Look at Me app

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So Samsung and Autism Speaks Canada have teamed up to give tablets to 200 autistic kids. These tablets are loaded with the Look at Me app which encourages children make eye contact through play.

Canadian Reviewer link

eye contact serves a useful purpose. it allows people to connect.

Agreed. Eye contact is overrated and unnecessary!

I use eye contact sort of like punctuation when I'm speaking.

My eyes drift off to the side, but return to meet their eyes toward the end of sentences. If there are multiple people, I briefly glance at each of them. Sometimes I alternate between the two or three people closest to me. This is simply to assure them that I'm aware of their presence and that I appreciate that they're listening to me.

When a person is speaking to me, I do the same thing--my eyes drift but they always return to the speaker at the ends of sentences to assure them that I'm paying attention.

This also changes slightly depending on the person. When someone gives me a lot of eye contact while speaking, I give them the same in return. When someone maintains less eye contact, I give them less in return because that is what they're comfortable with.

How about a "Be yourself" app for NT kids to discourage them from becoming sheeple ?

After all, what's the use in connecting with something that's primarily a carbon copy of most other people?

Eye contact doesn't really have any inherent benefits. It has benefits only in reaping of society's rewards for conforming to social norms. So, there are good reasons to teach it, seeing as society isn't gonna change anytime soon no matter how much I wish it would.

As someone who is getting bad performance evaluations during my medical school clinical rotations for "not making enough eye contact," I would say it is pretty important skill as I would not only like to connect with people...but I would also like to connect with my graduate degree.

I wish I could look my husband in the eyes for longer than a glance or for longer than 5 seconds. We used to play a game where we'd count the seconds. That was the longest I lasted. He wants to have that "looking into each other's eyes" thing. It makes me sad that I can't give that to him. And it makes me sad that after 8 years of marriage that he's given up on that. I don't think he is sore over it, but it bothers me knowing that is another simple thing I can't give him and it is something he shouldn't have to live without. I can do it in my imagination; I wish I could do it in real life. It makes me feel extremely exposed and actually becomes painful.

I don't believe in forcing a child or anyone for that matter to look someone else in the eyes. Back before I knew much about autism, it used to really bother me when I'd hear about people trying to get autistic or even just shy kids to look them in the eye. Way to traumatize someone and make them even more reticent or avoidant or scared about interacting with you . I do think the powers that be (professionals and experts and parents) put too much emphasis on getting a kid to look them in the eyes, but at the same time, in Western culture, especially, if you can't make enough eye contact, people think you are uninterested, shifty, dishonest, passive-aggressive, or even mentally ill. They want the person to talk, but expecting them to make eye contact, makes the talking and thinking of something to say even harder, for me anyone. I don't know about anyone else.