Autism

Last week, I recognized my friend in a magazine even though his face was entirely covered with the group’s iconic makeup.  He’s a member of the Blue Man Group.  I know now I don’t recognize people by their faces (which is pretty mind blowing 🤯😩).  I recognize people via their auras and some other form of hyper-connectivity (both of which are caused by synesthesia).  Here’s what auras looks like:  And here’s what all this means:  Maestro …  Up until a year ago, I had never heard of facial blindness, nor even knew this was “a thing.” It wasn’t until I saw an article regarding Brad Pitt that I wondered if I too have what they were describing.  I then googled “Autism and Facial Blindness” and found out that people on the spectrum are very often found as having difficulty recognizing people’s faces.  Just because it’s “very often found” didn’t mean I was going to immediately jump to that conclusion. I took it as another little tidbit that may or may not be helpful.  Later that week, I then talked to my laser scientist friend (who holds the patent for light based GPS that helped the Mars Rover land on Mars) and presented my findings.  “I might have facial blindness,” I admitted over a round at our favorite watering hole, “but I don’t think the word fits what it is (or at least in terms of how I experience it).”  My laser scientist friend has been there through all of the labels I now happily place on myself (autistic, synesthesia, dyslexic, hyperlexic, ADHD, and prosopagnosia aka facial blindness). He isn’t as “into” labels as I am, (because once you OWN THE PATENT for light based GPS does any other label REALLY matter?!) but is nevertheless a great sounding board.  “What does that mean?” he asked.  “Well, I know I don’t recognize people by their faces, I recognize them by their auras. I know I see faces, like they exist, but there’s a chip missing. Sometimes people’s faces, no matter how many times I meet them ‘just don’t click.’ It’s always been a thing, and sometimes very embarrassing. I developed the ‘its nice to see you again’ even if it feels like the first time I’ve met someone. “However, with the majority of people, I consider myself a hawk, and or someone with an eagle eye. BECAUSE I don’t recognize people by their faces, their face can be totally obstructed and I’ll still recognize them. There’s a lack that my brain somehow found a work around that gives me this (I don’t know how else to say it) “special skill” at recognizing people. “If I was born with (let’s just say) a weakened receptor it would make sense that because of synesthesia and it’s hyper-connectivity that it would just remap it in a way that feels like a super human strength. “It’s like how I now know I am dyslexic but because I have hyperlexia I overcompensate for the ‘letters and numbers jumping’