Recognising classmates

[star]

Would AS make it more difficult to remember names and new classmates in reception? Did you find this at the start of school and how long did it take for them to piece together who everyone was and faces etc.

 

Thanks.

[Tally]

Yes, a lot of people have difficulty recognising faces (prosopagnosia) and remembering names.

[jlp]

My son often failed to recognise his classmates - he changed schools at the beginning of Y1 and still doesn't know the name of everyone else in his class (he's now in Y3)

 

My little one now surprises me as he'll see children from nursery and say 'there's a/b/c' and it seems really strange that he can recognise individual children so young - we're just not used to it, even though I'm sure it's what happens with most people

[Flora]

Yes! At the end of junior school my son couldn't remember or recognise more than 4 members of his whole class. The four children he could name and recognise were children who had impressed themselves upon him in some way; one boy had been a friend who he had spent time with at break times, one of them had bright red hair, and the other two had bullied him. The rest of the class he neither recognised nor knew their names. He's nearly 14 now and he is still the same.

 

Flora

[Bard]

B can remember faces, even a brief glimpse of a profile on a moving train. What he finds very difficult is remembering names. he still can't remember the names of some of his new teachers this year.

He's the same with any new nouns though.

[sesley]

my son is quite good at remembering names, he had trouble getting his tongue around surnames with Mc's in them,but with some practice he is much better, if he doesn't know their names he says "hello little girl or hello little boy he's also a bit close when he greets them he needs to stand back abit to give them space and not wave or talk in their faces but these are social ettiquette he needs to understand and learn.

[oxgirl]

My lad never knew the names of more than a handful of children in his class, still doesn't. The ones he did identify were usually the ones who had scared him in some way. I think this is because he doesn't actually look up at peoples' faces much.

 

I remember meeting a teacher in town once and chatting to her when Jay was quite young. He didn't once look up at her but, as we walked away, I asked him if he knew who it was. He said, yes, it was Mrs. so-and-so. When I asked him how he had known who it was, he said he's recognised her voice, which I found quite interesting.

 

I think he tends to see the other children as generally a sea of kids, all the same to a large extent, and doesn't look closely at them. Once, he told me that he had been standing at a table with a child playing Beyblades. I asked if he knew who it was and he said no, but that 'IT wore trousers'!! I've never forgotten that! I think it was a girl who was wearing trousers, but all he saw were her legs as he hadn't looked up at her face!

 

~ Mel ~

[taggingalong]

my ds is the same. he is 8 years old but has been with the same children from he was 3 years old. his teachers have told me that sometimes he forgets the names of some in his class. so much to learn here.

[Kathryn]

Yes, this was a major problem for L right through school, and being stressed most of the time made the problem worse, I think.

 

The teachers tried to help by getting her to give out the books at the beginning of lessons so that she could associate names with faces. She really struggled with this. They meant well but this was the worst thing they could have done, as it humiliated her by drawing attention to the problem in front of the whole class, and just gave them another reason to mock her.

 

She did eventually manage to talk about people in her class by name, but she would never have recognised them in the street, apart from a few very familiar people.

 

K x

[Confusedmum]

Im Really suprised by this my DD (5) remember most of the childrens names in the entire school and i actually believe that this was part of her AS (having a really good memory). Not that i thought that all people with AS have a good memory i just thought it was quite common.

[Ian Jordan]

facial recognition problems can be treated - please do it ASAP! There is plenty on this site about prosopagnosia - and how it can be treated

 

IT IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS YOU CAN DO TO HELP YOUR CHILD - please treat as very urgent!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

WE now know what children see and it can be very unpleasant - treatment is simple

[dooday24]

reece has real trouble remembering the names of the children in his class

lv donnaxx