Eye contact concerns.

[Ineedacleaningfairy]

My 2 year old doesn't have great eye contact, he will hold eye contact with you but not very often, he's always been like this, he never looked into my eyes when I fed him he'd look at my armpit or at the wall.

The only concerns I have about him besides the eye contact is that he only sometimes responds to his name (dp and all of dp's family are like this especially when watching tv, it's like they don't hear the other person speaking at all) and high energy levels, but I think his energy levels are possibly normal for a toddler.

Besides these things he doesn't seem to have anything unusual going on, he's very sociable, he loves playing with other kids and adults, he really loves imaginary play, his language and communication is great and he's always been early with physical milestones, he has no sensory issues, sleeps/eats well.

Would it be worthwhile asking my HV about the eye contact or do some kids just not have good eye contact without it being caused by anything?

I would ask for poor eye contact to be investigated further even if I was sure that ASD wasn't the reason behind it.

My 8 yr old has never had good eye contact. I remember being a bit worried about this when he was younger and even now I'll often have to remind him to look at someone properly when they talk to him. He doesn't have any other issues and it just seems to be the way he is.

Nothing to worry about at this stage.

Has his vision ever been checked?

He is fairly long sighted, he got glasses at 18 months, that's a really good point! Maybe it was uncomfortable for him to look at us and then we just got into the pattern of not doing lots of eye contact.

I have made a big effort to look at him every time I speak to him today and it's gone well, he actually looked at me and said mummy's eyes are blue! It's like I'd never given him the chance to look long enough before.

Maybe it is just a case of him having missed out on cues early on that teach most babies to make eye contact.

Perhaps you could spend some time deliberately giving him these kinds of opportunities and see if it makes a difference. If, after a few months, nothing changes, you could ask for a referral to a community paediatrician.

One word of warning. It is possible for children to have AS/ASD and it not be obvious at 2. My DD wasn't apparently autistic at this age and was diagnosed at the age of 12. She says now that she can choose between listening to someone and looking in their eyes. She cannot do both at the same time.