Comments by "pugetwitch" (@Pugetwitch) on "Heartbroken Grandma Embraces Teen's Killer" video.

  1. It's not that people with ASD avoid eye contact, it's that we make inappropriate eye contact. I have been accused of "acting creepy" by a couple friends in the past because I stared at them directly in their eyes when we were talking. As I've gotten older, I glance down more often in social situations, but when I'm with my friends and if I'm talking to an interviewer or stakeholder, I usually make sustained eye contact until I'm at least done with my sentence or until they're done talking. I am high functioning autistic from a diagnosed with Asperger's about 5 years ago as an adult.
    12
  2. Yeah, the people who run this channel do a good job applying logic and explaining the narrative with a critical tone. One thing that I would like to clarify though, as new things are found about ASD constantly, is that people on the ASD spectrum make inappropriate eye contact. It doesn't necessarily mean that we don't make eye contact or that we look away all the time. It also means that we can stare inappropriately, especially when in serious situations. I am autistic, and when I'm in social atmospheres I tend to shift my gaze a lot from people's eyes because it feels invasive, but when I am speaking directly one-on-one with somebody in an intimate setting, whether it's in a workplace, with close friends somewhere, at a job interview, or with stakeholders at lunch, I make sustained eye contact because I feel that I can read the person's energy much better and I feel that I'm creating a deeper bond with them. Also, making sustained eye contact lens oxytocin to flu more freely, which invokes feelings of love and pleasure. That's one reason that I'm glad I don't make eye contact for very long with strangers! LOL
    5