#embracetheamazing #autismawareness365 #mattysmission Lack of eye contact is probably the best-known symptom of autism. But did you know why a child with autism might not look you in the eye? Studies show 2 possible reason: 1. The visual system in the brain of someone with autism is set up so that they can see more detail through their periphery! Telling someone with autism to look you in the eye is not only uncomfortable for them it also lessens the attention they will be able to pay you. 2. A person with autism processes interactions with people in a manual rather than an automatic way. So where our brains subconsciously decide what someone is feeling using a combination of facial expression, tone of voice, body language, etc. someone with autism has to recognize each of these cues then put them all together like a puzzle piece and then respond to the interaction. Exhausting! So when they finally answer you after 30 long seconds, and they say “There are 88 constellations visible across the entire sky” and you’d asked them, “How are you today?” there may have been a whole lot of processing going on behind that forehead and they grabbed on to the only fleeting thing they could wrap their words around. You may immediately think, “gee he’s slow/stupid/weird” but really his brain is going way faster than yours ever will! Having to process a hundred things each time you look at something as complex as a face, which has a demanding human behind it expecting that you answer sensibly, is exhausting. Any wonder they don’t look you in the face. :) #aprilisautismawarenessmonth
Posted on: Fri, 04 Apr 2014 02:34:46 +0000