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Faceblindness?

Emma

Does anyone else on the forum have some degree of difficulty recognising faces?

Once again I have made an utter fool of myself because someone with similar hair to the person I was trying to follow up with has sat in the same seat as I last saw them in.

*Cringe*

It’s so embarrassing. I have had many several-minute-long conversations with close friends I didn’t recognise (while internally desperately trying to work out who this person chatting familiarly to me is) because they have started wearing glasses or had a haircut or grown a beard.

Looking back, I can see it’s something I have always had problems with; I had a massive meltdown when I was at primary school because my mum had a drastic haircut and I could no longer recognise her amongst the other parents. As a child I leapt onto the end of strangers’ supermarket trolleys in exuberant greeting on a few occasions after mistaking them for my parents.

 I’ve even assumed I must know a friend of a friend who was just really overfriendly with strangers (which was funny in hindsight, actually, especially my reaction when our mutual friend revealed we hadn’t, in fact, met previously after all and I had spent several minutes of conversation anxiously straining my memory for NOTHING).

Most people take it in good grace if they know me well (one of my best friends had a dramatic haircut the other month and even sent me photos in advance so he wouldn’t confuse me too badly, though he was saving it as a surprise for the rest of the group! Star!)

 It’s difficult when it’s work colleagues (whom I almost never recognise out of context) passing in the street, though, and MORTIFYING when it’s taken by the person on the receiving end as some sort of “people of X ethnicity look the same” thing (which has happened to me twice in my life, both stick with me vividly). Luckily I did manage to get the explanation across that “no, literally anyone with very broadly similar features or hair (or occasionally who moves in a similar way) looks the same. It even happens with my family. I know it’s weird.”, but I dread the day someone is upset and I don’t get the chance to tell them what was actually going on. D: 

I’ve done a bit of research recently that suggests difficulty with facial recognition might be more common in our community than the general population, so can anyone else make me feel less alone by sharing their embarrassing tales of mistaken identity? :3 

Parents

  • Not sure I have face blindness, complex variations yes, for instance I can see someone and say they look the exactly like so and so, To be told they aren’t even vaguely similar!

    Maybe I categorised faces into groups, if enough looks similar then they are the same?

    I suffer with memory issues, always have, what sticks sticks but trying to remember something rarely works, I get so close to remembering, tip of my tongue kind of feeling, that in itself cause anxiety as I quickly rush about inside my head looking for the word I needed, I do this and have realised I use association. 

    There was a guy on one job I was working, he had been there years and I have chatted to him over the years, but for the life of me I just couldn’t remember his first name, my work mate said, “ simple, his name is the same as? Think about who else you know with the same name,” So first I had to ask my work mate what his name actually was, bingo yes his name was the same as two other workers I have know for years, so when I see the man now I get a mental picture of the other two.

    One man I had to associate his surname to something obvious,,,basically his surname was the same as someone who looks after sheep. Shepherd, so I think sheep,

     another has a surname to do with water.

    I did tests to find out if I read emotions, facial expression, not only could I not get the supposed correct answer, some were like looking into empty eyes, no soul to put an emotion too, they were often models or actors, so not true emotions a portrayal of them, the models looked sad or just empty, just doing a job once again, same old pose, just to earn money to exist.

    Summary,

    I struggle with names because of memory issues.

    I put faces into groups.

    I can judge emotions but often see them strongly but get them wrong, unless what I am seeing is the deep inner soul?

    I avoid eye contact, but have learnt to look elsewhere, eye brows, chin etc, but if I think the person has wide open eyes and mind, and I sense no fear from them, I am more than happy to look them in the eye, in fact it gives me comfort, as I am inviting them into my soul. To sense me, and me to sense them, 

    First time that happened was an old Yorkshire lady. I was about to do some work on her driveway, she asked if I was an honest man? She then said her  mother always said if you look into their eyes and look hard you can tell.

     So she took both my hands and said “ are you an honest man” I replied yes I am, she starred deep into my eyes, it felt as if she had crawled into my head, was rummaging inside me. She suddenly smiled and said “ Yes you are truly an honest man”,

     it really felt intrusive but not horrible, she meant me no harm,,,

    take care all, 

Reply

  • Not sure I have face blindness, complex variations yes, for instance I can see someone and say they look the exactly like so and so, To be told they aren’t even vaguely similar!

    Maybe I categorised faces into groups, if enough looks similar then they are the same?

    I suffer with memory issues, always have, what sticks sticks but trying to remember something rarely works, I get so close to remembering, tip of my tongue kind of feeling, that in itself cause anxiety as I quickly rush about inside my head looking for the word I needed, I do this and have realised I use association. 

    There was a guy on one job I was working, he had been there years and I have chatted to him over the years, but for the life of me I just couldn’t remember his first name, my work mate said, “ simple, his name is the same as? Think about who else you know with the same name,” So first I had to ask my work mate what his name actually was, bingo yes his name was the same as two other workers I have know for years, so when I see the man now I get a mental picture of the other two.

    One man I had to associate his surname to something obvious,,,basically his surname was the same as someone who looks after sheep. Shepherd, so I think sheep,

     another has a surname to do with water.

    I did tests to find out if I read emotions, facial expression, not only could I not get the supposed correct answer, some were like looking into empty eyes, no soul to put an emotion too, they were often models or actors, so not true emotions a portrayal of them, the models looked sad or just empty, just doing a job once again, same old pose, just to earn money to exist.

    Summary,

    I struggle with names because of memory issues.

    I put faces into groups.

    I can judge emotions but often see them strongly but get them wrong, unless what I am seeing is the deep inner soul?

    I avoid eye contact, but have learnt to look elsewhere, eye brows, chin etc, but if I think the person has wide open eyes and mind, and I sense no fear from them, I am more than happy to look them in the eye, in fact it gives me comfort, as I am inviting them into my soul. To sense me, and me to sense them, 

    First time that happened was an old Yorkshire lady. I was about to do some work on her driveway, she asked if I was an honest man? She then said her  mother always said if you look into their eyes and look hard you can tell.

     So she took both my hands and said “ are you an honest man” I replied yes I am, she starred deep into my eyes, it felt as if she had crawled into my head, was rummaging inside me. She suddenly smiled and said “ Yes you are truly an honest man”,

     it really felt intrusive but not horrible, she meant me no harm,,,

    take care all, 

Children
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