my Adult Autism Assessment, when I spent quite a bit of time sitting a desk-width from the psychologist, who happened to be an attractive young (compared to me, anyways) lady. Knowing eye contact was an Autism issue I forced myself to look into the psychologist's eyes...EEEK! I immediately looked away, thinking "I can't do that...I'm a married man!" It felt way too intimate.