I have a facial disfigurement and people always ignore me

[oneoclock]

So, I'm a really bubbly person and I love talking to people. I consider myself very friendly and approachable. When I was 18 I had an accident that has left me with a glass eye and scarring on my face which is very noticeable. Before this I always had people be super friendl with me, men would flirt and people would want to be my friend ( I know this sounds cheesy but hear me out) what I find now however is people tend to ignore me. When I'm with people and they are talking, they look at everyone but they blatantly avoid looking at me. It makes me so sad and I feel so insignificant. I always try to pitch into the conversations to make people aware that I'm friendly, but It literally happens every single time I'm with people.
What can I do to prevent this?

This sounds really frustrating and I'm sorry you're having to deal with this. I agree it must be harder when you're young, someone you feel more on display and judged when everyone is young and beautiful, I have found people less focused on looks as I've grown older, probably because I'm not half as pretty haha or because I've got more confident so I do hope it will get better with experience and as your social social matures! I grew up with a close friend also with a glass eye and a large port wine stain, she is stunning and has an amazing sense of style which makes her stand out, I wonder if looking more confident and 'out there' gave others the impression she was wholly comfortable in her own skin and that impacted how comfortable they felt talking to her? If someone look like theyre trying to blend in maybe people are more cautious to be 'polite' (and actually end up basically ignoring you?) On reflection I certainly am more engaged with strangers when they seem to visually put themselves out there? It's a tricky thing to do and you can ever control how others might behave but you can always fake it until you make it.

I hear what your saying and I will hold this in my mind if/when I ever meet another person with a facial disfigurement :)

I had Bell’s palsy, paralysis of one side of the face and then I developed a twitch on the other side of my face. Inflammation causing compression of nerves. It was like I became invisible overnight. Struggled with speech too so little things like flagging a waiter down to pay a bill were really hard. Normally you can mime pencil writing on one hand at them and they bring the bill. However when they avoid looking at you and you can’t get out an excuse me it feels awful despite it being a very small thing.

Do you have glasses? I bought myself a really nice pair despite my prescription not really warranting glasses. Partly to stop dust being blown in but also to disguise to the lopsided blinking.

I'm sorry that really sucks for you. Have you tried addressing it upfront with people you know you will be seeing often? By just saying something to people like "People do feel awkward when they first meet me because of my facial scaring and they are never too sure where to look because they are worried I will think they are staring. But I prefer to have eye contact during conversations like everyone else. What I find works for me is - I want you to know its OK to look at my scarring - I'm really use to it. I just want you to think of me like anyone else."

https://www.changingfaces.org.uk/