Prosopagnosia (Face Blindness): What It Is and How It Relates to AutismIN BRIEF
Prosopagnosia is a significant difficulty recognizing people’s faces. Vision works normally. The person sees features like the eyes, nose, and mouth. Yet they struggle to know who that face belongs to. They may run into coworkers or classmates, friends, family members, or even someone very close to them without recognizing them, especially if that person is outside their usual context.
It affects about 2 in 100 people, but among autistic people, about 15 to 30% may have major difficulty recognizing faces. Some autistic people are even very good at recognizing faces.
Because the autistic brain perceives the world differently, this could explain the difference. For example, autistic people often find it more comfortable to look at details first. So seeing the face as a whole is possible, but it takes longer to build and is also less clear. Two people who wear the same glasses or have the same hairstyle can be hard to tell apart.
Not recognizing someone can lead to a lot of misunderstandings. People may think the person is rude or indifferent. This can cause embarrassment and anxiety. Several things help, like relying on voice or context, taking notes, and asking people to say their name when they arrive. Talking about it with the people around you can make life much easier.
What Is Prosopagnosia?
For most people, recognizing a face seems simple and automatic. A quick glance is enough to know whether it’s a loved one, a doctor, or the cashier at the grocery store. For some people, this process doesn’t work well. The person can see the face clearly, but the identity that goes with it isn’t clear, or can only be guessed with a lot of effort. This is what’s known as prosopagnosia, often called face blindness.
Researchers distinguish between two main types of prosopagnosia[5].
The panic I feel when my children are surrounded by other kids (at an indoor playground or a park, for example). I always have to memorize what they’re wearing so I can find mine.
Emmanuelle, 42, autistic
Acquired Prosopagnosia
It appears after brain damage, for example following a head injury, a stroke, encephalitis, a tumor, or a degenerative disease[5]. The person used to recognize faces, then loses this ability. This form is fairly rare.
Developmental Prosopagnosia
It is present from birth, with no brain damage. The person never develops face recognition skills as strong as most people’s. Their vision and memory are typical[5]. It may affect up to 2.5% of the population, but this figure varies depending on the criteria researchers use[5].
In autistic people, it is the developmental form that is present. That’s why this article covers only this type. Because it has always been there, many people don’t know they are living with prosopagnosia. They think they are just very bad at identifying people, or simply absent-minded.
Going furtherSubtypes of Prosopagnosia
For the acquired form, researchers have long described two variants[5].
Apperceptive variant
From the perception stage on, the person has trouble seeing the differences between two faces.
Associative, or amnestic, variant
Perception is intact, but the person can’t connect the face to their memory of that person. These two variants often overlap a little in the same person.
The same subtypes may apply to the developmental form, but the question is still unresolved[3].
The Stages of Face Recognition
One team broke face recognition down into three stages.
One: perception (finely picking up similarities and differences).
Two: matching (deciding whether two faces belong to the same person).
Three: memory (holding a face in mind, then retrieving it).
In autistic adults, face perception and face memory appear to be affected, while matching seems to work normally[23].
Analogy: the “photo” the eye takes might be a bit blurry, but the decision based on that photo would be made normally.
Interesting fact
Developmental prosopagnosia rarely comes alone. It is fairly often accompanied by other differences, such as difficulty finding one’s way around or telling apart objects that look very much alike[17]. Some people easily get lost in a neighborhood they know well, or have trouble finding their car among others of the same model.
The Link Between Prosopagnosia and Autism
On average, autistic people score lower than non-autistic people on face identification tests.
About 80% of autistic people fall below the non-autistic average. This gap is present regardless of age, sex, IQ, or type of test[11].
However, this is an average. It doesn’t mean every autistic person has difficulty. In fact, recent studies show a great deal of variety. In a 2024 study of 77 autistic adults, some people scored almost perfectly, while others met the criteria for developmental prosopagnosia[9]. These differences had almost no connection to nonverbal intelligence, the intensity of autistic traits, alexithymia, or ADHD[9].
How Many Autistic People Are Prosopagnosic?
The numbers vary from study to study.
A 2020 study found prosopagnosia in more than a third of 80 autistic adults, compared with an estimated 2 to 3% in the general population[18].
In 2024, a British team estimated that perhaps 15 to 30% of autistic people have severe face recognition difficulties, very similar to developmental prosopagnosia[8].
The 15 to 30% range is the more cautious estimate. The “more than a third” figure comes from a single study of 80 people. Either way, prosopagnosia is much more common in autistic people than in the rest of the population.
Going furtherWhy the Results Differ
Each study uses its own tests and its own group of people, so the numbers vary. In 2021, a team at Penn State University combined 112 studies with a total of 5,390 participants[11]. This meta-analysis is where the 80% figure mentioned above comes from. A meta-analysis brings together the results of several studies to see what they show as a whole. A meta-analysis is generally more reliable than a single study, because it draws on many more people and researchers.
Note
A figure circulates on some popular websites: about 40% of autistic people are said to be prosopagnosic. The available data point instead to 15 to 30%, perhaps slightly more than a third depending on the criteria used.
For a long time, researchers excluded autistic people from their prosopagnosia studies. They believed their prosopagnosia was a different type. A 2023 study showed that the difficulties with faces were the same, whether people had few or many autistic traits[7]. Because they were left out for so long, prosopagnosic autistic people are still understudied.
My husband had just been to the barber. I step outside and see a man starting to run toward me. I freak out, I back away, I freeze, until he’s about a meter away and I hear my husband’s voice calling my name, coming out of the mouth of the “aggressive stranger.” Phew, that scared me!
Maude
Why Does This Happen?
Weak Central Coherence
One early model, weak central coherence, was the most popular for a long time. Originally, it held that autistic people had trouble bringing details together to see the whole. In 2006, its authors revised it. They now speak instead of a preference for details[13]. As a result, this model and the enhanced perceptual functioning model are a little more alike today.
Enhanced Perceptual Functioning
Among the explanations proposed, one is especially interesting because it takes the strengths of autistic perception into account. This is the enhanced perceptual functioning model. It was developed in Montreal by Laurent Mottron and his team[19].
According to this model, perception plays a bigger role in how autistic people think. The autistic brain is thought to be especially skilled at basic perceptual tasks, like spotting a small detail, recognizing a pattern, or seeing the difference between two nearly identical things[19]. That’s why autistic people often notice details that others don’t see.
According to Mottron’s model, autistic people are fully capable of seeing the whole picture. Their brain simply goes to the details first. For non-autistic people, it’s the opposite: the overall picture takes shape on its own, without their having to think about it. For autistic people, it’s available when it’s useful, but it isn’t automatic[19]. So an autistic person can see a face as a whole just fine. Sometimes it simply takes them a little more time.
Interesting fact
Both models were updated the same year, 2006, in the same issue of the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders[13][19]. Readers could therefore compare the two perspectives side by side.
What the Research Shows
Not all studies point in the same direction. Let’s look at some other perspectives.
Perception in General
When many studies are pooled together, autistic people see details as well as others do, and the whole as well. The only difference is time: they take a little longer to see the whole. For example, looking at a photo of a forest, a non-autistic person immediately sees “a forest.” An autistic person might first notice a tree, a leaf, or a color, then see the forest a moment later.
This finding is consistent with enhanced perceptual functioning: autistic people do see the whole. However, the studies don’t show that they see details better than others do.
The studies: a 2015 meta-analysis of 56 studies and about 1,000 autistic people. It looked at visual perception in general, not at faces[25].
Faces
Studies on faces point the same way. Autistic people do see a face as a whole, but a little less strongly than others. They may also be a little slower and a little less accurate at recognizing it.
The studies: a 2023 meta-analysis of 38 studies[12]; a 2024 study of 24 autistic adults and 24 non-autistic adults[14].
What This Means for Recognizing People
To recognize a face quickly, the brain mainly looks at it as a whole. When a person pays more attention to details, recognition becomes slower and more complex. A single detail that changes, like a new haircut or different glasses, can then be enough to throw everything off.
When Details Come First
When information has to be processed quickly, a brain that starts by reading the details doesn’t always have time to see the whole. It can also mix up two memories that share similar details[16].
We often cross paths with people for just a few seconds. If details come first, they are what the brain uses to recognize the person. Two people with the same glasses, the same haircut, or the same beard can then be mixed up.
This link with faces is still a hypothesis, since the research was done with drawings.
I have a really hard time following a movie when the actors have almost the same look and the same hairstyle.
Geneviève, autistic
Not to Be Confused
Not Recognizing Someone vs. Not Caring
Not greeting someone you know, or greeting them like a stranger, can be misinterpreted. In a 2025 British study, a widespread worry among prosopagnosic people was being seen as rude, uncaring, or even “a bit dim” by people who didn’t know about the condition[17].
For autistic people, this misunderstanding can add to a prejudice that is already very common: the idea that they lack interest in others. A prosopagnosic autistic person could therefore face two misunderstandings that reinforce each other. This idea hasn’t been studied directly yet, but it is a reminder of something simple: a person can care deeply about someone and still not recognize them on the street.
Recognizing a Person vs. Recognizing an Emotion
Recognizing who someone is and recognizing what they feel are two different abilities. A person can have difficulty with one without having difficulty with the other.
When it comes to emotions, recent studies point mainly to alexithymia, a difficulty identifying and describing emotions, both one’s own and other people’s. A 2023 study found no difficulty recognizing facial expressions attributable to autism itself among autistic participants with low levels of alexithymia[10]. In prosopagnosic people, another study found that recognizing expressions was linked to autistic traits, while recognizing identity was not[4]. Both difficulties can therefore exist in the same person, but they have different origins.
Important
Prosopagnosia and autism can co-occur, but one doesn’t automatically explain the other. Difficulty recognizing faces is not enough to conclude that someone is autistic. Conversely, in an autistic person, prosopagnosia deserves to be recognized for what it is, rather than being confused with their other autistic traits.
How Can You Tell If You’re Prosopagnosic?
There is no official diagnosis of prosopagnosia. It isn’t in the DSM-5, the main diagnostic manual for mental health. It doesn’t show up on a brain scan either. To find out whether it applies, face tests are used, and the person’s own experience is taken into account[5].
Two Commonly Used Tools
The Cambridge Face Memory Test (CFMT)
A computer-based test. The person learns a few faces, then has to pick them out from among others[9].
The PI20 Questionnaire
It asks 20 questions about everyday life. For example: is it hard to recognize someone who has changed their hairstyle? A score of 65 or higher, out of 100, suggests difficulty recognizing faces[9]. The PI20 was first developed in English[22], and a French version is now also available[20].
In Quebec, there is no clear path in the public health system to get assessed for prosopagnosia. The most likely option is to see a neuropsychologist, often in private practice. It’s best to check first that the neuropsychologist is familiar with developmental prosopagnosia, because many professionals know little about it[1].
Preparing for an Assessment
A situation log: for a few weeks, write down the times when you didn’t recognize someone you know (where, when, who, and what clues helped). These notes are very useful during an assessment.
Note
Several face recognition tests are available free online. They can give you a first idea, but they don’t replace an assessment. A low score can have other causes, such as fatigue, anxiety, a screen that’s too small, or having taken the test before. Conversely, a normal score doesn’t rule out a real difficulty in everyday life.
How It Affects Life and Relationships
Not recognizing faces can be especially uncomfortable. Prosopagnosic adults often talk about embarrassment, guilt, and a sense of failure[26]. Some end up fearing social situations and avoiding them. In the most difficult cases, this can lead to lasting anxiety, isolation, fewer job opportunities, and a loss of self-confidence[26].
One fear comes up again and again: coming across as rude, uncaring, or even “a bit dim” to people who don’t know about prosopagnosia. This fear often leads to social anxiety and lower self-confidence[17].
For an autistic person, these difficulties don’t come alone. Social relationships may already take a lot of energy, and misunderstandings may already be frequent. Not recognizing someone makes interactions even more complicated. If someone believes you aren’t very interested in them, not recognizing them can seem to confirm it. The two misunderstandings reinforce each other: it’s a double effect.
Early research on the topic points in this direction[8].
- Autistic people who have difficulty recognizing faces experience more social anxiety than other autistic people.
- More than half feel their difficulty harms their relationships, and more than a third think it has held them back from making friends.
The double effect hasn’t been studied directly yet, but it helps explain why some social situations are so exhausting.
Exhaustion and Masking
When you can’t rely on faces, recognizing people can take an enormous amount of effort. Many prosopagnosic people use all kinds of tricks to get by and to keep it from showing. It’s draining, and the results aren’t guaranteed. They go to all this trouble mainly out of fear of being judged[17].
This is very similar to autistic masking, also called social camouflaging. Masking is all the effort a person puts into appearing less autistic in social settings. It combines hiding one’s autistic traits and finding ways to work around one’s difficulties[15]. Above all, masking is exhausting for many autistic people[15].
Masking prosopagnosia works the same way: you hide, and you compensate. A prosopagnosic autistic person may therefore be doing two kinds of masking at once, with all the fatigue that comes with it. No one has studied this link directly yet, but it’s a hypothesis that helps explain why a family gathering or a conference can completely drain the battery.
Masking Prosopagnosia
Masking prosopagnosia can take many forms: greeting everyone just in case, waiting for the other person to speak first, avoiding using names, guessing who someone is from the context of the conversation, or going to an event with a trusted person. These strategies often work, which explains why the people around them sometimes have no idea. Their cost, in energy and vigilance, can be invisible too.
Children and School
One phrase sums up what some children experience: “a room full of strangers every day”[6]. For many prosopagnosic children, social life causes real suffering, and parents often feel powerless in the face of what their child is going through[6].
At school, a prosopagnosic child may struggle to find their friends at recess, to recognize their teacher outside the classroom, or to know who helped or bullied them the day before. Safety is also at stake, because telling a familiar adult from a stranger can be difficult.
Children often find tricks to compensate, but it takes effort. And these tricks stop working when everyone looks alike, for example when all the students wear a uniform[1]. Letting the school know can therefore be important for the child’s safety, well-being, and academic success[1].
When kids hit me, all they had to do was swap coats with each other and shout “It wasn’t me, it wasn’t me!” and I couldn’t tell who to report. They had figured out, long before the adults did, that I had trouble recognizing people, and that stress made it worse.
Valérie Jessica, 49, autistic
Classroom Tips
- Post a seating chart with the students’ names
- Put the children’s names on their desks
- Encourage adults at school to say their name when approaching the child
- Agree on a signal or a word with the parent for the end of the day
- Let the child know in advance when someone they know will be there
What Can Help?
Can the Brain Be Trained to Recognize Faces?
It would be very handy if we could simply train ourselves to recognize people, but for now, no treatment makes prosopagnosia go away. Training programs do exist, and they help, but only a little. The problem is that people mostly improve with the faces they practiced on, and the gains tend to fade over time[2]. With young autistic people, computer games have shown some results without really solving the problem[24]. Other approaches are still being tested[2].
Everyday Strategies That Actually Work
What works best is finding other ways to recognize people. And prosopagnosic people are often very good at this[21].
Everything but the Face
The voice, the way someone walks, their hairstyle, their glasses, the bag they always carry around. These cues work less well, though, in a crowd, in a dark place, or when someone changes their style[17].
A Little Notebook
Write down what people look like, how they greet you, their hobbies, their unique habits.
Deduction
Knowing who will be where helps you guess who’s who[17].
Online Meetings
Having the name under each face is an obvious help. Some people even keep screenshots with the names so they can review them before seeing people again[17].
Help From the People Around You
Someone close to you who whispers the names of the people present is invaluable[1].
Preparation
Before an event, look at who will be there and review a few cues[1].
Contact Photos
Add a recent photo to each contact in your phone, and look at it before a planned meeting.
These tricks come at a price: they take energy. And they become much less effective when everyone looks alike[1].
I’ve now started talking about it with people at work and explaining what it is. (…) Now when I walk into a meeting, a few people come over to “introduce themselves.” It’s almost funny: those ones, I recognize now, as long as we’re at work!
Claude, 61
How the People Around You Can Help
Say Your Name When You Arrive
Even if you’ve already met several times, it may seem strange, but it’s often what helps the most[17].
Be Open to Difference
Even if a disability is invisible, it is real. Sometimes this disability is harder to understand, so it’s important to keep an open mind and believe the person who says they have a difficulty.
Skip the Classic “Don’t You Recognize Me?”
This little test makes the person uncomfortable for nothing.
Important
It is essential not to blame people for not recognizing you. Not only is it not their fault, but it creates needless stress. It’s not personal, it’s not against you, and it’s not because the person loves you any less: their brain simply limits face identification.
To Tell or Not to Tell?
Putting a name to what you experience is already a good step. A prosopagnosic person may think they are absent-minded, rude, or “not interested enough in others.” Learning that prosopagnosia exists is often a real relief. Many people say it has helped improve their self-esteem[1]. Some loved ones are also relieved to finally understand the reason for the confusion[1].
Talking to others about it isn’t always easy. It’s an invisible difficulty, and many people don’t even know it exists. Since there’s no official diagnosis, you may also doubt yourself. So it’s not surprising that most adults keep it to themselves. Very few tell their employer, and even fewer tell their doctor[17]. When they do, some receive support. Others are met with skepticism or aren’t believed[17].
For an autistic person, this question may feel familiar. They have often already had to decide whether to talk about their autism, to whom, and how. Prosopagnosia adds one more thing to explain, or to hide. But the two can also be explained together: “My brain is detail-focused, so faces are harder for me to identify.” An explanation helps others stop mistaking a lapse for indifference[26].
It’s a personal choice, and there’s no right or wrong answer. For a child, however, letting the school know can be important for their safety and well-being[1].
What do prosopagnosic people want most? Greater awareness of prosopagnosia, and better ways to help them[17]. Because better understanding also means letting a coworker, a friend, or a grandparent know that a forgotten face has nothing to do with how much you care about them.
References
Peer-Reviewed Scientific Sources
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[2] Bate, S., & Bennetts, R. J. (2014). The rehabilitation of face recognition impairments: A critical review and future directions. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8, Article 491. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00491
[3] Bate, S., Bennetts, R. J., Gregory, N., Tree, J. J., Murray, E., Adams, A., Bobak, A. K., Penton, T., Yang, T., & Banissy, M. J. (2019). Objective patterns of face recognition deficits in 165 adults with self-reported developmental prosopagnosia. Brain Sciences, 9(6), Article 133. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci9060133
[4] Bell, L., Duchaine, B., & Susilo, T. (2023). Dissociations between face identity and face expression processing in developmental prosopagnosia. Cognition, 238, Article 105469. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2023.105469
[5] Corrow, S. L., Dalrymple, K. A., & Barton, J. J. S. (2016). Prosopagnosia: Current perspectives. Eye and Brain, 8, 165–175. https://doi.org/10.2147/EB.S92838
[6] Dalrymple, K. A., Fletcher, K., Corrow, S., das Nair, R., Barton, J. J. S., Yonas, A., & Duchaine, B. (2014). “A room full of strangers every day”: The psychosocial impact of developmental prosopagnosia on children and their families. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 77(2), 144–150. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2014.06.001
[7] Fry, R., Li, X., Evans, T. C., Esterman, M., Tanaka, J., & DeGutis, J. (2023). Investigating the influence of autism spectrum traits on face processing mechanisms in developmental prosopagnosia. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 53(12), 4787–4808. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-022-05705-w
[8] Gehdu, B. K., Gray, K. L. H., & Cook, R. (2024). Poor face recognition predicts social anxiety in autism: A short report. Autism, 28(11), 2937–2942. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613241272031
[9] Gehdu, B. K., Press, C., Gray, K. L. H., & Cook, R. (2024). Autistic adults have insight into their relative face recognition ability. Scientific Reports, 14, Article 17802. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-67649-8
[10] Gehdu, B. K., Tsantani, M., Press, C., Gray, K. L. H., & Cook, R. (2023). Recognition of facial expressions in autism: Effects of face masks and alexithymia. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 76(12), 2854–2864. https://doi.org/10.1177/17470218231163007
[11] Griffin, J. W., Bauer, R., & Scherf, K. S. (2021). A quantitative meta-analysis of face recognition deficits in autism: 40 years of research. Psychological Bulletin, 147(3), 268–292. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000310
[12] Griffin, J. W., Azu, M. A., Cramer-Benjamin, S., Franke, C. J., Herman, N., Iqbal, R., Keifer, C. M., Rosenthal, L. H., & McPartland, J. C. (2023). Investigating the face inversion effect in autism across behavioral and neural measures of face processing: A systematic review and Bayesian meta-analysis. JAMA Psychiatry, 80(10), 1026–1036. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2023.2105
[13] Happé, F., & Frith, U. (2006). The weak coherence account: Detail-focused cognitive style in autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 36(1), 5–25. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-005-0039-0
[14] Hsiung, E.-Y., & Chien, S. H.-L. (2024). Autistic adults exhibit holistic face processing: Evidence from inversion and composite face effects. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 18, Article 1393987. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2024.1393987
[15] Hull, L., Petrides, K. V., Allison, C., Smith, P., Baron-Cohen, S., Lai, M.-C., & Mandy, W. (2017). “Putting on my best normal”: Social camouflaging in adults with autism spectrum conditions. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 47(8), 2519–2534. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-017-3166-5
[16] Lebreton, K., Malvy, J., Bon, L., Hamel-Desbruères, A., Marcaggi, G., Clochon, P., Guénolé, F., Moussaoui, E., Bowler, D. M., Bonnet-Brilhault, F., Eustache, F., Baleyte, J.-M., & Guillery-Girard, B. (2021). Local processing bias impacts implicit and explicit memory in autism. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, Article 622462. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.622462
[17] Lowes, J., McGregor, L. M., Hancock, P. J. B., Duchaine, B., & Bobak, A. K. (2025). This condition impacts every aspect of my life: A survey to understand the experience of living with developmental prosopagnosia. PLOS ONE, 20(4), Article e0322469. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0322469
[18] Minio-Paluello, I., Porciello, G., Pascual-Leone, A., & Baron-Cohen, S. (2020). Face individual identity recognition: A potential endophenotype in autism. Molecular Autism, 11, Article 81. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13229-020-00371-0
[19] Mottron, L., Dawson, M., Soulières, I., Hubert, B., & Burack, J. (2006). Enhanced perceptual functioning in autism: An update, and eight principles of autistic perception. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 36(1), 27–43. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-005-0040-7
[20] Nigrou, T., Hansenne, M., & Devue, C. (2024). Exploration of the links between psychosocial well-being and face recognition skills in a French-speaking sample. Psychologica Belgica, 64(1), 145–151. https://doi.org/10.5334/pb.1294
[21] Portch, E., Wignall, L., & Bate, S. (2023). Why can people with developmental prosopagnosia recognise some familiar faces? Insights from subjective experience. PeerJ, 11, Article e15497. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.15497
[22] Shah, P., Gaule, A., Sowden, S., Bird, G., & Cook, R. (2015). The 20-item prosopagnosia index (PI20): A self-report instrument for identifying developmental prosopagnosia. Royal Society Open Science, 2(6), Article 140343. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.140343
[23] Stantić, M., Brown, K., Ichijo, E., Pounder, Z., Catmur, C., & Bird, G. (2023). Independent measurement of face perception, face matching, and face memory reveals impairments in face perception and memory, but not matching, in autism. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 30(6), 2240–2249. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-023-02304-3
[24] Tanaka, J. W., Wolf, J. M., Klaiman, C., Koenig, K., Cockburn, J., Herlihy, L., Brown, C., Stahl, S., Kaiser, M. D., & Schultz, R. T. (2010). Using computerized games to teach face recognition skills to children with autism spectrum disorder: The Let’s Face It! program. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 51(8), 944–952. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2010.02258.x
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Notes on Other Sources
- The 40% figure mentioned in the “Note” box circulates on popular websites. It comes from a 2013 blog post on Psychology Today (“How Much Asperger’s Is Really Face or Emotion Blindness?”), which cited then-unpublished research from Sapienza University of Rome. It is mentioned here as a caution to readers.
- The absence of developmental prosopagnosia from the DSM-5 can be verified in the manual itself.
- The assessment pathway in Quebec is described based on the absence of any documented public pathway. No official Quebec source dealing specifically with prosopagnosia assessment was found.
- The quotes are real.
- The tools and tips (notebook of cues, contact photos, list of who will be there, classroom ideas) build on the strategies described by prosopagnosic people in the cited studies. They are based on practice and lived experience rather than formal scientific evaluation.
- The link between masking prosopagnosia and autistic masking, as well as the idea of two misunderstandings that reinforce each other, are hypotheses and presented as such. They draw on separate studies but have not yet been tested directly.
A Note on Our Approach
This article takes a neuro-affirming approach: autism is presented as a different way of perceiving and processing information, with its own strengths and challenges. The studies cited often use medical vocabulary, such as “deficit” or “disorder.” This vocabulary has been reworded here without changing the meaning of the findings. The tools and strategies suggested do not replace support from a professional trained in adult autism and prosopagnosia.
By Valérie Jessica Laporte
Updated: November 7, 2026