My son (in additional to autism and ADHD) has congenital prosopagnosia. It's a long and hard to spell term that means he cannot recognize people by what they look like. He cannot differentiate one face from another. As such, he needs to be supervised 24/7 because he could easily wander away with a stranger and not even know it. There's a lot of anxiety on my part but as he gets older and begins to realize how hard that is for him, he has anxiety about it as well. I've contacted researchers… read more
Prosopagnosia isn't a biological issue. It's linked to a pathway in the brain...they just aren't certain yet which pathway it is. It was first discovered in stroke victims which is why the research is focused on the brain structures and electrical signals. Sometimes with stroke victims, there is hope that they will regain the ability to recognize faces as their brain heals from the trauma. In someone with congenital prosopagnosia, there currently isn't any prognosis for recovery because they believe the pathway that connects that information was just never formed.