Crossposted to asperger

[conuly]

I've got a question...
Is it possible to be face-visually-impaired instead of just faceblind? I often don't recognize people for a little while, but once I do, I recognize THEM, not just things about them. Some people I'm never able to remember, true, but others I can't forget, no matter what.

Examples:

Way back in high school, I had a few classes with the same people, sometimes one period after another. For a few of those people, it took me the better part of a term to realize that I was seeing them twice, instead of that they were two different people. However, I recognized them within each class, and used at least one of them as a way to make sure I wasn't in the wrong room, by recognizing her face in my spanish class (but not in the following gym class).

Thursday, I ran into my brother-in-law and baby niece in the city. Didn't recognize them until I almost commented "My niece has that exact same pooh-bear hat!". That's when her hat, his jacket, and their features combined in my mind and I recognized both of them. Once I recognized them, it was them I saw, but I didn't recognize them until I put the facts together. This sort of thing happens often enough that I've started wondering about it.

Also, not sure if it's related, but somebody in my Latin class has a twin. I've met his twin, they apparently look quite alike, but it wasn't until after Michael mentioned "my twin" that I realized they were even related. Apparently, I'm the only one, everyone else gets them confused. *shrugs* I'm clearly not faceblind, but I think something may be going on. Or maybe I'm being silly.

Comments

Re:

[rachelkachel]

I think I do it by hair, too - somehow I'm not good with features. I don't remember names well, either, so it was a little embarrassing to realize that the girl I've been sitting next to in health all semester (I thought I knew her from somewhere) is one of the girls I'm planning to room with next year. Jennifer organized it all, Kelly is the one I sit next to, and I still don't know who Boo is, if I'm even hearing the name right. She's in architecture, though, I know that... I probably sat with her during CS...