Eye contact and ASD

[chopstheduck]

I'm absolutely certain I have read on here that good eye contact doesn't rule out autism. I could really do with something concrete that I can show to paed along that line.

Ds1 is close to being formally diagnosed with autism. The paed said he ticks all the boxes, but she also said abotu his good eye contact. He does have good eye contact most of the time, except when he switches off and he loses it altogether.

We're beign referred for a formal test, then earlybird, etc. Hopefully avoiding CAHMS But I do want to clear up this eye contact thing.

I see you've had a lot of replies already.
Here is my piece ...my DS has also what the professionals (salt, paed, EP) call 'good eye contact' ( a bit of a vague term imo) on 1:1 with them, especially if he is in a sunny mood and is enjoying/interested in the situation/activity.

But when asked questions that he struggles to understand or answer, or is thinking, also when he is 'put on the spot' at nursery (ex: carpet time), or when he is in his 'bubble', the eye contact become fleeting, he simply will not hold visual contact for more than 2 seconds , he will look away, then glance back quickly sideways,...

DS1 makes some eye contact, but it's often not great and he actually avoids looking at anything he's supposed to be doing (clothes he's putting on, food he's eating etc) a lot of the time. DS2 actually makes great eye contact with people he's close to - like proper "I'm getting your attention, great, squee! now look at that over there" eye contact and that's despite being non verbal.

thanks very much everyone.

Fingers crossed for the formal assessment. I've come full circle in the past few months to not wanting another label to hoping he does get the dx so he can access more support. He isn't coping well with junior school.

Hi,

I know a lot of people with ASD. My brother and brother-in-law are autistic and my other brother-in-law has Aspergers. Also, I've spent my entire working life working with people with autism. I currently work for the largest autism charity in my country.

If your paediatrician bases their decision on eye contact alone, I would request a second opinion. Many children and adults with autism have excellent eye contact.

Good luck!