Author: Andre Velho | Jun 09, 2016
Being a professional working in the field of autism, I often meet children who avoid eye contact. This is one of the most obvious features of the condition that is displayed by individuals with autism right from infancy. Looking and listening at the same time can be quite tough for people with autism, but they can be taught to do so.
Recently, Jonathan’s father asked me why it was so important for his son to ‘look’ at other people. Jonathan is very cooperative and bright. He can do many tasks that other children with autism struggle with. Further, his teachers have observed that though he never looks at them when they are teaching, Jonathan seems to know everything that is happening in class! So why am I harping on about improving his eye contact?
We may not realize it, but eye contact is a very important part of communication and socialization. Looking at people will gives us information about their facial expressions, body movements and gestures. It helps us understand our environment better. Jonathan can learn a lot about what is expected of him in many situations by observing people around him. For example, when he goes to church, he doesn’t know what is expected of him and usually likes to talk and move around. His parents constantly have to remind him to sit down. Teaching him to observe the behaviour of other people would help him understand what is expected of him in church. He can tell whether his friends are interested in his topic of conversation by looking at their facial expressions. If they are rolling their eyes, he might need to change the topic! On the other hand, if his best friend Sheila is talking to him and he is not looking at her, she might think he isn’t interested in what she has to say!
However, merely teaching Jon to “stare” at someone will not help – it looks odd when someone is staring at us! The difficulty he faces is that he struggles to do both – look appropriately and listen at the same time.
According to Linda Hogdon, a speech and language therapist who is known as the “Queen of Visuals”, we need to teach children like Jon to establish eye contact in a ‘natural way’ and not ‘stare like a robot’. But apart from just looking at others, he needs to learn 3 key skills –
1) Orienting towards people when talking to them
2) ‘Looking like a listener’ which includes managing his body in such a way that he can focus on the other person without fidgeting which can be distracting, and
3) Observing others and using them as role models to learn how to look, where to look and what details to pay attention to.
These skills will help Jon improve his acceptance in society. It will also change the way his school friends perceive him and help him enhance his social presence in his school.