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Asked by anon-304096 on 16 Nov 2021.
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Natali Bozhilova answered on 16 Nov 2021:
Some autistic people might find it overwhelming to process information coming from the eyes as well as other types of information at the same time. Some autistic people might also find it irrelevant to establish eye contact with the rest of the people, or the people they are currently interacting with. Essentially, autistic people perceive the world in a different way, meaning they might perceive certain common behaviours as less relevant.
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Natalie Butcher answered on 16 Nov 2021: last edited 16 Nov 2021 8:56 pm
Great question. Avoiding eye contact is a common behaviour in people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In fact it’s one of the behaviours listed in the DSM5 (diagnostic manual) as an indicator of social communication difficulties. Historically it was thought that people with ASD avoid eye contact because they lacked interest in others but more recently, after talking to people with ASD about eye contact, researchers have discovered that’s not the case. For example, one study published in 2017 suggests the avoidance of eye contact is a way to decrease an unpleasant excessive arousal stemming from overactivation in a particular part of the brain. You can read more about that study here: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170615213252.htm So, there might be several causes of the lack of eye contact. Lack of eye contact can create significant social and occupational barriers, which is why this question remains an important question for ASD researchers to answer.
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