I often avoid eye contact

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People see this as rude, but I'm trying to stop myself from leering into their soul. soo if you had to choose one extreme which one do you think would be more appropriate . Leering into some bodies eyes like this or avoiding eye contact. I can't do both but I've always avoided because I didn't want to cross the persons boundaries. Idk...

I usually look between the eyes, that way i don't have to look at their eyes - and forget to listen what they are talking about - and it's not considered rude. althuogh some people pick up on that.

When I was younger I used to avoid eye contact for the opposite reason. I didn't want other people looking into my soul. I didn't want anybody to know who I was. I protected and concealed myself by avoicing eye-contact.

I also had no trouble lying which I've heard is unusual for someone with AS but I didn't want people to see right through me when I lied. I avoided eye contact for that reason but it never made me look suspicious because everyone knew I had AS. My diagnosis actually explained away my lack of eye contact when the reason for it was that I was lying.

I wear dark sunglasses.
If anyone can actually tell whether or not I'm looking them in the eyes, they sure as hell don't make it known.

i do this sometimes.

bad habit i need to get out of

it usually means - im in my own world but people do get offended by it

I don't avoid eye contact on purpose. My brain seems to do it automatically. But I can make eye contact on purpose. It doesn't make me feel any special feelings, good or bad. I would enjoy making eye contact with people if people all had cat faces.

I really need to pick up some sunglasses. Seems like they're pretty helpful with the eye-contact issues but, like wearing clothes I'm not used too, I can't seem to make the adjustment and start wearing them. Anyway, I'd rather have someone make poor eye contact than stare into my eyes, so I project my own preference.

I heard that a cat squinting is like smiling, and cats sometimes respond to hooomans squinting at them by squinting back.

I get around it whenever I can by finding ways to look busy. I might look at a menu, press buttons on a keypad, dig around in my pockets or go through my wallet, whatever might seem appropriate for the situation.

I avoided it more often as a kid because it didn't come natural to me. I didn't choose to not look at people. I didn't know I was supposed to do it and it made me uncomfortable if I was forced to. I was 14 when I noticed I don't look at people when I talk to them and I am looking at the ground or at something else when I look their direction. It was a constant reminded to look at them when I talk to them. Now I do it automatically because it became a habit due to getting used to it. I will look at their faces or their clothes or their hand gestures or hair. When someone looks at me when I look at them, I automatically look away like they had caught me staring at them.

Constantly avoiding eye contact is usually a clear indicator of Autism/Aspergers syndrome or a learning disability.

When I was first trying to figure out how likely it was I was on the spectrum, this was one of the things I assumed didn't apply. I would say to myself "Nah, never had a problem with eye contact"...until I thought about it properly, that is.

It is true that I never really had a problem with it. Certainly, when I was a kid, eye contact was not something that was seen as problematic compared with all my other issues with reading, writing, rocking, socialising, tantrums etc etc,

The strange thing about realising you are on the spectrum is realising just how many behaviours you assumed were normal are in fact not. I can make eye contact with people I am the closest to, apart from that, it takes real effort and makes me uncomfortable. If I am walking past someone at work or in the street I almost always find myself looking down at the ground in front of me or (as others have mentioned) busying myself with some imaginary task such as searching through my pockets or inspecting my fingernails. If I should somehow accidentally meet eyes with some stranger like this I feel massively anxious and tense. I get a sudden sense of panic I cant easily describe.

If I am able to mentally prepare myself for some eye contact in a situation where it serves some clear purpose and the other person is likely to expect it such as speaking to a cashier at a shop, I feel less overwhelmed but it is still uncomfortable.

I don't know if it is eye aversion or just poor memory but it occurs to me that I could not tell you the eye colour of anyone in my family apart from my wife.