I though about getting a diagnosis of Prosopagnosia.

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I don't know what type of Prosopagnosia is called. I had profound issues with reading faces, but as I got older and with help of therapy, I no longer have problems with reading faces.

I have history of getting therapy for Autism and sensory issues.

I could not read and nor I could not recognize faces and only saw masks everywhere I went. This accrued from ages 0-8.

It looked like creepy masks from the Dark Web. That is how it felt like to my symptoms of Prosopagnosia before it got improved.


I wanted to get a diagnosis of Prosopagnosia, but my dad might think that it would be too much diagnosis and my Autism diagnosis is more than enough to explain why I had those issues.

I agree with your dad. You would not have any additional benefit by going through the diagnostic process for prosopagnosia. Besides, I don't know if it's actually a diagnosis, or instead is a symptom. I know it's not included as a diagnosis in the DSM-V (the USA's list of psychiatric diagnoses).

Thank you, I understood.



This could be the reason why DSM does not have Prosopagnosia listed.

DSM has six of communication disorders

Types of communication disorders:

*Language Disorder
*Speech Sound Disorder (previously Phonological Disorder)
*Childhood-Onset Fluency Disorder (Stuttering)
*Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder
*Unspecified Communication Disorder
*Autism Spectrum Disorder

I think that Prosopagnosia is in the spectrum of:

*Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder
*Unspecified Communication Disorder
*Autism Spectrum Disorder


I hope that I am correct.

I was given the Eyes Test during my ASD assessment, so I took a look at my report to see if a diagnosis of Prosopagnosia was given. This is what I found, below. The Eyes Test was part of "Social Cognition" and assessed along with Social Awareness, Social Communication, and Social Motivation in a test called "The Social Responsiveness Scale". I don't know if this will answer any of your questions but I thought I'd pass it along.

From my report:

"SOCIAL COGNITION
The Eyes Test revised can be used to detect subtle individual differences or impairments in social sensitivity that is often seen in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders. In the Eyes Test, Isabella was shown pictures of eyes and was asked to choose one word (out of 4 possible options) to best describe what the person is thinking or feeling. Isabella had considerable difficulty on this task, with her performance falling well below the mean score for females with an Autism Spectrum Disorder.

The Social Responsiveness Scale- Second Edition (SRS-2) was used to evaluate Isabella’s social responsiveness. This is a standardised questionnaire that measures severity of autism spectrum symptoms as they occur in natural social settings. Isabella was asked to fill out the questionnaire in order to obtain information about her behaviour.

Scores in the Severe range are strongly associated with a diagnosis of ASD and suggest severe and enduring interference with everyday social interactions.

Isabella's responses on the SRS-2 indicate concerns in the Severe range in the areas of Social Awareness, Social Cognition, Social Communication, Social Motivation, and with the presence of Restricted Repetitive Behaviour. "

I consider myself to have severe prosopagnosia, but I never knew there was an actual diagnosis for it... wait, is there?

I suck at discerning a person’s state of mind through eyes alone.

I don’t see the word Prosopagnosia itself in my report or my list of co-morbid conditions. It was definitely tested and discussed within my assessment though: in the Social Responsiveness - Social Cognition evaluation and in the testing of my nonverbal IQ which led to an ASD Level 2 identification. My nonverbal score was only 5%.

The Neuropsych and I definitely discussed Prosopagnosia or face blindness. I remember being shown faces and having to remember them later, which I failed. I told her I can’t recognise my brother’s two stepsons or even tell them apart, and I’ve known them many years. Regarding the Eyes Test she said I had the lowest score she had ever seen.

Overall what I’m saying is that Prosopagnosia was certainly evaluated in the sub-scores of my assessment even though the word itself isn’t there as a diagnosis. The report just says I’m in the Severe range with Social Cognition, I’m well below the mean score for autistic women, and that I have a 5% Nonverbal IQ.

I think this is useful information when seeking therapy. My OT has tried to help me with Prosopagnosia, based on what was written in my ASD report. It’s considered an important life and safety skill to read, remember, and judge people’s faces.

It’s more a symptom than a separate diagnosis.

I feel like I have it to a very mild degree.

Symptom of what? While it's more common for people on the spectrum, NTs can have it too. It can also suddenly happen to someone as an adult due to head injury.

It can be a symptom of autism. It can be a symptom of some other neurological disorder or brain lesion.

In my case I assumed it's because I don't even look at people's faces or eyes.

I have no practice with eye contact, so I never learned what to interpret.

Apparently it's much more complicated than that, though. I've had a brain injury / stroke, but the Prosopagnosia began years before it. I'd assume it's a processing disorder of some sort where we can't translate the visual input into meaningful information. But .. who knows why?

It’s a visual processing disorder—yes.

It’s neurological in nature. It’s not of “psychosomatic” origin.

I’ve never heard or read that it is diagnosed as a lone disorder. It is always accompanied by some other disorder.

I've also read that some people mistakenly think that they have prosopagnosia while the real reason they can't recognize people is simply because they look at people's faces so rarely. These are people that would learn to recognize people by simply looking at their faces more often. However, if you're an adult and have difficulty recognizing the family members you've lived with the most of your life, then you certainly have prosopagnosia.

^Excellent illustration.

If some NT have symptoms of Prosopagnosia, then they are not really NT per say, because Prosopagnosia is a neurological condition and it is considered to be a developmental disorder, but can be caused by brain injury as well. What you meant to say is that they don't have ASD, but not having ASD does not make you an NT per say.

There are so many mental health and developmental disorder listed in and outside of diagnostic manuals.

Hm? I thought that being non-NT is something one is born with. Does getting a head injury that ends up causing prosopagnosia make a NT non-NT? Genuinely asking 'cause I don't know.