HE plans and strategies for 2009

Now that 2008 has come to an end, what are your HE plans and strategies for 2009?

The dreaded eye contact. This was a major problem for my son when he was younger and he still has problems with it today.

There was a time when my son was regularly meeting with LEA reps and counsellors. Something I noticed was that he made much better eye contact when he was meeting them at home or in certain rooms at school than when he was meeting them elsewhere such as in their offices. I asked him why and he replied that when he enters a strange place he likes to look around and note what furniture and items are there and where they are located. If he doesn't have this chance to have a good look around the place then he doesn't feel comfortable. At home and in certain rooms at school he knows what they look like so he doesn't need to let his eyes wander as much as in a room he isn't familiar with.

Many people don't realise this and assume my son is rude or even acting suspiciously at a meeting in an unfamiliar environment if he fails to make good eye contact with the people there at the outset. All he is doing is trying to make himself comfortable by having a good look around the room he is in. If he isn't confortable then he isn't confident. If he is allowed 10 or so seconds to have a good look around the room at the start of a meeting then his eye contact is much better during the meeting than if he has to stare at the face of people as he enters the room. Not all people are sympathetic towards this and some even consider taking your eyes off their face to look around the room at the start of a meeting as a serious faux pas.

Thanks for that insight. It all makes much more sense when you see it from an Aspergic point of view.
I started on the whole eye contact thing today but B says it is too difficult. I think I'm now going to specify that we are only aiming for 2 seconds eye contact with one person, and that we're going to try to achieve this three times a week.
What do you think?
Clare