difficulty recognising faces

[amylitten12]

My ds aged 4 seems to have difficulty recognising faces. Some recent examples include:

-Thinking a baby on the front of a baby book was his younger brother (to be fair they did look a bit similar, same eyes, hair, colouring etc)

-Thinking a girl in a catalogue was a girl he knows "when she was a little girl" (they looked similar)

-Thinking a photo of a girl (flashcard) at a preschool group was a girl he'd just spoken to, e.g. teacher said "what's this"? (wanting him to say girl) and he said "it's Jenny".

-Not recognising a boy from his large nursery who came up to chat in supermarket (who seemed to know him)

• Not being able to name more than about 5 of his nursery group in the group photo (despite of being with the same group for a term)

The thing is I also have the same difficulty - on my son's first day of nursery I got his key worker confused even though she'd done his home visit!

I think I've read about a condition where people can't recognise faces but can't remember the name (I think my son only has it mildly btw as he isn't that bad). But I'm concerned it might hold him back socially so wonder if anyone else has encountered this in young children or has any advice?

tis

BTW he's not just unobservant - he's always making observations - things that have changed etc and is great at spot the difference puzzles.

Have you had his vision checked? DS used to be like this, his eye sight was pretty bad. Now with glasses he can recognise everyone no problem.

Prosopagnosia. I'm sure I have it to a small degree - I am hopeless at facial recognition, to embarrassing degrees sometimes. Otherwise my memory is pretty good.

Yes prosopagnosia was what I was thinking of. I don't think he has it that badly (he can definitely recognise family members etc) but I am worried that it might be holding him back socially. Other kids call out hello to him on the way home from nursery etc and he acts like he didn't notice them.

I don't know whether I should mention it to nursery?

The eye test suggestion is a good one - he's never had one so definitely something I should sort out.

I have prosopagnosia - quite mildly - there is a spectrum and I can recognise people once I have taken in some details about how they look.

I have read that it is an aspergers trait though and I am pretty sure that I am on the spectrum (have done on line tests etc). Probably nothing to worry about with your ds though. Could be eyesight related as others have said.

I have prosopagnosia reasonably badly that it affects me in every day life.

I don't have asd although many have both.

Definitely get a proper eye test first though!

When I say quite mildly it does affect me in every day life - if i haven't made a specific effort to take in features about someone I won't remember what they look like and it can be embarrassing.

I can recognise friends and family though - I meant mildly as compared to those who can't even recognise themselves.

How funny - I was just about to start a thread about my DS who is 5. He's quite reserved and struggles to get to know other children. Names especially are a problem but he's also astounded if anyone says hello to him in the street - 'That boy is in my class!'

Sometimes if another child is friendly he thinks they might be in his class (although I know they aren't). He has a few core friends that he clings to and doesn't find it easy to move beyond them (which I think is a bit down to not being bothered - his father is the same!). I struggle to recognise people out of context. I remember being very vague as a child but that was partly because I was so shortsighted. DS's eyesight is excellent and was tested at nursery, so it's not that. His teacher said he was quite immature for his age in some ways, so I'm watching to see if it changes as he becomes more aware of his place in the world and how he relates to others.

I am socially very anxious and a huge introvert. I like other people and have plenty of friends but I find interacting with them tiring to the point of being exhausting even if I'm enjoying it. All part of the same picture, I think.