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Avoiding eye contact altogether in public

Roswell

My mother advised me it's best to avoid eye contact with people completely in public.

What are your thoughts on that?

I felt it was rude to do that but tried it while we were out in supermarkets shopping earlier on, and although it felt odd and somewhat ignorant, and also I missed seeing who was near me - in case I recognised someone or there was someone interesting to look at - I think I felt more calm and less overloaded in the way that can lead up to an Autistic meltdown.

Parents

  • Great advice here. I hope you don't mind me asking a related question:
    If I accidentally bump into someone I know in public then I can usually recognize them from quite far away (say they are walking the opposite direction on the street). At this distance it is too early to greet the person. My question is, what should I do with my eyes in the time between recognizing and greeting the person?

  • in reply to Surely

    This is one of my greatest pains, I absolutely hate it. I usually spot people very early on and never know what to do.

    What I usually end up doing, is to look at my phone or the shops/building I pass until I get close enough to say hi. Or more likely, for them to spot me and say hi first.

    It does occasionally happen that I feel so awkward I pretend I’ve not seen them at all.

  • in reply to Mena

    It's comforting to know that I am not the only one who is troubled by this. I wonder if it would be useful to ask a NT person for advice or if they wouldn't be able to give a strategy themselves.

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