How do others respond to your lack of eye contact?

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Yeah, you just can't win.

I had to wean myself off the whole not looking at people to now I stare at people too much now apparently. I don't seem to notice most of the time, but when I do I will usually try to avert my eyes for a few moments then look back. It seems to help make me look more...NT?

Even my last long term relationship of seven years got creeped out because she stated I was always staring at her. All my other Aspie tendencies drove her nuts as well. The routines, the OCD, not liking lots of light, not liking the TV (or other sounds on) when I was trying to sleep. The list goes on.

Meh, I give up.

Damned if you do and damned if you don't.

I had an english teacher who I could just not get along with. She refused to listen to my mother about my as. and one day she held me after class (making me late for my next class, a humiliating experiance) to talk about an essay or something i was confused about. she literally yelled at me "Look at my eyes when I talk to you!" and when i couldn't she yelled again "Look at my eyes!" she embarrased me and hurt me.

I wouldn't really know: people are generally polite enough about it to not scream GET OUT or anything. They most likely arrive at some impression of me from it, which i may or may not readily recognize some part of. It's not really productive or worth me dwelling on either way, though.

Like I've said elsewhere... I still haven't found a non-awkward answer to "Why don't you look at people when you talk to them?"

Wearing a bright pink baseball cap all the time, including during classes (the teachers don't mind unless I ask them about it... \) cuts down on the awkwardness slightly, because they know something's "different" about me just by looking. *shrug* Whatever works.

Some people get really angry if I do not make eye contact. For some reason they are the most likely people I can't look at anyway.

I really don't know. I've never met one of those "look at me when I'm talking to you" types. It's very rare anybody tells me what they make of me. So I'm left guessing. It often surprises me to read on WP about all these people who others are always criticising and challenging to their faces. Maybe it's a cultural thing but it seems very rude to me. Or maybe I don't come over as the type to mess with, though I don't know how.

And I tend to look at the people I'm talking with - not all that much, but I try to do it enough to appear "normal" and honest, and to see if I can notice anything about their facial expressions. It's all very theoretical because this eye contact thing is something I only know about from reading about it. I suppose I tend to look away from people who seem to be pulling false expressions, such smiles I sense are fake, because I disapprove of putting on too much of an act with people.

Different culture, different contexts, different reactions.

I can't relate.

Different preferences, different expressions, different uptake.

Anyone demanding me an eye contact would get a glare instead. Because demanding one is annoying and sometimes makes me angry.

And if I'm angry, I'd likely give them eye contact as they demand. But only because eye contact is one of how I express anger.

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I'm thinking of getting a tattoo artist to draw eyes on my eyelids. Then I can close my eyes and look directly at people, and it will crate the psychological impression of eye contact without actually making eye contact. Good idea, huh?

Perhaps more seriously, sunglasses are an option. Sometimes I wear sunglasses when I don't really need to just to shield my eyes from contact. It really does make things easier. And there's some precedent for this sort of thing. For example, professional poker players often wear sunglasses to conceal any hint that their eyes might give. So it's generally understood that eye contact is a form of intimacy, and one cannot be expected to be intimate on demand.

^
Unfortunately word got around about villains using shades to disguise their true feelings, and some people probably think shades are pretentious or decadent. Though the benefit might outweigh the downside in some cases. Especially if it's true about the dangers of UV where you live. And the pretentious / decadent signalling might be negligible or even helpful in some sectors of society.

I suppose you could carry a white stick as well, to misdirect the observer. That last remark was a joke, at least I think it was......hmmm......I suppose if you don't get caught it could work, though life may get complicated.

I'm not sure I know. At some point I substituted looking at mouths for eyes, and only do that now. I have a strong near nausea reaction to "eye looks." Mouth reading is now informationally very dense and telling to me. I have no idea whether it's learned, inate or a mix. I art on/about it too. My art eyes are quite dead I'm told. (I don't know cuz I don' look at them!!)

Most people don't say anything about it to me.
My mom used to be really bad about it when she got angry, when I was a kid... "LOOK ME IN THE EYES." "No." "WHY NOT?" "It hurts."
"LOOK AT ME IN THE EYES SO I KNOW YOU'RE LISTENING."

I don't even face people when we talk. I don't look at them at all. I have no idea what they think.

When I was a child / teen I was pestered about eye contact but no one mentions it anymore. I guess the people who know me are used to it and the strangers / doctors are too polite to say anything.