“This is the first book I’ve read about face blindness. I enjoyed the realistic stories. Helped me to understand Prosopangnosia better. I would recommend to people who suffer with the symptoms of Proso and those who don’t to be able to understand it more.”
“It is amazing to read a book that tells of how people can be successful in this world and to a certain point realize they have overcome a handicap they did not realize they had. It is interesting to read how he coped in this world. Very good book.”
“The subtitle of this book could be ‘How to succeed in life even though you’re FaceBlind” It is an excellent, quick read for folks who want to know what it’s like to be FB.”
“As someone with faceblindness, I loved all his stories and found them completely relateable. Many of his coping skills I use myself but some were new (and very clever!) that I plan to enlist in the future. I was very grateful for his perspective of always thinking he was normal until he realized he was FB. Finding out devastated him, as it did me. Unfortunately, the most vocal and active members of the FB community embrace FB as a disability and identify as victims. The author has a deep emotional reaction to finding out he is FB, because he immediately places himself in this category as well. (Even news stories consistently present FB folks as pathetic, instead of strong and successful.)”
We all grow up with the assumption that everybody perceives the world in the same way that we do and, as an adult, live what we feel to be normal lives and interact socially just like anyone else. Imagine what would happen to you if you found out that you are really very different, that you have been compensating all of your life and that what you considered normal behavior was actually an elaborate coping mechanism you had created for yourself. Your world suddenly changes. That’s what happened to Ronald Haines when he found out he had face blindness.
This book recalls numerous true instances from Ronald’s life that are highly amusing when seen from the point of view of someone who is not face blind and provides both an entertaining as well as an enlightening read about the intricate methods he developed in order to get by and his perception of the world as a person who did not know he was face blind. This book also deals with how Ronald’s life would have been different if he had learned earlier that he was face blind, how his life has dramatically changed since he learned about it, and concludes with a word of caution to well meaning parents and clinicians.
