Published on 12, July, 2020
Prosopagnosia , or face blindness. I suffer from it and have done so for as long as I can remember. Does anyone else here have similar problems?
It's very embarrassing when someone greets me and I have no idea who they are or where do I know them from. Related to this problem is name blindness where I find it very very difficult to remember people's names.
Recently I was greeted by a man in a park and I struggled badly to remember who he was. I mostly remember people from their voices and other visual clues such what they wear, where they usually sit. He turned out to be a colleague from a health and fitness course I recently attended.
How common is it for autistics to suffer from prosopagnosia ?
Yes I find it hard to recognise people and when someone greets me I ask them where they know me from and am surprised I do not know who they are. I also think I know someone when I do not know them.
That is not supposed to be Asperger Syndrome. That is a perception problem so I think it made it useless doing the emotions test. I took part in trials but I cannot recognise emotions if I cannot even recognise faces.
I feel that I have face blindness. Although I can recognise some people. For example if i saw my friend who i have known all my life, in a supermarket I would instantly recognise her. If i try to picture my friend in her house in my mind, I can see her house and the furnitire in her house in great detail but if i try to picture my friend sitting in her arm chair I can only get this hazy human shape. My son once came out of school and I couldn't recognise him from his face but thought it I must be him as he was wearing his hat. I think i may put people in categories based on their hair style/colour or shape of face etc. Problem with this is I then frequently get people confused which can create some very awkward moments.
I read somewhere that face-blindness happens because we don't process faces with a special part of our brains like NTs do, we just process them as objects. They, apparently, have special software just for faces!
I tried an interesting experiment with myself once. I tried to get a mental picture of a face that I would definitely recognise, in this case my mother's, and I could not do it. I have a hazy notion of the 'shape of my mother' as well as some bits and pieces, such as knowing what shape her mouth is when she smiles, but I can't put them together to make a photo in my head.
There are many faces that I would not recognise - I failed to recognise my old boss, who I sat 6 feet away from for almost 2 years, coming into the building the other day. However, when I worked with him, he always wore a checked shirt and chinos, and had thinning black hair. Now he has gone grey and a change of role means he's in a smart suit most days .... and that was enough to throw me to the extent that I genuinely didn't know who he was when he greeted me.
I really thought I was the only person who has this for years and years, and anyone I told about it thought it incredibly strange and fascinating. I guess that was because I hadn't met any (?) autistics until recently. When I was diagnosed (AS) I found that many of the odd traits and problems that I have are related, but until then I had no idea! It's kind of nice to know I am not alone after all.
http://community.autism.org.uk/f/miscellaneous-and-chat/11315/difficulty-recognising-people/58760#58760
Glad Tidings especially to Mr. Mathematical-Robert... I post a link to a Thread which was not so long ago begun, and so you may recall it.
Regarding this particular Thread, between yourself and the latest answer, I think that you both may have already finished the main question...
But I do not think that Prosopagnosia and Synaesthesia are linked so much... it is to do with Visible Light Frequencies rather than Social Functioning... and all of that last may well begin another Thread (to which I shall not answer, depending upon who begins it!)...
Nonetheless, that there is the other Thread, and there are answers upon it which you may recall. There is no solution, really, there are only "workarounds" which have already been stated (e.g. voice, associations, attire, situations, and such). End of Post (I regret not being able to know more. Doubtless others have much more to say than this!)...
According to http://www.dana.org/News/Are_Face-Blindness_and_Synesthesia_Linked_to_Autism_Spectrum_Disorders_/ up to 2/3rds on the spectrum.
I do, I don’t recognise faces or remember names although when an ex boss gave me a test on it, I was borderline.