Asperger's and having a hard time with people's names?

[Laughingowl1975]

I am good at remembering faces for the most part, although if I were to see one of the people from my workplace out of uniform in the street or someone who has changed their appearance slightly I might be a bit slow in recognizing them (and so when they call my name I stand there for a few seconds looking puzzled), but I can struggle with names or which name belongs to who and people don't appreciate when you say things like 'hello...uh...what's your name again?', thank god they all wear name badges at work.

 

[Aspieistj]

I have a professional diagnosis of Prosopagnosia (face blindness) from a PhD at Harvard. Very often, when I tell someone I have PA, they shrug it off and say they are also terrible with recognizing people. That really annoys me because they almost always are NOT really Prosopagnosic. For people who truly have the condition life is a nightmare. Some can't even recognize themselves in photos or mirrors. I actually checked out my very beautiful cousin and her extremely homely daughter at a discount store and never noticed who they were. I did, however, recall what she bought when I was screamed at by my aunt and mother when my aunt told my mother how nasty I had been. Oh, when I was trying to remember the incident and I asked my aunt what my cousin had purchased and she answered drinking glasses, I totally remembered the purchase! If you don't have a horror story like this, you probably aren't really face blind.
I would love to know how many people on this forum have actually been diagnosed with Prosopagnosia; not by an online test, but by a professional. I do suspect the problems are related because when I participated on a face blind forum quite a few people also were on the Autism spectrum. That is how I realized I might be an Aspie. Anyone else here with an actual diagnosis of Prosopagnosia?

 

[clg114]

I can not remember names for very long. I can remember faces forever. I it is embarrassing to have people, who you haven't seen for a while, call you by name and start a conversation. I can always recognize the face, but that is all. I usually try to fake it, but I am sure I look foolish. I guess this is just another reason why people think that I am different.

 

[Myway]

Same here. The only people I actually remember names for are my friends and family. I really don't care beyond that.

 

[Adora]

I am bad with some names and I do have problems with faces,it happened to me again very recently where my husband came over with this guy and asked me do I remember him,I wasn't sure who he was and my said that he couldn't believe that I do not recognise him because he was our photographer for our wedding,I was pretty embarrassed that I couldn't recognise him and this has happened with numerous of people that I should know who they are.

 

[fallenangel]

Same here. Always have difficulty remembering names and recognizing people. If I can associate or rehearse a name when I meet one person, I tend to see an improvement in remembering, BUT if I meet more than one person I can usually only remember one name and it depends on which person has the most readily available salient association. When it comes to recognizing faces, I usually only need a couple of interactions to recognize them when they are in the same context. However, I find it hard to recognize those same faces in different situations. For example - if I meet someone a couple of times at a friends house I will recognize them if they are at that house but not if I run into them on the street or elsewhere. At least not until I have had a couple of associations with them at each of several different localities.

 

[Jambo_nick]

This is common among NTs too!! I often get called Christopher! Lol. I just come clean and give the line "What's your name again? I'm terrible with names."

 

[CaveDweller]

Sometimes I do, sometimes I remember after a short while after I dig it out and sometimes it just isn't there at all but I hide the fact. Worst of all are the odd occasions when I get it kind of right but slightly wrong and have to be corrected, which is embarrassing for all concerned.

 

[FreeDiver]

I'm terrible with remembering names. Someone tells me there name and I will forget it 3 seconds later. I tend to remember the names of people who I am around a lot and it seem to stick quite well with me. But for anyone I meet briefly. I will forget.

 

[Samantha mcbay]

yep dreadful at names, faces and birthdays. It takes me months to remember a friend's name. But I've caught myself deliberately not acknowledging someone's name because they were stepping in where I didn't want them. I have trouble with people getting too close or stepping into my own personal boundaries or boundaries that I think others should have. So I think it's more because names, faces and birthdays are very personal especially with people I don't know or at least very well and I don't like that so I just forget it and it takes a long time for me to get to a place where I will remember it. But with other things that are usually impersonal like facts about something that I have great interest in I can remembering easily.

 

[Danny 74]

I just call my mates bruv for the males and darling for the females.. I will recognize a face from years ago but couldnt remember the name

 

[Cinnamon115]

For some reason I am able to remember the names of characters from shows and video games easily, but actual people, I struggle with. I was able to finally remember the names of all of the kids I was in charge of at my daycare last summer, thanks to having to take attendance every half hour. Maybe I just need constant name to face reminders for people until I can remember it on my own?

 

[Jimbo]

Count me in. It takes me a long time to remember a name, and then my brain is not able to think of it quickly. My brother has four daughters and I get their names all mixed up. I rarely call anyone by name just to avoid embarrassment.

My grandmother who was an aspie always mixed up all the boys names so she would just go down the list until she got it right.