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From: Morgan Weihing
Date: 10/20/03
Time: 4:19:45 PM
Remote Name: 152.163.252.165
Hi. I found your article on eye contact aversion extremely interesting. You mentioned that the attorney who stuttered admitted that he felt more comfortable listening to a person who stutters when the speaker maintained eye contact. This greatly emphasizes your point that eye contact aversion doesn't make the listener any LESS aware of the stutter. Most likely, it draws even more attention to the disfluency. Further, it points out the PWS's own discomfort with his disfluencies. The listener may feel even more uncomfortable ,and feelings of secondary guilt may increase for the PWS. I found your views on eye contact aversion particularly interesting because it has been noted as a behavior in other communication disorders. I know a teenager with autism who is able to communicate very well, but he cannot make eye contact no matter how hard he tries. He explained his eye contact aversion as a way to alleviate some of the stresses surrounding both speaking and listening. If he looks at the listener, he cannot "hear" them. Further, he feels better able to "get the words out" when he avoids making eye contact with the listener. Do you think that eye contact aversion in PWS might also be associated with a belief that it helps them concentrate better and also provides greater fluency?