Asperger’s syndrome

by Helen Thompson     Issue 836

Helen Thompson describes a condition which a lot of people do not know about, but can leave sufferers feeling lonely and frightened

They are not estranged, and his vision is fine, but unless he meets her in a familiar context he will not recognise her face, even though he has seen it most days for the last 25 years of his life. Howard has prosopagnosia, meaning that he cannot store information about facial appearances. The only way he can learn what somebody looks like is through association; he can recognise his daughter at home because he expects to see her, and clues like clothes, voice and height make her different to his wife and other children. If he sees her on the street, she could be any young, unknown woman.

Even with this obvious difference in his social functioning, his condition was not diagnosed until the age of 50.

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