Pretending To Be Normal

I think we all do this to some extent but for people on the autism spectrum the challenge can be huge.

While none of us can define what ‘normal’ is, we can easily say what it is not.  The easiest way to stop people noticing that you are not ‘normal’ is to avoid eye contact.  Keep looking at the ground and let no-one in…

Pretending to Be Normal (Eye Contact)

If you try to look into my eyes
you might succeed, if only for a moment
until I feel your gaze incise
and my skin wires buzz with too much current.

Long ago, I began to invent
a way to wear a kind of compromise –
“normal”, like a suit of skin. But you circumvent
this, if you try to look into my eyes.

It’s not your fault. This is my own disguise,
trying to hide my alien skin, to prevent
my green strangeness from showing through. If one’s wise,
one might succeed, if for more than a moment,

….. 

This poem was written by Nicole Nicholson of Raven Wings Poetry and it reflects her experiences with Asperger’s Syndrome.

I know you will be reacting to those words already so I encourage you to go over to Nicole’s site and read the rest of the poem and share it with people who need to understand why so many people on the autism spectrum prefer not to make eye contact.