“Across the crowded room, his dark, sultry eyes gazed into her smiling, blue eyes and showed that he was indeed interested in her. She in turn, fluttered her lashes to show that the feeling was mutual …” – I just wonder how that would be in Real Life?! 🙂 With the inability to have eye contact with others (unless they are standing/sitting very close) due to Stargardt’s from about the age of 14, one can feel cut off and a bit of a social outcast when totally missing out on this type of contact. OK, so not only the girl/boy meeting scenario but the subtle signs/messages that can be shown via eye contact and facial expression are lost on me. When, across the room, they raise their eyebrows in shock or frown in disbelief, when they wink in agreement to something I have said, when they indicate a direction by the shifting of their eyes to the right or left, when they have a poker face but smile with their eyes … all of these are lost on me.

Across the street, someone you have met a couple of times but have not told that you have a visual impairment, smiles broadly and they are met by your blank expression …. what do they think? Will they smile next time they see you? … I do not think so! 🙁 Friends who can wear glasses but hate wearing them for one reason or another, laughingly say they have that problem too … but they CAN put their glasses on …. if only I could!

How have you coped with the inability to have eye contact? Any smart tricks/tips?