Something leora said prompted this.

[conuly]

I have problems. Seriously, I do.

But I don't ever like mentioning them, ever, because I always feel like I'm whining or exaggerating.

Take the idea of faceblindess. I don't think I'm faceblind. I don't consider myself faceblind. And yet, there's a number of incidents which only make sense if I say I'm faceblind. Most notoriously, there's the time I was about to tell a man with a cute baby "my niece has that same outfit" when I realized that it *was* my niece and brother-in-law, but trust me when I say this incident is not alone in my memory.

Or there's my hearing. I have very good hearing. My hearing is probably better than yours. I can hear the train doors close from several blocks away. But I can't be in a crowded room and follow a conversation. I never used to mention this to people, and just sat through "group work" where I either did nothing or did everything because it was easier than trying to listen to people talking. I still don't like mentioning it to people, because it's just "Well, my hearing isn't bad, exactly, but it's hard for me sometimes, but not all the time, and... um...."

Riiiiight.

Well, this has been my melodramatic post for the day. Djusk' a!

Comments

[wispfox.livejournal.com]

I'm almost certainly mildly face blind, although not as strongly as you are based on the example you gave. I find it easier to just explain to people that certain things (like not recognizing them out of context) are likely to happen, and that it's not personal.

My hearing in crowds _sucks_. I tend to try to sit against a wall or something which will similarly limit the directions from which I will be receiving auditory input, or I can't follow conversations. Again, I think this is less bad than yours, based on the above example. And I think my problem is simply that I have trouble with processing spoken words, and it's magnified the more there is to process and/or be distracted by. It's why I tend to want things to be written down if I need to remember them for some reason.

I don't think of mentioning these kinds of things as being melodramatic. Rather, I think of them as letting people know how I work so that they have a better chance of interacting with me in a mutually pleasant manner. It's fine if they forget, as I tend to forget things all the time, but I like to give people useful information if I think it'll help them. These are the kinds of things that I think of as useful information, if they are likely to apply ever. *shrug*

[conuly]

I'm almost certainly mildly face blind, although not as strongly as you are based on the example you gave.

*laughs*

The thing is, the reason this example struck me so much is that, until it happened, I would swear this sort of thing never happened to me.

Sure, there were the classes where I'd go from 1st to 2nd period and not realize that the same people were in both classes. Sure, there were teachers I didn't recognize outside the classroom.

This incident sticks out *precisely* because I can't recall anything this severe ever happening to me. Though, looking back on it, I realize that there were some times when I didn't recognize Jenn or Mommy for a few seconds, until they said or did something and it "clicked".

But on the other hand, some people I never have trouble recognizing.

*giggles*

A guy in my latin class (before he graduated), Michael, has a twin, Aaron. Apparently they look alike. And when I met Aaron, he made some sort of joke about "haven't we met before?", which I was supposed to get had to do with the fact that he looks like Michael.

I even commented to Michael afterwards, when I heard him talking about his family "You have a brother?"

To this day, I don't think they look alike. Same thing with Lizziey's boyfriend and his (supposedly identical) twin. I don't think they look alike at all.

[bridgetester.livejournal.com]

Interesting... What sorts of physical differences do they have?

[conuly]

I couldn't begin to tell you. They just *look* different. It's not their clothes, or anything obvious like that, they just look different.

Though, in the case of Richard and Chris, Richard's face looks less "in focus" than Chris', like a candle that's started to melt slightly. But I'm apparently the only one who thinks that.

[bridgetester.livejournal.com]

No idea what you mean, but it sounds intriguing...

Any personality triggers?

[conuly]

Nope. Barely know Richard (or Chris, for that matter), or Aaron. Don't really know Michael, either.

[wispfox.livejournal.com]

To this day, I don't think they look alike.

Sounds to me like you aren't actually cueing off visual appearance, or at least facial appearance. At least, not the in the same way as people normally do. (neither do I, mind)

Fascinating!