You assume too much. People who can't look you in the eyes might be sufficiently adept at workplace technical communication. It's a skill that can be learned.

You assume too much. People who can't look you in the eyes might be sufficiently adept at workplace technical communication. It's a skill that can be learned. Maybe someone is less able to read moods like sadness because someone's cat's gone missing. But a colleague can always help with that. "Reasonable accommodations" is enshrined in disability law in every modern "welfare state" society. I'll give you that someone with such limitations may not be the best leadership material. But then, people in wheelchairs are not the best astronaut material. And that's okay. But in an ethical framework where discrimination is to be frowned upon, we need to give everyone the opportunity to live to their fullest potential. This is after all the promise of "diversity": those who are different may have something different to add.