Do you have trouble recognizing faces?

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Apparently this ISN'T actually just an "Autism thing"; it might be more common for Autistic people to have this issue but a lot of Autistic people can still recognize faces really well.

I, for one, am forced to give acquaintances silly nicknames when I remember them because I'm horrible with these generic reusable names and the silly names are the only unique identifiers I have unless the people happen to have amazing hair. If someone I don't know very well talks to me and wants me to know that it's not a new person, it will just tell me the name I gave it ("I'm Digs-His-Own-Grave." "I'm Prostitute." "I'm She Who Must Not Be Named (But Is Not Necessarily Voldemort).") and that'll usually remind me of the previous experiences I've had with the person (there's logic to these names, I promise). Otherwise, for the first several times I meet someone, the person's not really a distinct individual to me yet because I don't connect any of the previous experiences with that person. I still have these "Wait, that was YOU?" moments with friends I've known for years.

I even have issues recognizing my family members, usually if their hair is different. I have a friend who quit wearing hats because I couldn't recognize him (and he's hot too, so ever time I saw him with a hat on I'd be wondering who that hot person hanging out with my people was). Coworkers are even more difficult--I've got this new job and there are SO MANY people to remember and I can never tell if someone's being friendly because I've first met the person or because it already knows me! I will probably tell them about my face blindness at some point so they know, because to them my body language probably looks "uncomfortable" because I'm trying to figure out if I'm supposed to already know them or not.

In the past I have had trouble telling the difference between certain people. A couple of times I have known a face is familiar but been unable to place it. I have also had problems telling characters apart in live-action movies or graphic novels. But for the most part I can recognize faces fine. I have trouble actually picturing the face in my mind, but when I see the person I can recognize them.

Yes but i have a rare low vision disorder & my brain has problems processing things I do see. I could be looking at something I can easily see but my brain may not process that it's there.

I'm familiar with this face recognition problem, but it really only affected me once in real life (and was very embarrassing).

But I have a question: For those of you who experience this condition strongly, does it apply to anything other than human faces? For example, maybe you see a famous painting (Mona Lisa), but then if you see it again later you don't recognize it as the Mona Lisa? Or maybe species of birds, or makes of cars, or something else? If you have a dog or cat, do you consistently recognize it, or sometimes not recognize it (apart from context in your house)?

I find it fascinating that a condition like this could apply only to human faces and nothing else, if that's the case.

Yes, I have some difficulty recognizing faces.

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Ya, I'm weird like that...

Yes, I am certainly rubbish at recognising faces and have had people comment on it. I usually recognise people by other features, like their hair, body type, glasses etc. If they look quite ordinary or a bit like someone else it confuses me though. I'm fine with friends and family, and people I see on a day-to-day basis. Not being able to recognise faces well makes things like starting a new job, university and family reunions all the more interesting I've found. So glad it's not just me who experiences this and that it's likely a part of the autism.

I have prosopagnosia, its totally separate to Autism, most prosos are otherwise NT.

Check out my recent post viewtopic.php?t=300828

There is a prosopagnosia research centre in the US with info if you're interested, and you can google for online screening tests.

Happy to answer Qs if you have any

I recognize people best by how they speak. Not just their voice but their tone and the things they say and the rhythm.
How they walk is also a good indicator, and their hair.

Just today I was in the waiting room for an appointment and some guy came in and patted me on the shoulder, asked me how I'm doing as he walked by but he didn't wait for an answer and went up to the receptionist. Then he sat across from me and looked confused and asked if I was okay, that's when I realized I was supposed to know him.
I still don't know who he was but we kind of talked for a few minutes.
Maybe he just thought I was someone else.