Understanding Facial Recognition Difficulties in Children by Nancy Mindick

Author:Nancy Mindick
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers

At social gatherings

There are many ways in which to support your child during social gatherings at your home. When hosting a gathering, talk about who will be coming prior to their arrival. In addition, whether hosting or attending an event, realize that, if everyone is wearing similar clothes (e.g. if all of the men are wearing similar suits), your prosopagnosic child may not recognize people—even if they are relatives whom he dearly loves. It is nothing personal.

Use people’s names as often as possible: “Hi, Aunt Linda” or “Oh, Uncle Bob, thank you for bringing these delicious brownies,” instead of a simple, “Hi, how are you?”, “Nice to see you!” or “Glad you made it!” If at all possible—and sufficiently appropriate, and the child knows how to read—include name tags at large reunion events. (This is helpful for prosopagnosics of any age for those events at which there will be many “unfamiliar” friends.) Understandably, this will be socially awkward for most situations, however.

You might help your child to understand how to “fish” for information about the person to whom he is talking, by explaining the kinds of socially appropriate questions to ask that will elicit identity information. For example, one may make small talk by asking such questions as “Great party, huh?” “The cake is great! Who made it?” or “Isn’t this wonderful music?” In addition, tag questions (statements that end with a question) can be helpful: “It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?” Simple comments, such as “Did you have a good flight?” can be inappropriate if the addressee to the comment lives in the same town. Keeping the questions extremely general when identity is uncertain (and disclosure has not occurred) is a useful skill to learn.

A photograph of Uncle Steve taken in December may not help some prosopagnosic children wishing to recognize Uncle Steve at a later date. Experiment to determine what works for your child. If he benefits from seeing gestures, for example, you might want to consider showing a brief video before a family gathering.

Nowadays, you can use digital cameras to take a few photos. Then you may opt to discreetly bring the child into a private area of the house and point out some of the people whom he will see: “Here’s Aunt Bella, there’s Uncle Bob. Uncle Bob is wearing a blue suit and yellow shirt today.” The pictures will show the individuals in the clothes that they will be wearing on the actual day of the party. This may be helpful. Be careful, however, if you do this just before the party starts—do not miss it because you are sitting in a side room for too long. Also realize that photos only help some prosopagnosics. In addition, a party should be just that—a party, a fun social event—and not a stressful “who’s who” two-hour exam. Some prosopagnosics are perfectly happy at parties.

Understand that the prosopagnosic child may in some circumstances recognize many people, and it is possible that the recognition may be occurring via clues other than the face.

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