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Eureka13
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03 Mar 2014, 11:24 pm

Is it just because I'm getting old, or does anyone else have the problem of seeing people you know reasonably well and suddenly drawing a total blank on their name? This has happened to me all my life, but it does seem to be getting worse with age. A corollary to this phenomenon is, for example, greeting them by name and then having the "OMG, did I just say the wrong name?" feeling.



newageretrohippie
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03 Mar 2014, 11:33 pm

It takes me a while to get people's names matching their faces....I just chalk it up the the Asperger's, as I can't control what sticks in my memory....unless they make a real impression. I have 4 best friends and I was able to remember their names because of certain things: one made a fool of himself in health class back in 7th grade, one has many of the same interests as me, one is a fellow Transformers & Power Rangers fan and the 4th...I fell in love with the moment I met her ( plus she's into anime & video games ). Most others, including some of my other friends, took a while for me to remember names. Kind of make me worried that should I ever happen to find a woman willing to give me a fair chance forgetting her name might guarantee I don't get a 2nd date....


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pinkgurl87
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03 Mar 2014, 11:59 pm

that happens to me a lot, though some reason I am good with kids names, though if the kids look similar at all I've been known to mix there names up. Worked in a day care and I would always mix these two boys names up.


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sapere_aude
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04 Mar 2014, 2:39 am

I've had the same problem since I was around 12 (as far as I recall, anyway).
Remembering other kids' names at school wasn't too bad, but how much of that was helped by the teacher calling out everyone's name at the start of every class I can't say. Last Christmas I bumped into a couple of guys I haven't seen since I left high school 14 years ago and still remembered them both, but usually when I meet someone their name just doesn't register when they tell me.
I find it easier to read a person's name and remember what they look like, and reading their name on a semi-regular basis seems to make it easier to put the name and face together when I meet them in person again. I always ask for people's surnames when they give me their number as that seems to make it easier to remember, possibly because it's more unique, and every now and then I'll scroll through the names in my phone or my Facebook friends to familiarise myself with them.
If I remember to, I can concentrate on a person's name when I meet them to try and remember it better, but with everything else I'm trying to remember to do when I meet someone new this doesn't happen often.
I used to apologise in advance to people that I have a terrible memory for names and that they shouldn't take it personally (which has happened before and made me paranoid about doing it again, but it isn't a big deal to most reasonable people) until a friend pointed out that it's quite a negative first impression to leave. These days I just say "Oh, you're...errrrrrrrrrrm..." and they'll remind me while I'm struggling to remember.



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04 Mar 2014, 2:42 am

Oh hi there, uh... um... uhh... uhh... oh yeah, hi mom!



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04 Mar 2014, 2:56 am

I'm terrible with names too. I'm a plumber and electrician and whenever I see a customer out and about, I can never remember their name, but I can remember every little detail about the work I did on their house.



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04 Mar 2014, 9:42 am

I'm usually very good with names, but the last couple years I've been getting bad. I will recognize them but the name won't come to me. I think as you age, you've now met thousands of people and it all just becomes a big jumbled mess of names in your brain and you'll only clearly remember the ones that mean something to you.



IKnowWhoIAmNow
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04 Mar 2014, 10:37 am

I often find this, especially if it's somebody I don't know well. However, the worst one is when you see somebody out of context; that is, in a place that you would not normally see them; for some reason, if you are used to seeing a person in one place and see them elsewhere, it can happen that you just don't register their presence and just walk right by :oops:


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Eureka13
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04 Mar 2014, 1:01 pm

IKnowWhoIAmNow wrote:
I often find this, especially if it's somebody I don't know well. However, the worst one is when you see somebody out of context; that is, in a place that you would not normally see them; for some reason, if you are used to seeing a person in one place and see them elsewhere, it can happen that you just don't register their presence and just walk right by :oops:


Yes, that happens to me, too!

Thank you all for responding - I'm glad to know it's not strictly aging. I don't need to deal with Alzheimer's along with Asperger's. :lol:



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04 Mar 2014, 2:02 pm

Eureka13 wrote:
IKnowWhoIAmNow wrote:
I often find this, especially if it's somebody I don't know well. However, the worst one is when you see somebody out of context; that is, in a place that you would not normally see them; for some reason, if you are used to seeing a person in one place and see them elsewhere, it can happen that you just don't register their presence and just walk right by :oops:


Yes, that happens to me, too!

Thank you all for responding - I'm glad to know it's not strictly aging. I don't need to deal with Alzheimer's along with Asperger's. :lol:


I have had this problem my entire adult life. If I know someone from church, and see them at the grocery, I cannot think of their name. Nowadays I'm just glad to see them, and I talk with them until I get a clue. If I don't get a clue I act embarrassed that I can't remember their name.


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04 Mar 2014, 2:54 pm

Don't feel bad, I don't remember names either. In fact, I'm somehow able to remember the image of the person for weeks rather than its specific name. Even odder is that I can remember details that to most people are unable to notice until they've been there several times in advance instead of everything else. Just another facet to the enigma that is my mind.



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04 Mar 2014, 6:02 pm

I've had a hard time remembering names, my entire life. I don't have any trouble remembering faces, just names.


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GivePeaceAChance
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04 Mar 2014, 6:15 pm

I have always had trouble with names and it seems to be getting worse with age

plus once I get a name down, take the person to a different situation and there are still problems


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04 Mar 2014, 7:28 pm

So have I.
I have been warned: "Forgetting names is the first sign of Alzheimers disease".
No it isn´t. Then I would have had "early signs" for about 48 years.
I don´t seem to remember names well, but I am pretty good at faces.


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capri0112
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04 Mar 2014, 10:03 pm

I envy those who can easily and consistently remember names.

I dread that helpless and embarrassing feeling when I blank on someone's name I feel I SHOULD remember, like a neighbor or a student.

The worst is when they remember MY name and I can't return the favor right away, or at all.

Anyway, I bet many of you already know that the clinical name for face blindness is propopagnosia, and it's common--to some degree--in autism.


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Last edited by capri0112 on 04 Mar 2014, 10:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.

jrjones9933
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04 Mar 2014, 10:15 pm

If I don't see someone for a few years, even a friend, I might forget his or her name. I may have gotten worse lately, but I could also attribute it to changing circumstances.

I usually have a terrible time learning names in the first place. Sometimes I get on a roll, but for most of my life they've gone in one ear and out the other.

If I see someone I like in a different context than usual, I might not recognize them at all.