Is this face blindness?

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If I'm not exposed enough i cannot remember someone's face. And my mind switches the image with someone else's face. For example: I had an english teacher who wore her hair like Debra from dexter and even tho i've been to her classes for a long time when i try to remember her all i can see is Debra
Another example: We called the police and the officer that came to our house had hair like alec baldwin. We spent an hour together and a second after he was gone i couldn't remember his face when i tried to remember all i could see was alec baldwin in police uniform.
i thought two actors were the same person for quite a long time because they had same hair styles.
I'm not always bad at remembering faces. But my mind creates its own image of a person instead of remembering them if i've haven't seen them enough. So I'm not even sure if I remember people from my past correctly or not.

That sounds like me, and I also have trouble recognizing faces as well. Luckily, I am only around a few people (family and friends) most of the time, so I am not completely impaired by my inability to recognize faces, but whenever I am at a violin concert, everybody with the same color hair looks exactly the same to me and I have to study their clothes to be able to recognize somebody. I can also relate to the part you said about thinking two actors re the same person-I do that a lot .

I have similar problems. It doesn't help that I have aphantasia too (no mental imagery).

Do you play a musical instrument, Stampy?

I would NEVER go to a classical concert when I was 13.

I was given a choice between going to a music concert and going to the Baseball Hall of Fame when I was 9. Guess what I chose?

As for face blindness, I tend not to recognize uniformed people when they are out of uniform. With me, I have "name blindness." My ex-fiancée's name was Pamela. On our first date, while we were making out, I called her Joanne.

Hi again kraftie!

Yes, I have played the violin for roughly 6 years now. I'm going to guess you didn't choose the classical concert .

My dad has the "name-blindness" thing as well. He never remembers anybody's name unless they are in our family.

Do you like any particular composer? One of my favorites is Igor Stravinsky. Another is Vivaldi.

Do you want to go to a school like Julliard some day?

Yep....I choose the Baseball Hall of Fame!

I like classical music now.

You must practice at least 3 or so hours a day.

I do like Vivaldi- I actually did a report on him last year.

I'm not quite sure what I want to go to school for yet. I really feel like I should go into the medical field (specializing in disorders like autism ), but I've been told that because of my severe OCD, I probably shouldn't study anything mental health related, but I really think if I could get a job related to a special interest, I would have a lot more motivation and dedication.

During the school year I practice 2-4 hours a day, but during the summer- nothing. It's not as interesting to me as reading The Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome over and over again .

Yep. Tony Attwood is pretty good

You should read a work called "Neurotribes." I don't remember the full title. It gives a history of how autism was viewed at various times in history.

One thing to keep in mind: until 1994, autism was basically just one disorder: Kanner/classical autism. The concept of the Autistic Spectrum as propagated to a mass audience started with the DSM IV, which was bought out in 1994.

I was diagnosed with autism when I was 3. However, when I started speaking, it was thought that I "overcame" it somehow. My new diagnosis was "brain-injury." I went to a nursery school for "brain-injured" children.

In the 1970s, many kids who would now be diagnosed with HFA/Asperger's would have been diagnosed with "minimal brain dysfunction," or they would have merely been "eggheads" or something like that. I didn't hear the words "nerd" or "geek" when I was growing up.

I seem to have a selective face blindness for men with completely shaved or bald heads. I seriously can't tell them apart, especially if I only glance at them briefly and not long enough to actually take in their features. I have a nasty neighbor who has a shaved head, and when I'm walking along the street locally and see any other shaved-headed man, at first I always think it's the neighbor. I struggle to see any differences in their faces and I'm never fully sure there are any and it isn't someone else.

If a person shaved his/her head, I wouldn't recognize him/her.

I think I've heard of that book before. I'll check it out

Wow, I can't believe they referred to you as "brain-injured" when you started to speak. That's horrible. Didn't Einstein have a speech delay as well?

I often wonder what may have happened if I hadn't found what autism was online. At least I have answers now .

It does seem to be a look that can over-unify people's appearance, yes, like uniforms.

It seems like I need at least some hair on person's head to "place" them and distinguish them from another person with little or no hair -- it's almost like I can't put the whole picture together without a distinguishing feature. Or maybe I just look at hair the most! It really does feel like a selective blind spot in recognizing people.

It is said that Einstein didn't speak until he was 4.

Woodrow Wilson, not on the Spectrum, did not learn to read until he was 9. He went on to become President of The College of New Jersey (now Princeton), and President of the United States. He also earned a Doctorate.

I recognize voices much more than I recognize faces, even though my hearing sucks somewhat.

It seems like the kids that people expect the least from end up doing the most for society

It does happen that way at least sometimes.

It's because people who are ignored, and who are thought to have no potential, have something to prove.

I should have mentioned one problem with Wilson: He was a product of his times. He had racist views. He lived from 1856 to 1924.

True, people who are ignored will often have something to prove.

I didn't know that about Woodrow Wilson; that's quite interesting.