very good at recognizing face. can any of you relate?

[AO1501]

I don't recognise people by faces at all, I can't see any facial details - or if I see them, I'm not able to file the information away. It's one reason I find social environments so hard, because if there are a dozen people in the room, I have no way to tell them apart. So if I have a conversation with someone, I don't know who, of those around me, it was, and have in the past made an idiot of myself by getting people mixed up.

For people I know well enough, such a co-workers, I recognise them by other factors, such as the way they walk, or their body shape or hair. People very close to me, such as my partner, I learn to 'map' their faces so I can see them and tell them apart.

But I don't think this is really anything to do with being on the spectrum. My daughter is also an Aspie and does not have this problem, nor does my partner, who is also an Aspie.

 

[tducey]

I'm better with names than faces.

 

[Sofia]

Im good with names, but yeah I forget faces very easily. I just pretend to have a lot on my mind.. and hope they dont feel hurt cause its really not personal.

 

[NinaB]

Yes omg. It gets annoying sometimes because i recognize people that don't even know i exist, i get confused if i am supposed to say hi or not. They will probably give me a dirty or confused look. It doesn't make it any better that my anxiety makes me eyescan every face in every place that i arrive so that it makes me very self-consious. I have myopia and i can't see barely anything without glasses, i often like going out without wearing them, it reduces my anxiety. The bad part is i can't see barely anything without wearing them XD

 

[Ylva]

Sort of?

People aren't their faces, to me, so I don't automatically associate them with their face, but I can see and remember all the features. I'm not sure what I have qualifies as real prosopagnosia because I do recognize people – except as a child when my mother got a new haircut. But there are always contextual clues to who somebody is. Their voice and – ironically – their body language. My sister thinks it's hilarious that I can't pick her out of a crowd unless I'm very focused.

 

[Katherine Rawstron]

Autism is a spectrum disorder with so many symptoms, I doubt very much that anybody has got all of them. Like others on this question, I generally remember faces, but am bad at remembering names.

I don't have a problem with wearing clothes, and love my food, for example; but I do have problems with noise and crowds, and don't like people invading my personal space. We're all different and we each have a different story to tell.

 

[Elemental]

Very bad "face blindness" here! & if I'm greeted or interact with someone who knows me that I don't recognise, I 'fess up & say "forgive me, remind me again who you are"? I might explain further by indicating my features & saying "recognition issues...especially in different environments" because this simplifies my life.

Whilst the basic characteristics of a person's face remain constant, my perception of their face, depending on for example their mood, means that for me, the same person can present facial features which are distinctly different. It's more than changed expressions, faces can look totally different.

 

[Progster]

I can remember names but not faces, I think I have mild prosopagnosia.

 

[Fridgemagnetman]

Autism is a spectrum disorder with so many symptoms, I doubt very much that anybody has got all of them.

I'd like to meet that guy.

 

[Suzanne]

Aspergers is not called: on the spectrum for nothing lol in other words, we all are still individuals, after all, we should have the same obsessions if it were not so.

I am not bad at recognising faces; but it is more like a vague sense of: I think I have seen you before?

My thing is with names. If the person is around me a lot, then I have no issue remembering their names or even if they used to be around me a lot; but ones I see from time to time, there is no point telling me their name, for it leaves me name blind.

 

[HidinginPlainSight]

While it is not 100%, a very high number of people with autism have prosopagnosia. I am hopeless in face recognition. It actually gives me quite a bit of anxiety and has led to some very uncomfortable situations. This is even true of people whom I have known for years. Depending on the setting I can either completely or partially mistake them for someone I don't know.

Let's put it this way I would be a prosecutor's absolute nightmare if I were the only eye witness.

 

[Mary Anne]

I have excellent visual memory, and never forget a face, even years later. I do forget things said via auditory, so I continually have to ask people’s names, even when I have met them just last week and the week before that.