Yeah same here. Never diagnosed but I sure have a lot of traits of it.

And yes that is exactly what cats do with newcomers. Even between themselves. They only stare once they trust each other (and even then they will often squint as a sign of friendliness).

I think it’s because cats are predators as well as prey. They know big open eyes side by side are used to gauge distance for an attack (unlike the eyes on each side of the head like most prey animals have). So eyes are a weapon to them. This is why closing eyes is disarming.