We all hear how people with Asperger’s Syndrome have poor eye contact. Eye contact skills can be learned, and many classes for AS kids work on basic eye contact as a skill. “Eye Contact 101″ has become a catch phrase for classes on beginning social skills.
Eye contact is far more than just looking at someone when talking to them. There are several skills, all learnable, that can make a person appear very charismatic, have a “’Reality Distortion Field’ (RDF)—an aura of charisma, confidence, and persuasion”. This is not Eye Contact 101 stuff, but eye contact brought to a level that most NT folk haven’t mastered. Here is a post about how eye contact can be used at the highest level to win friends and influence people — or become President. Before sharing this with your kids, note that the text is written for adults, with a few very mild sexual references, and more than a few political ones.
Do try watching the video clip with no sound, as the author suggests.
My mom had a similar experience – she was already a Clinton supporter and attended a large function with him in NY. They had to walk 1 block from the lecture to Carnegie Hall, and Clinton walked with my mom, speaking to her privately. Mom said she had never felt so much attention bestowed on her by anybody. She was dazzled. Needless to say, we all kept voting for him!