Eye contact

Ava said:

Do you give constant eye contact?

I don't - I save it for when I'm talking about something serious and use it to convey the gravity of what I am saying.

I'll make brief eye contact in normal coversation but when I'm face to face with the person it very much depends on the relationship.

With a manager or underling then eye contact is pretty expected in these situations. It is a social convention to convey sincerity and failure to do this in most situations makes it seem that you are ashamed or have something to hide typically.

With family under normal circumstances it is fine to avoid it I find. I still do it when I'm showing respect to an elder though.

With friends I find it is not expected in the normal course of things.

For complete strangers it very much depends on the situation - a shop assistant for example would be a passing contact while reporting an incident to a police officer would take more eye contact.

One trick I found to use when I need to maintain eye contact in the likes of an interview or serious conversation is to study the iris of the person you are looking at - look at the structure and the little defects or imperfections to distract you from the fact that you are actually making eye contact.

It is a form of masking I guess but it makes passing as "normal" a whole lot easier in this specific regard.

If someone takes you to task about it then tell them to research autistic masking as their statement highlights their ignorance.

Ava said:

Do you give constant eye contact?

I don't - I save it for when I'm talking about something serious and use it to convey the gravity of what I am saying.

I'll make brief eye contact in normal coversation but when I'm face to face with the person it very much depends on the relationship.

With a manager or underling then eye contact is pretty expected in these situations. It is a social convention to convey sincerity and failure to do this in most situations makes it seem that you are ashamed or have something to hide typically.

With family under normal circumstances it is fine to avoid it I find. I still do it when I'm showing respect to an elder though.

With friends I find it is not expected in the normal course of things.

For complete strangers it very much depends on the situation - a shop assistant for example would be a passing contact while reporting an incident to a police officer would take more eye contact.

One trick I found to use when I need to maintain eye contact in the likes of an interview or serious conversation is to study the iris of the person you are looking at - look at the structure and the little defects or imperfections to distract you from the fact that you are actually making eye contact.

It is a form of masking I guess but it makes passing as "normal" a whole lot easier in this specific regard.

If someone takes you to task about it then tell them to research autistic masking as their statement highlights their ignorance.