When to talk?

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Sometimes, there are people of the opposite sex (I'm a male) in my class who approach me and just stand right in front of me, looking in my direction. I usually pretend I didn't see them and look in another direction. Then, after me ignoring them and looking in another direction for long enough, they walk away.

Am I supposed to say something when this happens? Am I supposed to make eye contact, or just continue ignoring them?

Also, when whoever I sit with makes a comment, like "I'm tired of this topic", am I supposed to respond to them or not? I usually don't. And if I am supposed to, what should I respond with?

I guess they want you to say hi or make a witty comment about something, so they stand there hoping you will notice them? When people make rhetorical comments, you do not always have to say something in return, but often what they want is agreement from you. They want you to say something, usually involving a cuss word because cussing is trendy.

[Moved from General Autism Discussion to Social Skills and Making Friends]

i've never had girls just walk up and stare.

Ha ha! I'm not laughing at you - I'm laughing at myself. I do the exact same thing. I can't say I have countless wooers vying for my attention, but I do hate it when strangers of any gender look at me without an obvious purpose. Unless I'm really firing on all cylinders that day, I totally ignore them. I would imagine a "hi" or a smile would be the socially appropriate thing to do.

As for your second question, I hate comments like that because I never know how to respond them. I often find myself agreeing whether I mean it or not and the conversation stops dead. My husband is NT and can turn statements like that into full conversations. It's quite impressive.

If it's clear that they're paying attention to you (they're not just standing near you, or looking at something past you), it's appropriate to turn to them, smile, and in a friendly tone say something like "Hey" or "What's up?"

Usually when someone comes up to you like this, it's because they want to talk with you, and are waiting to be acknowledged. So if you acknowledge them, a conversation can start.

Regarding your example, if the person is sitting by you, as in next to you, respond simply. Turn to them nod and say yeah. If they are further away dont

Conversation is a two-way street. You could ask what they want to talk about or change the topic. Regardless of what you say, they should really bring something to the conversation other than an observation about how they feel about a certain topic.