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Is Eye Contact Important For Your Autistic Child?

By Bonita Darula

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 02Feb2011 Word count: 566 Viewed: 425 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

If you have a child with autism, you may have noticed that he or she does not make eye contact in the same way other children do, who do not have autism. The question is, how important is it for your autistic child to make eye contact?

When I was younger, I remember my parents would get angry with my brother who had his disorder, because he would not make eye contact. He would look in a distance as though he was in a spacial stare. He would stare, not acknowledge me, or my parents when he was to make eye contact. It was frustrating for my parents, myself and the rest of the family.

It was obvious, the more my parents told my brother to look at them when they were speaking, the more frustrating the situation became. My brother displayed nervous reactions to the situation.

I have learned, living in our society we are taught to be educated to make eye contact look people in the eye when they are talking and when you are talking to them. If this not done, it is considered to be rude and not kind to the other person. Should this to be enforced or is it important for your child who has autism?

Many children with autism have many social problems or disabilities. Some autistic children feel threatened by making eye contact because they lack social abilities to communicate.

There is another thought regarding children who do not make eye contact. Some children with autism do not make eye contact for the fact that, they are concentrating on what is taking place.

When you feel it is important for your child to make eye contact, or force him or her to do it, their attention span will drop and you will create high levels of anxiety for your child and you.

I have learned by watching my brother and trying to encourage him to make eye contact, he would be looking straight in my eyes, but would not seem to understand some of the things I was saying.

If your child gives you a difficult time trying to read his or her social cues or mannerisms, it may be a challenge to have them give you direct eye contact.

You have to determine if it is important to encourage your child to have eye contact. It may bring a hinderance for learning and understanding social skills for your child. It may even create more stress and anxiety.

I believe you should not push your child to have eye contact. It should become a natural behavior without being forced. As your child grows in age, his or her eye contact will improve also.

How do you feel about the importance of having eye contact with your child who has autism? Do you feel it is not that important, or do you feel it is a must to have eye contact? Are you willing to encourage your child to have eye contact, but not to push or force it? Do you believe it is worth thinking about, that as your child grows with age, his or her eye contact will improve?

These are some of the questions you need to ask yourself, if you want to know whether eye contact is important for your autistic child.

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