Coping with Face Blindness??

[ilovetochat87]

I was diagnosed AS when in was 15 and I'm now 27. I read a book I forgot the name of that is by an Aspie about his life growing up AS and its I think called "about aspergers by an aspie for aspies" or something like that. He explains face blindness and how we usually have it on different levels and how face blindness works. I realized that I have mild face blindness. And that it's bc of AS. I found it more than mild sometimes and I have it frequently.

Then I watched a video on YouTube a few weeks ago that was years ago from a 20/20 special on face blindness and it had average neurotypical ppl suffering from face blindness. I thought only ppl on the spectrum had it. I didn't know neurotypical ppl could have it. They don't know why they have it. They had it WAY, WAY, WAY worse than me. I felt super lame thinking my case was major. I have NEVER forgotten my family EVER. but in high school when I was 17 and my best friend I met in 9th grade, we were walking to lunch and I looked at her and said frankly "ok I know this is weird and I've known you 2 years now so this shouldn't happen, but....I can't remember your name" she thought I was joking so she wouldnt tell me. I begged her bc it was driving me nuts. I said I knew she had a cat, a brother, I knew she likes white tigers etc name it all but I can't remember her name. I finely got her to tell me after several min. She thought it a joke and ridiculous n didn't take it serious. I have NEVER forgotten her name since for some reason. Then there is the whole I go to call someone and knew who I'm calling bc I can see their face in my mind but I forget their name so I look in the phone book and when I see their name I know I'll know it's the right one.

I see famous ppl on tv in 9th show or movie and haven't seen them for a while and I get excited "oh oh!! I know! Where have I seen that guy before!? What movie have I seen him in?!" I can't place the actor bc I forgot his/her name and I finally remember a movie I have seen them in but I can't think if their name still. Then once I look the movie up and cast list n I see their name and im like for e.g. "oh oh!! Now I remember! Its Jennifer Aniston!! Ok now I feel better!" But a few weeks later I may see another thing with her in it and again forget her name....I do it again and again with everyone famous. I can never remember actors names but I remember movies they are in so I can look that movie up and then cast list and see the name and then it jogs my memory. Then that ODD that is like literal physical pain in my brain till I figured it out goes away and that anxiety is fine and the obsession subsides till the next time I forget and go on OCD craze to remember it again. But if it's a specific movie I'm looking for from them but can't remember the movie name specifically or the actor, but I CAN think of a different movie title from them but not the one I'm thinking of, I can look up the one I remember and that way I can look up their name and then after I will b able to Google their name and see a movie list and know the movie I'm thinking of they I couldn't remember the title of when I see the title. Then again the OCD craze to figure this out goes away till next time I forget it. I don't know if that is technically face blindness. But it is what it is. Is they normal for an Aspie or normal for face blindness?

The 20/20 special I saw on YouTube showed neurotypical ppl suffering from face blindness and they couldn't remember their own child if shown pictures of them. Etc etc etc. I've never been that bad. Does it seem like it counts as face blindness, still? It sucks! It feels like amnesia in that they know they know something but don't know why they can't remember it. Its like saying "do u know who you are?" They know they know but when trying to recall their name they feel completely stupid and dumb bc they know they have a name but don't know what it is and its maddening that they feel like everything is not right. and they know that they CANT remember anything they should so they go places even if they haven't been bc they don't remember if they've been or not so it may jog memory. They get there and know it's not right. But putting something that should jog their memory like something that's actually theirs, they can't remember it and they feel like they should, bc its familiar but not jogging memory. It feels like they should be able to recall that and they can't.

Face blindness for me is like that. I feel dumb that I can't remember actors that I see all the time. But I don't have it as bad as seeing my mom or sister or grandma and not know them at all even tho I see them daily until I'm told that is my mom etc then I think wow! How did I forget her but I really don't recognize that face tho I see it everyday. Its not like that bad. I think they said its bc ppl with face blindness see faces upside down and jumbled and so its it's hard to recognize them. Like celebrity tests where for e.g. the face is normal of Angelina Jolie but her mouth is upside down or her eyes are upside down and you have to guess out of three choices whom it is. They say it's like that, that they see ppl all jumbled like that so it's hard to remember them by familiarity bc its all jumbled confusing. Idk but I forget a lot and it sucks.

I was tested a lot for 7years to see mentally where I fit bc they were determining if I could get social security and if I could get housing like help to get an apt and staff like ppl to help me get social skills like go shopping and pay my bills and any other life skill i need help learning. Etc etc. And getting to work through them. But I didn't qualify originally bc they said I was too high functioning so I had to do IQ tests many times on many different levels to see if I qualified acording to those tests. So one day I met a lady that determined how I got set up with all that n she asked me easy questions like "do you know what day it is" and "can you tell me who the last and who the current president were and are?" I said "the last president was bush Jr. And the current president I can't think of his name bc I have face blindness but I know he's black, I know he has big ears he has daughters I just can't think of his name." And she told me "Obama" I was like "oh ya!!" I don't think she liked me and I got the vibe that she thought it was not being taken serious or something. But its is real. It sucks to forget something like that. I can remember he's black, that he has daughters, a little dog, his wife has short hair, u name it I remember it... All but his name. It escapes me. I usually don't further it but they day bit did I. I couldn't have remembered his name even from a picture. But I reminders once she told me and the memory forgetness stopped. Anyone else think this fits into the category of Face blindness and anyone else have this problem?

I know I've heard many different sources about Aspies and Auties having face blindness but I don't know any other aspies. Well I knew one girl I worked with who was also an Aspie but she moved away after a couple years and I never saw her outside work so it didn't count much. I think my dad has AS but God forbid you tell him that. Oh well. All that matters is that I know it. But he didn't have trouble remembering ppl.
Anyone else have stories?

Sometimes I find things about me I feel are probably eccentricities bc of AS but I didn't know anyone else who does that same eccentricity or hear odd any other aspies so I think maybe it's just me. Then I ask about it and find I'm not alone. And it feels good to know that. To have that same quirk as others bc it then didn't feel like maybe im just odd. If that makes any sense.

 

[Crossbreed]

It wouldn't be face-blindness if you remember their background details by their face, but lapse on their name. That is another memory problem. If that happens regularly, you need to see a doctor ASAP. If it is a rare occurrence, you could have just been tired.

 

[ilovetochat87]

It wouldn't be face-blindness if you remember their background details by their face, but lapse on their name. That is another memory problem. If that happens regularly, you need to see a doctor ASAP. If it is a rare occurrence, you could have just been tired.

No, according to what I read in the aspergers book by the aspergers guy there is face blindness and something similar. I qualified by both definitions. I think one is when someone says for example "hey do you remember they one guy from algebra class a couple years ago, the blonde guy who say behind you?" You can say "that guy sounds familiar and I remember a blonde kids but I can't think if of his name yup save my life if it's the same guy ur thinking of" and they say "Tony he is the kids that sat directly behind you" then ur like "oh ya! Tony! That's right! I knew who ur takintalking about nite. Ya that's the guy I was thinking I couldn't remember his name to yup save my life." Then there's something similar where for example someone says "hey back a couple years ago, remember in science class when Paul broke his arm? I reconnected with him and he still has they cast. He framed it. All those years." And you think "I remember a Paul in high school and something about breaking his arm but im not picturing Paul" then they show you his photo and ur like "oh ya! That guy! Lol" They are similar. This guy in the book called one face blindness and the other something else but said they are almost the same thing. I feel I identify with those things in those ways.

 

[Astroganga]

I have the 'classic' face blindness at times as well as the recognising someone's face but not being able to remember who it is untill much later, problem. Or, the other problem is where someone is talking about someone else you supposedly know, but you cannot put the name they are giving you-to a face. Is that what you mean?

 

[Astroganga]

Examples of the above that have happened to me:-

',Classic face blindness', I ran into a friend at an event and recognised their voice but not their face, at all, even though the time I had seem them prior to that was only a few months earlier. I feign that I do remember them, but am left utterly confused.

Example 2:- I see a guy in my local royal mail delivery office who looks really familiar, but I cannot place where from. I decide he must be from one of the brain-dead reality shows that I don't watch but have seen trailers and ads for. Months later I am watching The Bridge (original Scandi Noir version), and one of the actors looks really familiar, and I know I have seen him in real life and remember some kind of queue but think that can't be possible as he lives in Sweden. It is only when I look on his instagram that I find he lives in my area in London and it dawns on me it was him I saw that time in the delivery office. A similar thing happened the time I saw Jeremy Corbyn at a vegetarian festival a few years ago, only it took seeing his wife in the press, who was also with him on that day, to make me finally twig who it was...two or three years later.

Last example:- when I was just out of high school, my friend kept telling me that certain young men had confessed they thought I was quite attractive or even liked me. I could not picture who the hell they were even though I was meant to know them. This last one happens to me rarely though as I am more likely to forget a face than a name.

 

[ilovetochat87]

I have the 'classic' face blindness at times as well as the recognising someone's face but not being able to remember who it is untill much later, problem. Or, the other problem is where someone is talking about someone else you supposedly know, but you cannot put the name they are giving you-to a face. Is that what you mean?

Yes.
I took a face blindness test online and it had celebrities they I had to write the name of in the blank or say I don't know. Then I see answer and see if it matches mine. If I know eke person but their name escapes me I hit I don't know and after I get answer I say I either gut it right, missed it but knew person or didn't know the person. In that case I know them but not their name I would select I for it strong but I knew them. I did that most of the time but a few I for right and a crew I just doing knew and had never heard of. I scored as mild face blindness, the classic face blindness.

 

[ilovetochat87]

Examples of the above that have happened to me:-

',Classic face blindness', I ran into a friend at an event and recognised their voice but not their face, at all, even though the time I had seem them prior to that was only a few months earlier. I feign that I do remember them, but am left utterly confused.

Example 2:- I see a guy in my local royal mail delivery office who looks really familiar, but I cannot place where from. I decide he must be from one of the brain-dead reality shows that I don't watch but have seen trailers and ads for. Months later I am watching The Bridge (original Scandi Noir version), and one of the actors looks really familiar, and I know I have seen him in real life and remember some kind of queue but think that can't be possible as he lives in Sweden. It is only when I look on his instagram that I find he lives in my area in London and it dawns on me it was him I saw that time in the delivery office. A similar thing happened the time I saw Jeremy Corbyn at a vegetarian festival a few years ago, only it took seeing his wife in the press, who was also with him on that day, to make me finally twig who it was...two or three years later.

Last example:- when I was just out of high school, my friend kept telling me that certain young men had confessed they thought I was quite attractive or even liked me. I could not picture who the hell they were even though I was meant to know them. This last one happens to me rarely though as I am more likely to forget a face than a name.

I recall a lot of that pretty much like me. I have face blindness in much that same way you do.

 

[Dadamen]

I've noticed that I have hard time recognizing faces and need to see a person a lot of times to memorize them. When I began high school it took me two months to remember everyone. I especially have hard time on TV. Following films is a mystery for me. On TV I watch mostly sport, documetaries and a few series that I'm very familiar with. Once I failed to recognize football player Ivan Rakitić in a commercial despite watching a lot of matches with him. In real life I also have problems sometimes. When I meet someone new I don't recognize him second time and when I see someone that I haven't seen long time before I don't recognize. Is there any treatment for it?

 

[Progster]

Same here. There isn't any treatment for it that I'm aware of, just coping mechanisms - when meeting a new person, make a conscious effort to pick out a prominent feature of their face - perhaps they have a mole or particularly large nose or something. The only problem is, difficult to look without staring.

 

[SDRSpark]

I've always had this problem...I will see someone I know and I have to go through a list of names like "RonMarkTimJohnBOB! That's it, BOB!" but by the time I've gone through the list and figured out which name is theirs, the time for greetings has passed so I just say something noncommittal like "hey how are you?" and hope they don't notice that I forgot their name.

I have worked with people for a decade and have no clue who they are/couldn't pick them out of a lineup (I could say "I work with that guy!" but if you said "tell me which one of these people is John Doe" I couldn't do it except by process of elimination).

My whole life people have known me, but I have no clue who they are. That gets weird. I have people waving to me or greeting me on the street and I'm like "who is that person and how do they know me??" This happened a lot when I was a child. Everyone knew me and I felt like I was famous or something because I didn't have a clue who these people were but they all knew who I was for some reason. It was pretty disconcerting actually.

I was watching a TV show not long ago where most of the main characters look similar (male, brown hair, same height) and their wives look similar as well. I kept losing the plot because I couldn't remember who was who and who did what.

 

[ASD_Geek]

I have the same issue. Whenever I go out with my wife if we run into someone, I have to ask her who they are. I try to pick a feature and tie that into the person's name, but that doesn't work all of the time especially if a person gets a haircut or switches from glasses to contacts. Now, with everyone wearing masks, it's even more difficult. I also have an issue in following characters on TV or in the movies. One day I was tired of it and searched for it and found out that it was called prosopagnosia/face blindness.

 

[Dadamen]

@ASD_Geek Have you done a cambridge face memory test? This one is beter than famous faces which you did because it measures pure face memory and famous faces also measures general knowledge?

 

[Running Girl]

Face blindness and trouble remembering names, big time. At work, it gives me so much anxiety. It can take me 6 months to recognize someone and not mix them up with someone else who resembles them. Names are even harder, even when I know who they are. I have been called "racist" for getting it wrong with co workers who are black. Sucks. No wonder I have social anxiety and wish I worked alone. I remember my own face and name just fine.

 

[Soleil]

Sometimes I see random people and I just know I've seen them somewhere before. Sometimes I see someone I've seen before and I don't recognize them.

There's a girl at work whom I know and see all the time. One day, we passed each other and she said hi, like usual. Later that night we passed each other again, and she said hi, but I didn't recognize her face at all because she took down her usual ponytail.

Sometimes I don't recognize coworkers I've worked with for months because they're not in uniform.

My best friend recently got a haircut, and I could barely recognize him.

On the other hand there are plenty of people I do recognize. But for those whom I don't, I usually just have to pretend I recognize them.

 

[ASD_Geek]

@ASD_Geek Have you done a cambridge face memory test? This one is beter than famous faces which you did because it measures pure face memory and famous faces also measures general knowledge?

No, I haven't. Ill look it up and take it. Thanks!

 

[Aneka]

I was diagnosed AS when in was 15 and I'm now 27. I read a book I forgot the name of that is by an Aspie about his life growing up AS and its I think called "about aspergers by an aspie for aspies" or something like that. He explains face blindness and how we usually have it on different levels and how face blindness works. I realized that I have mild face blindness. And that it's bc of AS. I found it more than mild sometimes and I have it frequently.

Then I watched a video on YouTube a few weeks ago that was years ago from a 20/20 special on face blindness and it had average neurotypical ppl suffering from face blindness. I thought only ppl on the spectrum had it. I didn't know neurotypical ppl could have it. They don't know why they have it. They had it WAY, WAY, WAY worse than me. I felt super lame thinking my case was major. I have NEVER forgotten my family EVER. but in high school when I was 17 and my best friend I met in 9th grade, we were walking to lunch and I looked at her and said frankly "ok I know this is weird and I've known you 2 years now so this shouldn't happen, but....I can't remember your name" she thought I was joking so she wouldnt tell me. I begged her bc it was driving me nuts. I said I knew she had a cat, a brother, I knew she likes white tigers etc name it all but I can't remember her name. I finely got her to tell me after several min. She thought it a joke and ridiculous n didn't take it serious. I have NEVER forgotten her name since for some reason. Then there is the whole I go to call someone and knew who I'm calling bc I can see their face in my mind but I forget their name so I look in the phone book and when I see their name I know I'll know it's the right one.

I see famous ppl on tv in 9th show or movie and haven't seen them for a while and I get excited "oh oh!! I know! Where have I seen that guy before!? What movie have I seen him in?!" I can't place the actor bc I forgot his/her name and I finally remember a movie I have seen them in but I can't think if their name still. Then once I look the movie up and cast list n I see their name and im like for e.g. "oh oh!! Now I remember! Its Jennifer Aniston!! Ok now I feel better!" But a few weeks later I may see another thing with her in it and again forget her name....I do it again and again with everyone famous. I can never remember actors names but I remember movies they are in so I can look that movie up and then cast list and see the name and then it jogs my memory. Then that ODD that is like literal physical pain in my brain till I figured it out goes away and that anxiety is fine and the obsession subsides till the next time I forget and go on OCD craze to remember it again. But if it's a specific movie I'm looking for from them but can't remember the movie name specifically or the actor, but I CAN think of a different movie title from them but not the one I'm thinking of, I can look up the one I remember and that way I can look up their name and then after I will b able to Google their name and see a movie list and know the movie I'm thinking of they I couldn't remember the title of when I see the title. Then again the OCD craze to figure this out goes away till next time I forget it. I don't know if that is technically face blindness. But it is what it is. Is they normal for an Aspie or normal for face blindness?

The 20/20 special I saw on YouTube showed neurotypical ppl suffering from face blindness and they couldn't remember their own child if shown pictures of them. Etc etc etc. I've never been that bad. Does it seem like it counts as face blindness, still? It sucks! It feels like amnesia in that they know they know something but don't know why they can't remember it. Its like saying "do u know who you are?" They know they know but when trying to recall their name they feel completely stupid and dumb bc they know they have a name but don't know what it is and its maddening that they feel like everything is not right. and they know that they CANT remember anything they should so they go places even if they haven't been bc they don't remember if they've been or not so it may jog memory. They get there and know it's not right. But putting something that should jog their memory like something that's actually theirs, they can't remember it and they feel like they should, bc its familiar but not jogging memory. It feels like they should be able to recall that and they can't.

Face blindness for me is like that. I feel dumb that I can't remember actors that I see all the time. But I don't have it as bad as seeing my mom or sister or grandma and not know them at all even tho I see them daily until I'm told that is my mom etc then I think wow! How did I forget her but I really don't recognize that face tho I see it everyday. Its not like that bad. I think they said its bc ppl with face blindness see faces upside down and jumbled and so its it's hard to recognize them. Like celebrity tests where for e.g. the face is normal of Angelina Jolie but her mouth is upside down or her eyes are upside down and you have to guess out of three choices whom it is. They say it's like that, that they see ppl all jumbled like that so it's hard to remember them by familiarity bc its all jumbled confusing. Idk but I forget a lot and it sucks.

I was tested a lot for 7years to see mentally where I fit bc they were determining if I could get social security and if I could get housing like help to get an apt and staff like ppl to help me get social skills like go shopping and pay my bills and any other life skill i need help learning. Etc etc. And getting to work through them. But I didn't qualify originally bc they said I was too high functioning so I had to do IQ tests many times on many different levels to see if I qualified acording to those tests. So one day I met a lady that determined how I got set up with all that n she asked me easy questions like "do you know what day it is" and "can you tell me who the last and who the current president were and are?" I said "the last president was bush Jr. And the current president I can't think of his name bc I have face blindness but I know he's black, I know he has big ears he has daughters I just can't think of his name." And she told me "Obama" I was like "oh ya!!" I don't think she liked me and I got the vibe that she thought it was not being taken serious or something. But its is real. It sucks to forget something like that. I can remember he's black, that he has daughters, a little dog, his wife has short hair, u name it I remember it... All but his name. It escapes me. I usually don't further it but they day bit did I. I couldn't have remembered his name even from a picture. But I reminders once she told me and the memory forgetness stopped. Anyone else think this fits into the category of Face blindness and anyone else have this problem?

I know I've heard many different sources about Aspies and Auties having face blindness but I don't know any other aspies. Well I knew one girl I worked with who was also an Aspie but she moved away after a couple years and I never saw her outside work so it didn't count much. I think my dad has AS but God forbid you tell him that. Oh well. All that matters is that I know it. But he didn't have trouble remembering ppl.
Anyone else have stories?

Sometimes I find things about me I feel are probably eccentricities bc of AS but I didn't know anyone else who does that same eccentricity or hear odd any other aspies so I think maybe it's just me. Then I ask about it and find I'm not alone. And it feels good to know that. To have that same quirk as others bc it then didn't feel like maybe im just odd. If that makes any sense.

I don't know if I qualify as a mild case of face blindness, but it takes me some time to learn face, to catalogue distinct features of people and put a name to their face. I might recognize them in a certain environment where I encounter them regularly (like a school), but not in other places. A teacher once got really mad at me for that very reason. But if I don't see a person for a while I will simply forget the face altogether. A different haircut, glasses or a beard might also confuse me to the point of not being able to connect a face to a name. A guy in my class shaved his beard and I thought he was a new student.

 

[Dadamen]

I don't know if I qualify as a mild case of face blindness, but it takes me some time to learn face, to catalogue distinct features of people and put a name to their face. I might recognize them in a certain environment where I encounter them regularly (like a school), but not in other places. A teacher once got really mad at me for that very reason. But if I don't see a person for a while I will simply forget the face altogether. A different haircut, glasses or a beard might also confuse me to the point of not being able to connect a face to a name. A guy in my class shaved his beard and I thought he was a new student.

Yes, this is mild face blindness. I have these problems too.