Eye Contact and Empathy in People with Autism
The effect of eye contact on the brain and humans is immense. When looking at another person’s face, people generally “fixate on their eyes, mouth, or nose for only 1/4 to 1/3 second before darting to another point.”1 Quickly the eyes jump to different features on the face to recognize them and take mental snapshots of the person. The path of the eyes can be found by eye tracking technology, which can provide an image to display the eye course. Mainly the eyes settle on the prominent parts of the face including the eyes, nose and lips. Eye contact also uses many social cues as a non-verbal language. A quick glance can range from telling a person to move somewhere or to bring up a conversation. Eye contact can also create empathy and understanding between different people. It can make people more sympathetic and understanding.
As of 2015, one in forty-five children in the United States have been diagnosed with autism.2 Autism is “a mental condition, present from early childhood, characterized by difficulty in communicating and forming
difficulty in communicating and forming relationships with other people and in using language and abstract concepts.” This inability to form relationships with others can be associated with a lack of eye contact and empathy. Children with autism take a much longer time to speak and communicate than children without autism and are often less social and having repetitive habits. People with autism also often do not sleep well, eat objects that are not food, and make have seizures. Moreover, autism “is four to five times more common among boys than girls.”2 Currently, scientists are not entirely sure of what causes autism, however recent studies have shown a relationship between oxytocin and eye contact in people with autism. The hormone oxytocin, widely known as pitocin for its use in childbirth, is naturally made in the hypothalamus. In an experiment, men with autism were given oxytocin, and reportedly they had better eye contact and empathized more with the people around them. They made eye contact and displayed empathy in the same way as an average person.
"as of 2015, one in forty-five children in the United States have been diagnosed with autism"
By: Sophia Shah and Vani Parthiban