Sorry that you have to deal with this condition. What method do you use currently to help with recognising them?

caturopath 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Like the poster, I'm faceblind. It isn't the worst thing: I'm not voice blind, height blind, age blind, hairstyle blind, gender blind, features associated with race and ethnicity blind, attractiveness blind, affect blind, context blind, etc., so I'm mostly good at figuring out who someone is. Within one encounter with a bunch of people, I try to note what someone is wearing.

Every once in a while I don't recognize someone and I go through this whole thing of bringing up every biographical detail about them I remember and all the things we've talked about to show that I'm not an asshole who wasn't paying attention in the past. Fortunately, I have a decent memory for such things.

▲

cortesoft 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

It's funny because I am the opposite. I can easily recognize a face, but if you asked me things like hair color or what they were wearing, I likely would be unable to answer.

	▲	anakaine an hour ago \| parent [-]
		I can offen do neither. General body shape and height are ok. Hair, clothes, make-up, etc are not. Context is everything. Where are they when we meet? If it is someone from work, at work, this is very easy. If it is someone from work in a shopping centre, this is very difficult unless I know them well. I make an active point of trying to remember people's faces so I can place them out of context, because it shouldnt be this hard, and they deserve to feel valued in so far as I remember them. Its an uphill battle.

▲

noman-land 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

This is fascinating. So you know that you've met someone before. You know things about them. But you don't recognize them? What does this mean? You don't remember their name? You don't know why or how you know them?

▲

NobodyNada 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

(Not the parent, but I'm faceblind as well)

The interaction described goes like this:

"Hi there, I'm ABC, nice to meet you, what's your name"

"...Huh? I'm XYZ. We've met before."

"Oh right...sorry, I promise I remember you! We knew each other from there, and we've worked on this and that together, and etc. etc. etc. I'm just terrible with faces, I'm so sorry!"

It's not "you know things about them without recognizing them"; it's "you don't recognize them at first, it gets awkward, and so you recite facts about them prove that you didn't forget who they were"

	▲	altairprime 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		My aunt said tells neighbors/acquaintances to just introduce themselves by name every time when they start chatting with her, and reports great success with this — but my entire family is also rather 'take it or leave it' re: social stuff, so the people that don't introduce themselves don't get remembered, which seems perfectly fair.

▲

soco 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I'm not the OP neither have their problem, but I can't remember names. I know who the person in front of me is, we can talk pleasantly about everything - I have a good memory otherwise - but I can't remember their name to save my life. Luckily they very seldom notice that, if ever. And I won't tell, obviously.

	▲	BLKNSLVR 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I'm similar, and yes, there are easy options to replace person's name with, as long as you're putting a bit of thought into what you're saying so as not to paint yourself into a name corner. Ironically, I'm insanely good at remembering faces. But it's kinda useless because of the name thing (and equally, the face context is also difficult).

▲

joshred 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Usually you talk to them and then you remember who they are or where you know them from.

It's not like you can't tell your wife apart from your orthodontist.

▲

NobodyNada 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I recently learned that I have some level of face-blindness (I took the CFMT online and scored 43).

It's something I've had my whole life but only recently realized wasn't "normal". It's not like I can't recognize people at all, but rather that faces aren't very distinctive to me compared to other identifying characteristics (such as hair color/style/length, clothing, skin tone, height, voice, gait, mannerisms, etc.) It takes me a while to learn to distinguish everyone in a group of people (especially people who are similar along all of those attributes), but once I know someone well I will usually recognize them without problems.

The only real issues are when someone changes their appearance (e.g. getting glasses or shaving a beard), or when I run into someone in an unexpected context (like randomly meeting someone I know on the street). A few months ago I ran into my cousin at an event in another city, and didn't recognize her until after 20 or 30 seconds of conversation.

It's also not usually too hard to mask. I realized I have a subconscious habit of never greeting people by name because I'm always afraid of getting it wrong, and it's easy enough to bluff through "oh hi, how are you, good to see you, what have you been up to" pleasantries until I figure out who I'm talking to. The most awkward situations are when I'm unsure whether or not I know someone and have to risk either mistaking a stranger for a friend, or accidentally ignoring/reintroducing myself to an acquaintance. Also, starting a new TV show sucks.

Now that I know it's an actual condition with a name, I'm not sure yet whether it makes things better or worse if I try to explain it to people to excuse my mistakes.

If any other face blind people have useful tips or experiences, I'm all ears :)

	▲	majiy 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Best tip I can give: Be open with it. If someone talks to you and you're not sure who they are, tell them you're faceblind and ask. It takes some getting used to, but it's worth it. In my previous company we gave a short introduction when joining, and I included faceblindness. "If I meet you randomly on the street and don't say hello, that's not with malicious intent." Most people are understanding, though a few are not, but really then it's their problem.

▲

freedomben 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> It's not like you can't tell your wife apart from your orthodontist.

I got a personal kick out of that example, because one of my good friend's wife is his orthodontist :-D

	▲	PlunderBunny 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		"open wide..."