Difficulty recognising people

Hi, I have always had problems recognising people out of context, even if I know them quite well, and I was wondering if anyone has any advice which could help me. I can usually recognise an acquaintance if they're dressed differently but in the same place I am used to seeing them in (e.g. work) or sometimes if they're dressed the same as when I last saw them but in a different location. I have to know someone really well before I can identify them anywhere. Of course, some people have been too much offended by me not knowing them already to ever get to the "knowing well" stage. Sorry to ramble on, but hope someone can help because this is one of my most frequent social faux pas.

  • More amused about it than anything. I know I am bad at faces but don't think I am that bad. In a real life situation people become familiar and there are other factors apart from faces  - hair, build, the way they walk and stand. Not something I'm too worried about, and I will do the test again soon to see whether I was having a bad day!

  • I can recognise someone out of context, but I'll often forget their name unless I know them really well.

  • Hello Lonewarrior (great name) Thank you very much for the welcome it is very appreciated. i am going to have a good look at the site tomorrow and find out how to introduce myself properly. Is it strange that i like virtual hugs and hugs from strangers but get huffy if someone i know wants a hug but if they have annoyed me its a no. Oh Dear  lol.

  • goodness how do you feel about that? Do you do better in real life? Remember we are all using different screen size and resolution maybe your is tiny and difficult to see? I got 64 I really concentrated it was tough.

  • Don't know how I did it .. and I was trying to do it correctly, not deliberately putting wrong answers .... but I managed to get a big round zero!  Don't think I should go to any identity parades!

  • Thanks for the advice, because I don't always remember to do that observation at the first meeting. At subsequent meetings, I then find it difficult to try to work out who the person is and launch into the expected conversation with them at the same time. I could do with being given a few minutes to think about it, but that would mean admitting to them that I don't have a clue who they are. Oh, well...

  • Hello NAS35859 just wanted to say hi and welcome aboard, you will find we are a nice bunch of people here, there are some amazing characters who help others so very much, anyway just wanted to say welcome and enjoy yourself here,

    oh and as is my way,please feel free to accept or deny a friendly aspie virtual hug. (). On the house Lol.

  • Hello this is my first post here.

    Faceblind is a term i am familiar with and I know no one.

    Makes social situations impossible everyone thinks I am a great snob.

    I just do not recognise anyone.

    Terrible when I had a boyfriend who was a soldier I had to dump him I could not tell him from the others when he was in uniform. Out of uniform was difficult unless he said hello first :(

    I was told it is high in people who got glasses late and had a weak eye. The brain does not develop facial recognition, interesting to see it mentioned here.

    There is a film a lot of faceblind people can not understand the plot line too.

    Watch The Departed (not a ghost film)  No one give away any of the plot or google it before watching.

    I  see a link for a test I will do tomorrow when I am more awake.

    I am in my mid 50s I know I am faceblind to a degree it is a horrible thing.

    I once lived in a rough neighbourhood and could not say hello to anyone as one group of boys were the type to cause trouble and I could not tell them apart from he helpful boys so i walked passed them all and no one like me for being a snob or never saying thank you to people the next day after they helped me - i did not  dare in case I spoke to the wrong boys 

  • A woman who worked at a gym I used to go to when I lived up north, was at the opposite end to us. She remembered everybody’s name and once when I phoned the Gym, she answered, and knew it was me immediately. I think I had only spoken to her a couple of times, such as morning, goodbye etc, as she works on the front desk. I was truly mesmerised by her, totally astonished, as I have difficulty recognising friends but she recognised and remembered everyone she ever met. 

  • Haha I’m going to do the test again when I get on my laptop - why? Because I love doing these quizzes :-D thanks for the link :) 

  • Welcome to the club

    I've great difficulty recognising faces and rendering people's names.  And it gets very embarrassing when someone greets me and I have no idea who they or where they know me from.

    To counteract the problem I make a great deal of effort to look for distinguishing features on their faces.  The good news is that they mistake it for eye contact.

  • http://www.bbk.ac.uk/psychology/psychologyexperiments/experiments/facememorytest/startup.php   I scored 54 at this at the first attempt. For me  the score improved with repeated attempts . I think because the faces became more familiar.

  • Your Icon is a Pokemon Starmie! Yay!!

    I Post here, because I have this great trouble (irritation) also... but cannot Post much more just now. One term for it is PROSOPAGNOSIA (Greek - Prosopo=face, A=anti, Gnosia= comprehend. More-Or-Less.). Prosopagnosia is supposedly common to persons with ASDs... supposedly.

  • There's a name for it, which I can't remember off the top of my head. One of my old bosses got me to do a test for it, which you can do on line. I scored on the low end which made me borderline for the condition. I don't know how it was borderline though because I often don't recognise people and often offend people because of it. 

  • I wonder if this is a problem with information processing in the brain. 

    I have this problem as well, I don't see or recognise people, or I see people and wonder where I have seem them before and after a long while realise it is someone at work who works at the next desk!

    I even have problems when I have to meet someone I know at a station for example.  They don't immediately stand out and I can end up looking 'through' them and not recognising them.