"Face Recognition: A Self-assessment"

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Thanks for doing this, Shayne. If you could just give a little intro as
to your posting the thread for me 'cause I'm having some computer
troubles. It's going to be a poll thread.

My computer + Firefox + WP is apparently a problematic combination and I can't post polls without being given error messages and my browser shutting down, so Shayne posted this for me. Here's my original post (I'll repost since my email format made a mess of the original message):

I just wanna point out that you'll be helping me and yourselves by voting on this poll. It takes two seconds, there's been 50 views on this thread already, only 2 votes, and I'm one of them (and am assuming Shayne is the other).

Please, I'm gonna be sending these numbers to Dr. Minshew. She does LOADS of research, writings, and lectures on ASCs and she says in her lectures to doctors-- POTENTIAL DIAGNOSTICIANS-- that we all suck at face recognition. And there's BOUND to be some doctor out there who has an autie come through his door for diagnosis, finds out the person maybe have average or excellent facial recognition skills, and then refuses the diagnosis based on that. It's stupid, but it happens, just like "No autistics make eye contact".

So just please take the two seconds to click the poll. You don't even have to post.

Diagnosed prosopagnosia...It sucks...

I would vote but don't know the correct answer to the question, it is either poor or faceblind. I use location, size and hair style but doesn't everyone use these when recognising someone? I can't always distinguish similar looking people in same location but sometimes see someone in the street and they are familiar but can't remember the location so I am recognising them. It would be good if people wore labels - name, affiliation badges...

alex, since you have not mentioned anything about being able to recognize by face i would say that you should vote "Face-Blind" if you havent already voted.

i voted ave. but i think i was worse when i was a child.

i couldnt tell the difference between arsenio hall and eddie murphy also goldie haun and the city funiture lady there were plenty others

hmm i always get when im in groups of strangers that i think i see people that i know but its not them. like constant..

I voted "poor" because I have trouble remembering people's faces and often mix up even very familiar people who have the same build and general shape.

Thanks for taking the time so far, everyone.

Dr. Minshew wrote me back already and is interested in this. She'd like some additional basic information if you're willing to provide it. I'll be PMing everyone who's posted in this thread, probably some time tomorrow, but if you've done the poll but haven't posted within this thread (i.e., you're still anonymous), could you PM me or email me ([email protected]) and let me know if you're willing/wanting to flesh out some of this information?

She's just wanting to know some basic stuff, age, sex, etc.

Thanks!

This is a difficult one to answer, I think it depends on the circumstances, I may be able to remember certain faces very well given sufficient stimuli; however for somebody I might "see" everyday but holds little interest for me, I would probably struggle to describe their looks. My own personal take on this is that AS makes it significantly harder to read facial expressions, so you naturally become more anxious and less inclined to engage face to face with people, which in turn makes it harder to remember their faces.

I picked average because I do sometimes forget faces but in general I do pretty good.

I have only once completely forgotten what a person looked like, it felt very strange to know his name and things he would say but have no face come to me whatsoever. I'm only twenty, though.

DESCRIBING what someone looks like is very difficult. I basically just have a general picture in my head of the face, so I can say things like hair color, race, abnormal features, but I can't tell you how their nose is shaped, if that makes any sense.

I picked average.

I think I am average, though there have been times when I have found myself embarrassed because I failed to recognize someone I should have. Sometimes I will see someone, recognize them, but not be quite sure, so I'll get into this internal debate with myself as to whether or not I should say anything. Meanwhile, I've been blankly staring at this person as I am trying to make up my damn mind, and by the time I have, they're already staring back at me wondering why I haven't said hi.

I usually wait for the other person to say something before I do, anyway.

The results are interesting so far.

19% of respondents deem they have excellent face recognition skills.

26% deem they have average face recognition skills.

42% deem they have poor face recognition skills.

13% deem that they are face blind.

If anyone else is interested in participating, especially anybody with language delay or dxed HFA/PDD-NOS (not Aspergers) please post here (I'll continue checking) or PM me.

Aspies are still definitely welcome and wanted to participate. But I'm hoping for a bit broader representation of both Aspies and HFAs/PDD-NOS. In other words, I'm still pleading for people with AS to respond, but also hope more HFAs/PDD-NOSs will as well.