Face Blindness (Prosopagnosia)

Many autistic people have difficulty recognizing faces—even of people they know well.

"I've worked with the same people for years and still can't pick them out in a crowd. I use their desk location to know who they are." — Autistic adult

What It Looks Like

• Not recognizing coworkers outside their usual context
• Relying on hairstyles, voice, or gait instead of faces
• Difficulty following movies (can't tell characters apart)
• Walking past friends without recognizing them

Recognition Strategies

Since faces don't "stick," people develop alternatives:

Context-based: Desk location, usual seat, car they drive, who they're with.

Feature-based: Distinctive hairstyles, glasses, voice, walking gait, height.

The problem: People change their hair, get new glasses, wear different clothes. Someone familiar becomes unrecognizable.

Movies and TV

"I can't follow ensemble cast shows. Everyone just looks like... people." — Autistic adult

What helps: Subtitles with character names, looking up cast photos beforehand, asking "who is that again?"

Social Impact

Appearing rude: You're not ignoring people—you literally didn't recognize them.

Overcompensating: Some greet everyone warmly, even strangers, to avoid missing someone they should know.

What Helps

• Give yourself permission to ask "remind me where we met?"
• Take photos of new people with context notes
• "I have face blindness—please say your name when we meet"

Face blindness isn't about not caring. You can care deeply about people and still struggle to recognize them.

Next chapter: ADHD Connection — the autism and ADHD overlap.