Summary: Individuals with autism spectrum disorder often find it difficult to look others in the eyes as they find eye contact uncomfortable or stressful.
Some people who have autism actively avoid eye contact and appear confused and anxious when it occurs. Some seemed to make eye contact relatively early but later reported they were actually looking at something that fascinated them (such as their reflection in one's eyeglasses).
A tendency to avoid eye contact is an early indicator of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and difficulties with eye contact often persist throughout the lifespan. Eye contact difficulties may underlie social cognitive deficits in ASD, and can create significant social and occupational barriers.
A common feature of autism spectrum disorder, ASD, is reduced eye contact with others in natural conditions.
Individuals with autism often have a number of unusual physical characteristics, called dysmorphologies, such as wide-set eyes or broad foreheads. Dysmorphic features may mark a subgroup of individuals who have autism with a distinct underlying genetic cause.
Autistic people often prefer to view inanimate objects over people interacting. This atypical gaze pattern may help clinicians flag autism before other traits appear. The average age of diagnosis in the United States is 4 years.
Visual stimming uses a person's sense of sight. It may include repetitive behaviors such as: staring or gazing at objects, such as ceiling fans or lights. repetitive blinking or turning lights on and off.
One theory is that the reason that eye contact is difficult for most but not all autistics is that alexithymia may mediate this experience. Research shows that irrespective of autism, alexithymia appears to play a role in avoidance of other people's eyes.
Summary: Individuals with autism spectrum disorder often find it difficult to look others in the eyes as they find eye contact uncomfortable or stressful.
Some of the frequent facial features of autism are a broader upper face, shorter middle face, wider eyes, bigger mouth, and the philtrum [19]. The use of facial features as a physical marker to detect autism is one of the most exciting topics in autism research.
1. Eye contact: Avoidance of eye contact is ADHD behaviour – your child/young person may look as if they are ignoring you but some find making eye contact really difficult.
Socially anxious people made initial eye contact but then looked away. This eye contact pattern is associated with anxiety and is an emotional avoidance strategy. Autistic people were slower to make eye contact. This was associated with a lack of motivation for eye contact and general discomfort with eye contact.
Noise reduction headphones reduce the actual noise level (decibels) that the ears process but does not completely eliminate noise altogether. For children with auditory sensitivities, this enables them to participate in potentially loud environments without being overstimulated by the sounds around them.
Others have found that autistic children have enlarged amygdalae early in development and that the difference levels off over time2,4. Autistic people have decreased amounts of brain tissue in parts of the cerebellum, the brain structure at the base of the skull, according to a meta-analysis of 17 imaging studies5.
Especially for children, ADHD and eye contact using don't work together too well. Many people with ADHD struggle with social skills in general. Typically, they find it difficult to understand other's emotions, which makes empathy a challenge.
While cognitive empathy can be lower in people with autism, affective empathy—which is based on instincts and involuntary responses to the emotions of others—can be strong and overwhelming. In fact, newer research suggests that some people with autism may actually feel other people's emotions more intensely.
1 Eye Contact: Avoidance of eye contact may be a charactersitic behaviour of a child with ADHD or Autistic Specrum Disorder. They may look as if they are ignoring you, but some children find making eye contact really difficult.
Due to the behavioural, information processing and sensory aspects of their diagnosis, many people on the autism spectrum often prefer familiar environments with a predictable routine. Restricted and repetitive interests, sensory processing differences and heightened anxiety can make even small changes stressful.
Being nonverbal or non-speaking can occur for a variety of reasons. Many nonverbal autistic people choose not to speak. They may find speech to be overloading, feel more comfortable with communicating another way or aren't confident enough to engage in full conversations.
Eye tracking problems
These issues make it difficult for the eyes to track moving objects. Such problems may be the reason a person with autism prefers to view objects with their peripheral vision rather than looking straight at them to view them.
Stimming, Motor Tics, or Repetitive Behavior in Autism
For a child with autism, stimming might involve motor tics like rocking back and forth, licking lips, flapping hands, or repetitive blinking. It may also verbal tics like grunting, or repeating words or phrases, a behavior known as scripting or echolalia.