Mannify

Sorry, Lancslad, I probably shouldn't, but I do find it kinda cool that your prosopagnosia even extends to picking out your own son.

perturb

Nah, even in an ancient 17 year old marriage like ours, I still ask him

rend

A size 8 sounds ok, then, proportionately. But maybe family are the best to ask, they can see whether being that slim is right for you, and how well you look on it

It depends on your height and build. My sister's 6ft, and has a large-ish bone structure, and she'd be ill if she were a size 8. Honestly, I think how well you look and feel is more important. If you look and, most importantly, feel well as a size 8, then great. How well you are is the important factor.

Hmmm, interesting. I got 11, my index and ring fingers are the same on my left hand, but my index finger is just slightly longer on my right hand.

I agree, Sally, that being as open as possible helps. I try that where possible, although I don't always get it right. Our neighbour who lives opposite didn't mind once I'd explained, although to some extent that's down to the type of guy he is.

wear

No comment.

Hmmm, wasn't the best night. It's all about play-offs - if the guest has a particularly bad back he doesn't sleep but I do; so I should be glad, I guess, that last night his back wasn't so bad. Yeah, that's making me feel loads better. Grumpy cow, ain't I?

When I married my husband I could ask him at any time of the day what time it was and he'd know. Even he wasn't sure how he did it, but he was spookily accurate time and time again to within 5 or 10 minutes, with no measured external indication. He can't do it any more, though. Downer, huh?

People have often told me to "Cheer up, it might never happen" (do they never consider the possibility that 'it' might already have done so? I bet someone somewhere has said that to someone who has just suffered some terrible loss), but I think it's because when I walk around I'm 'in my own little world' and deep in thought and that makes me look serious. However, there are times when I'm feeling particularly mirthful when I walk around with a manic grin which probably looks ridiculous.

Thanks, Raydon, very interesting article

Yeah, and do you find yourself staring at someone when they're looking in another direction in order to determine whether they are someone you know, and then realise you don't, by which time they've looked around and are wondering what in hell you're staring at? And like you Raydon, I have just ignored people I think I might know, coz I'm just not sure enough.

Reckon there's a break. Is it even worth trying to sleep for the next 50 minutes before I have to get up?

What I really hate is when you think it's stopped. You even wait for a while to be sure, and you gain in confidence, and then a single snore crashes in, and you just know more will follow it. It's crushing.

Even the NIN ain't touching it right now. grrrr.

Mind you, I have been asleep for a bit between. Getting off again's the trick.

Or 4 o'clock, whatever. All the same innit?

Gonna be a long night.

Face blindness is such a pain. I can easily walk past someone, with no recognition, in the afternoon to whom I've spoken in the morning! My daughter started school in September, so that's a whole class of parents to potentially get to know, but I'm gradually alienating them as I do just that - talk to them and then fail to recognise them within short spaces of time. I just walk past them with no recognition, and must quite reasonably appear distant and unfriendly. I don't blame them at all for thinking I'm unpleasant. Like Lyndalou, context is another issue. I saw a mum week in, week out at a play group thing for a year, then I saw her out of context and didn't recognise her at all until some time later after having trawled my brain. She was obviously not impressed. There is a family who live exactly opposite us who are really lovely. We don't live in each other's pockets, but there's an understanding between us, because they have similar issues to us. So, these are people in whom we have some degree of emotional investment. Nonetheless, I went to a support group and the husband was there and I simply couldn't place him. Mercifully, he was lovely enough to be unoffended when I was just very honest about not recognising him out of context. I have, however, had people stop speaking to me because I haven't recognised them. There is another gentleman on our estate who had three different dogs in quick succession (one had parvo virus - despite vaccinations, one had a congenital issue, and the third survives). Because the dogs were different I kept failing to recognise him. I did eventually learn to recognise him, at which point I over-compensated, and I worry that he thought I was flirting! People whom I know well and recognise immediately still present the issue of me not noticing changes such as loss and gain of weight (unless it's profound), and hairstyle (again, unless it's drastic), and I rarely notice and remember what people are wearing (unless it's highly noticeable). I don't think it's a memory thing, per se, because that wouldn't account for the morning/afternoon thing, and I don't think it's a visual thing as such, because I'm a visual learner. I don't know what it is exactly. If there was a situation which would allow for pre-prep, such as maybe a wedding, then I definitely think photos would help.

I found the wikipedia page really informative, Smiley, and it also mentioned the link between AS and auditory perception deficit. I honestly don't think I have APD as a singular and overriding condition; rather, it is a feature of my communication - not a profound one, but an annoying one .

Sorry Sally, I didn't answer your question. No, I'm not dyslexic.

Thanks for your replies, all! Yes, I'll look into APD. Yes, it's better once in conversation, having tuned in properly, althoguh I'm still pretty useless at mental maths and quizzes, even having tuned in. I simply have to have something visual to work things out, although, I think that's a slightly different issue. Oral directions are lost on me almost entirely. So I guess there are two issues - auditory processing and the ability to retain and act on oral instruction. Both are not great for me.