I really struggle to recognise people's faces

[t1r3d]

I wouldn't say I have complete face blindness but I really struggle to recognise people. Twice yesterday at work I didn't recognise two different colleagues and completely blanked them in the corridor. One because they had their hair different and the other because they were wearing their coat and I couldn't see their outfit. I found myself looking at their faces trying to see if they were my colleagues but I couldn't 100% tell that it was them and not someone else within their demographic.

Some people I will easily recognise as they look distinctive enough or have some unique identifying feature that means that I can't mix them up with others.

Does anyone else struggle with this? :(

Yes!

In a way all this mask-wearing has made things easier for me because it’s now acceptable to say, “sorry, I don’t recognise you”!

Lots of people just all look the same to me, unless there is something really unusual about them, or I see them very regularly.

Yes. I just smile and greet everyone just in case. I don't have complete face blindness because after a while of getting to know someone I can recognise them....but then tone of voice, mannerisms and walk etc all become part of it. Also of you ask me to imagine my cousin for example I know in my head what they look like. But movies and TV shows are hard to follow sometimes. Maybe that's why I like things like soap operas where the characters are there for years.

Yes - I recognise people by how they move/sound so I can often recognise someone at a distance but not at all close up

I just smile at everyone but it doesn't work with masks on!

Yup.

Prosopagnosia is the medical term for it.

I can walk past my own family in the street.

Too many conversations have included the mortifying

"You don't recognise me, do you?"

Yes, I struggle sometimes too. Particularly when I see someone I know in a place different place or context. So a school mum without her dc in a pub will throw me. I have even walked past my NDN in the High St and taken a good few moments to recall who she is!

Me too. I have had some mortifying conversations with people as a result. It's only recently I've realised face blindness is a recognised thing. Now I'm aware of it I can actually tell that I'm going to have a problem recognising a particular person when we meet although I can't yet put my finger on why.

I do this. I particularly struggle to recognise characters in films when they change their clothing!

Yes, I have this. Watching films on my own can be very confusing as I can't work out who half the people are unless they stay in the same distinctive outfits or have features that really stand out.

I embarrass myself regularly by not knowing who someone I have met many times before is. I'm fine with people I know so I would always know family and friends. It is just unfamiliar faces. I need to see them hundreds of times before I recognise them. The school gates can be uncomfortable. I just say hello to everyone I see but if someone starts chatting to me I quite often have no idea who they are and the feeling that I should.

I have this problem too. Apparent strangers greet me enthusiastically and I find myself muttering a bland response because I have no idea who they are. I feel so rude! I need people to have distinguishing features such as unusual hair, a particular dog, an unusual coat - then I will recognise them. .

I also find it impossible to follow films where everybody looks very similar, such as war films. All the characters are male, they're all in camouflage gear, they all live in barracks so I can't identify the person by the house they're in. Impossible! I tried to watch the movie The Terror recently, and had to give up because I couldn't distinguish any of the characters.

im fairly face blind. Its a problem. I rely on context a lot of the time, so if I see someone in a different context, I might feel like I recognise them from somewhere but thats about it

Me too. It took me 4 years to realise that the man I said hello to at the school gate was also my colleague.

@WaltzingToWalsingham

I have this problem too. Apparent strangers greet me enthusiastically and I find myself muttering a bland response because I have no idea who they are. I feel so rude! I need people to have distinguishing features such as unusual hair, a particular dog, an unusual coat - then I will recognise them. .

I also find it impossible to follow films where everybody looks very similar, such as war films. All the characters are male, they're all in camouflage gear, they all live in barracks so I can't identify the person by the house they're in. Impossible! I tried to watch the movie The Terror recently, and had to give up because I couldn't distinguish any of the characters.

American films can be terrible for this as most of the characters, especially the women have a generic beautiful look which is quite similar.

My DD has this. Her worst thing was being asked to hand the books back in class. Does anyone have any top tips I can pass on to her about how to cope with the challenges of being face blind? She moved school in Sept and until very recently, everyone has had to sit in the same place which has been brilliant for her. However, now they are all changing seats every lesson and she has no idea who anyone is. Really difficult for her to build friendships.

I am like this. I teach secondary. It is a nightmare.

I have this to some extent and also can't picture people's faces in my mind (even DH and DS!).

I get this. I once went to pick DD 2 up from nursery and was a bit hesitant about walking up to a child as I wasnt sure! There was a little girl that looked just like her.

I recognise people really easily by movement, expressions and voice but I'm not overly good by face.

I have to really see a person's face regularly before I can picture it in my mind. I would recognise my brother in law but I can't picture his face. Other faces really stick in my mind though, it's strange.

Yes!
I was once waiting for my boyfriend (now husband) in a train station. He walked up to me and stopped in front of me. I glared at him and stepped to the side to keep looking for him!
Any films with more than one dark haired white American male actor get me totally confused. It usually turns out that one very erratic character is two entirely different people.
Weirdly I sometimes focus in on very specific details on a face to the exclusion of the whole picture, so I couldn’t tell you what a person looks like but I could tell you in great detail about the shape of the tip of his nose.

I live in fear of witnessing a crime and being asked for a description.

Are you familiar with the Oliver Sacks book "The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat". I remember studying visual agnosia year ago at university. I remember that book, and a statistic that face blind men are massively more likely to be gay than non faceblind males, the bloke who carried out the research was face blind (and gay) - he said he learned ways from a young age to distinguish boys from each other and didn't have that skill with women. I think he was checking out their derrières, which might not help when handing out school books!

I remember watching the film The Departed- I found it very confusing- and then I realised that Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon were actually two separate characters and not the same person.

This is me too. I drive dh mad by asking what is going on in films and tv shows!! I have also perfected the very friendly 'how are you/how are you all' for when Im out in town and people recognise me and want to chat. I tend to also have somewhere I need to dash to so the conversation doesnt progress and it becomes obvious I dont know them!

I think I have this though not sure.

Ive just been on faceblind.org.uk and I sometimes do this - could your dd try it?

'Record keeping Make notes (written down if it helps) about all the things you use to recognise an individual – hair, both style and colour, beards, glasses, ear-rings, body shape, piercings, tattoos, birthmarks. These tactics aren’t infallible (hairstyles may change, beards get shaved off etc.) but they often work, especially once you learn to do it as a deliberate exercise and it becomes automatic. If necessary, keep your notes in code, it depends how personal it gets!'

I'm the same. I really struggle to follow plots on TV if characters have similar hair or look similar.

I'd be useless if I ever had to give the police a description of someone.

I could pass a man in the street, say hello and immediately afterwards I couldn't tell you if he had a beard, whether he was wearing glasses etc. My DP despairs with me 😂

I'm diagnosed with prosopagnosia as part of my autism.

It's sickeningly embarrassing for me. School runs were the worst.

Been accused of ignoring people on the street.

Have repeatedly singled out the same person I thought I knew, to say hi to and start a conversation with, when they only worked with the person I thought they were, and had the same brightly coloured work uniform on.

Since the pandemic, masks have meant I'm even more likely to shop several miles away because I can't cope with the anxiety I feel when I don't know if I'm seeing anyone I technically know, and potentially being super rude by not acknowledging them.

Oh yes. Me too. I have a particular problem with generic white dudes with beards.

I handle it by being upfront the first time I meet people. When I was teaching it was a major problem which I dealt with by letting the students know in the first class then making a feature of it. I would tell them I am more likely to remember them is the were:
a) Female (I mostly taught boys)
b) Irritated me
My then joking threat if things were getting out of hand was "Do you WANT me to remember your name??"

Joking aside I find people respond well if you let them know before you blank them in the street or in the corridor. Daily at work I give thanks to Zoom and Teams for putting people's names underneath their faces.