Eye contact

Today my mum caught me making eye contact.

Though I wasn't actually making eye contact.

I explained to her what I was doing and she said "That's a good trick I never noticed".

I bet you're wondering what I was really doing.

Well, I was looking at her eyebrows.

I know that sounds weird but it makes people feel like I'm making eye contact and paying attention without it making me uncomfortable.

Then, she asked what it feels like when I make eye contact and why I can.

I told her what I'm about to tell you.

I said;

"When I, or an autistic person, makes eye contact it is very uncomfortable.

Imagine the pirates in movies that wear eye patches. They no longer have an eye right?

Okay, now imagine that they took their eye patch off and you're staring into the dark void that used to be their eye.

That's exactly how it feels to make eye contact for me."

My mum was shocked, because usually I cannot verbally explain things, I find it easier communicating through messages.

I was pleased with my description when my mum told me I had explained clearly how it felt and she could visualise how it felt for me.

Now, thanks to my mum I am writing this blog post because she thought it would be a good idea to help non-autistics understand how it feels and why we sometimes don't and also help my fellow autistics verbalize why we don't make eye contact.

Thank you for reading this very long blog post, I hope you enjoyed.

Please share this with all your friends and family to get the awareness out there!!