Mild face blindness or just really poor memory?

[Pats]

That's the odd thing @Fino - faces are a very specific thing with specialised neural structures devoted to them. My pattern recognition is highly accurate and intuitive and is now my day job. I'm paid to recognise and predict business events using both stats and qualitative analysis, and to construct systems to recognise them even better. I spot patterns in music, in languages, in behaviour and in story telling tropes. I recognise people instantly by their voices, even when they're disguising their voice. When I'm downstairs at work I can tell who is about to come down the stairs by the rhythm and weight of their footsteps above me, yet put a face in the wrong place and I'm scuppered.

I was good with recognizing the noises when my kids were all still at home. I'd be in my bedroom and knew exactly which of the 4 was sneaking in and what they were doing. When they were little I'd yell at whoever to stop doing whatever they were doing and they'd always ask how I knew. I never thought about it - I'd just tell them I knew the noise. But they each, yes, did have their own footsteps and movements and sounds and I guess I had learned all the possible sounds from within my home.

 

[tlc]

That's the odd thing @Fino - faces are a very specific thing with specialised neural structures devoted to them. My pattern recognition is highly accurate and intuitive and is now my day job. I'm paid to recognise and predict business events using both stats and qualitative analysis, and to construct systems to recognise them even better. I spot patterns in music, in languages, in behaviour and in story telling tropes. I recognise people instantly by their voices, even when they're disguising their voice. When I'm downstairs at work I can tell who is about to come down the stairs by the rhythm and weight of their footsteps above me, yet put a face in the wrong place and I'm scuppered.

When I was living in the basement when my ex and her kids were here, I could tell who was walking where by the footsteps. Or who was in the bathroom.

I also spot patterns in music. When I hear a part, I immediately think of other songs where I heard it.

 

[Tony Ramirez]

What's so hard about remembering faces especially pretty girls.

 

[Fino]

That's the odd thing @Fino - faces are a very specific thing with specialised neural structures devoted to them. My pattern recognition is highly accurate and intuitive and is now my day job. I'm paid to recognise and predict business events using both stats and qualitative analysis, and to construct systems to recognise them even better. I spot patterns in music, in languages, in behaviour and in story telling tropes. I recognise people instantly by their voices, even when they're disguising their voice. When I'm downstairs at work I can tell who is about to come down the stairs by the rhythm and weight of their footsteps above me, yet put a face in the wrong place and I'm scuppered.

Oh, yes, that was the direction in which I intended! I feel the same way about myself in everything you said, without the details of your job involved, of course.

The lack of ability to find patterns was in reference to NTs being oblivious to patterns that I find apparent.

Conversely, something to do with the "patterns" that make up a face are easily recognizable to NTs and not to many of us.

Just another dichotomy of left-handed or right-handed, good at sports or academics, math or language, etc.

 

[Progster]

Yesterday my partner showed me a picture of a person who I know and have seen many times, but I failed to recognise him. I can also recognise people by their voices and movements or noises.

 

[theporgsnest]

Yeah, I totally get the context blindness as well but sometimes I get the impression this is also a NT thing - so maybe related more to memory?

Also I hadn't even really considered the link to eye contact. That's a really interesting point to make bc my face blindness (if it is that) isn't to the degree of not recognising myself or family members - unless they have a drastic hair change or were wearing glasses then suddenly didn't so I am starting to wonder if in my case, it is linked to memory...

Maybe we're so focused on making eye contact that this is all our brain can focus on --making eye contact, and forget about the rest of the features. "Look them in the eye. No, both eyes. No, not for so long, now you're staring. Quit staring. It's been a minute, look them in the eye again. Am I squinting? Oh, a fly!"
I'm half kidding. I have considered that maybe prosopagnosia had to do with me not making eye contact, but then I realized 2 things: there are people I can comfortably look in the eye (my parents or boyfriend, for example), whom I still don't recognize, and even after forcing myself to look other people in the eye more, nothing has changed.
I will recognize people based on context, and while I have mentally stored lists of features for most people I know, it usually takes me way too much time to retrieve said list and match it to the person greeting me to return their greeting in a natural way. So now I just say hello back, and hope that the list-matching tasks runs fast enough in the back of my mind for me not to say something wrong. It's not like I use people's name much when I talk to them anyway, so usually it goes unnoticed, for the most part.
I didn't know this was a thing until I casually mentioned it in a conversation 7 years ago, so I'd never realized other people weren't like that, and I was amazed at how many other people seemed to process that information so much faster than I did. And even to this day, I still realize new things about prosopagnosia, mostly from discussing people who don't have it and confronting our experiences. I'd never realized until 2 months ago, when someone asked me about recreating familiar people in my memories or dreams, that I could recreate them from the feet up to the neck, and then they had a blurry-ish head with very clearly defined hair. Eh, at least they're not Sleepy Hollow, I guess. But it had never occurred to me because I had never tried to recreate memories in my mind, and there are rarely people in my dreams, including dreams about given people. They're just assumed to be there, mentioned, and hanging out in a different room, as far as dreams are concerned, which wasn't particularly striking since this is how it mostly is in real life anyway.

One thing I don't think we've mentioned here in past prosopagnosia posts (but I might have missed some), is recognizing our own selves on pictures. It takes me a fraction of seconds to understand that I am, indeed, looking at myself, followed by a very systematic "Oh, so this is was I look like?"

That point about dreaming people with blurred features is really curious, I have this too

 

[Tony Ramirez]

At yesterdays group I first attended yesterday one of the couples drove me home because it was raining heavy. I can remember the wife "Judith" but I can't remember the husbands name for nothing but I can recognize there faces if I see them again.

 

[anacrusis]

I'd always assumed my face-blindess was due to extreme short-sightedness, as my glasses make things look very much smaller. In the last few years though, I've come to realise that the eye-contact thing is much more likely to be a major part of it - although I can make eye contact because I've learnt how to, it's not where I'm really focused on. As others have said also, I can recognise people much more readily from how they move and their voices. A few years ago I made an arrangement to meet up with some people I'd not seen for twenty years (but knew quite well then), and was terrified I'd not recognise them - but the instant they started walking over and speaking, they were completely familiar to me.
As for people I know only slightly coming up and saying hello - absolute horror every time, I break out into a sweat trying to work out how to get them to volunteer to me who on earth they are.....

 

[Yeshuasdaughter]

Horrible with names. Almost as bad with faces

 

[china autie]

I am face-blind and always have been.

I have known my doctor for a couple of decades. I did not recognize him in the supermarket parking lot.

I have trouble following movies because I cannot recognize the actors.

I can recognize my boss at work but not at a meeting outside of work until he opened his mouth and talked.

I recognize people by voices and then by haircuts.

I score in the 99% percentile on all memory tests.

Oliver Sacks was face-blind also. I consider myself to be in excellent company.

These people are really nice and send me a newsletter.

Prosopagnosia Research Center - Faceblind

They cannot use autistics in their particular research though because face-blindness is associated with autism. They are looking for people who are face-blind but not autistic.

There are tests for it on the web that have been scientifically validated. Here is one:

Test My Brain Face Blindness

In severe cases, people do not recognize themselves in the mirror. I can but I do very badly on the tests for it.

There are other tests on the web for it too. My favorite is the one with bronzed heads of people without their hair.

Best wishes!

 

[Dreamchild]

I have many experiences like the ones other people have said here.

I have read many studies where they find that people with ASD are advanced in spotting details but diminished in "whole picture" identification. (Sorry I don't have any links handy, or I'd use better language describing the "whole picture" part.)

I think I recognize people as a collection of interrelated parts and qualities. So, if you change your glasses or haircut, or the environment I normally see you in, or type of clothes you're wearing, or the way you walk or talk, then I will have (sometimes great) difficulty recognizing you. I also forget names easily because they seem like the least descriptive part of a person. I'm more likely to remember that they like Star Trek or sell houses, or something.

If I encounter a coworker at the grocery store, I may think they look like someone I know, but I can't be sure I know them until they speak and I recognize their voice too. If I see someone I think I know, but they don't see me, I won't try to get their attention, in case I am mistaken.

In other cases, I can identify people I know by the sound of their footsteps, or seeing just their hand. I know my brother so well, I spotted the back of his head across a large crowded room and was able to catch up to him.

Does anyone else use non-visual cues to ID people?

 

[Tony Ramirez]

At my past two bible study groups I could remember all the faces but practically forgot there names even after just saying them about five minutes ago apologizing that I really did forget but there faces are all burned into my brain. I only remember two names "Stephanie" there are two of them, "Justin and Christina" husband and wife and "Arial" another young female. "Brian" an older man I can relate too. But the one I struck up a computer conversation I already forgot his name and his fiance name too but I can recognize them in a crowd though.

 

[tlc]

I recently saw the movie "At First Sight". I still don't see how the actress is not Justine Bateman.

 

[Dadamen]

I also have mild face blindness, this is common at ASD.

 

[SDRSpark]

I'm like this. I didn't realize it was an aspect of face blindness but I suspected I had issues with it. Now I know lol.

I have the worst time with names. Even people I've known for years. Every time I see someone, I have to run through a list of names in my head... "BobMarkCarlGeorgeStan...STAN! That's it! Hi Stan!" Of course I can't do this fast enough to greet them properly so I wind up using some noncommittal greeting like "hey how are you?" and hope no one notices that I've known this person for years and it took me at least 5 seconds to figure out what their name is.

 

[Gift2humanity]

Not only do I fail to recognise people I meet until I have seen them several times, in the same place I meet them, I can also say hello to complete strangers thinking they are someone I know, embarrassing.

 

[Dadamen]

Not only do I fail to recognise people I meet until I have seen them several times, in the same place I meet them, I can also say hello to complete strangers thinking they are someone I know, embarrassing.

Looks like you have mild face blindness, but not everyone with face blindness has autism.

 

[Gift2humanity]

Looks like you have mild face blindness, but not everyone with face blindness has autism.

Mild, it's terrible. Embarrassing but on my way to work years ago, a bloke was walking to me as I was cutting through the shopping centre. It was my own Dad and I nearly missed seeing him until he got close and I thought "Is that Dad?" Wouldn't expect to see him in a shopping centre, but my Dad, I mean (blush)
He had a distinctive mouth but had a standard face for a middle aged man, I used to think lots of people looked like him, but fancy nearly walking past my own Dad.

 

[Soleil]

I think I definitely have a mild form of face-blindness. This isn't really an issue with people or TV characters whom I've known for years, but very much can be with coworkers or other TV/ Movie characters. I've always tried to identify people based on things like clothes and hairstyles, so when those change I find it hard to tell who they are. Gym class was awful, because I had no friends I could recognize, and with everyone dressed the same I had no way of knowing who was on the same team as I was.

These days I can run into someone I work with and not recognize them because they're out of uniform. I may recognize that I work with them, but be totally clueless as to what their name is or what they actually do.
I also have a hard time remembering people's names (I may remember the names, but forget whom it belongs to)

I find it hard to tell certain people apart on TV or in movies, and if a character changes slightly (like their hair) then I totally lose who they are.

I frequently see people in public who look like someone I know (but I know logically they can't be the same person)..

As bad as Superman's disguise is, it would probably work on me. I might suspect that they're the same person, but Clark Kent wears a suit and glasses, so... maybe they're not?

 

[Gift2humanity]

I think I definitely have a mild form of face-blindness. This isn't really an issue with people or TV characters whom I've known for years, but very much can be with coworkers or other TV/ Movie characters. I've always tried to identify people based on things like clothes and hairstyles, so when those change I find it hard to tell who they are. Gym class was awful, because I had no friends I could recognize, and with everyone dressed the same I had no way of knowing who was on the same team as I was.

These days I can run into someone I work with and not recognize them because they're out of uniform. I may recognize that I work with them, but be totally clueless as to what their name is or what they actually do.
I also have a hard time remembering people's names (I may remember the names, but forget whom it belongs to)

I find it hard to tell certain people apart on TV or in movies, and if a character changes slightly (like their hair) then I totally lose who they are.

I frequently see people in public who look like someone I know (but I know logically they can't be the same person)..

As bad as Superman's disguise is, it would probably work on me. I might suspect that they're the same person, but Clark Kent wears a suit and glasses, so... maybe they're not?

Not like me, I say hello to them and they look at me like ermm.....who the heck are you.