About Me

My name is Baruch. I have been faceblind since birth. I did not realize I was faceblind until I encountered a description of prosopagnosia in a book by Oliver Sacks, "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat". This interesting book described many sorts of neurological impairments, and in passing mentioned prosopagnosia. I recognized that I had this condition. I didn't have any idea what to do about it, though.

Almost ten years later I found Bill Choisser's excellent Website about faceblindness. It was then that I learned that there were other people who had this condition, and that I could get into contact with them. Although there is no known treatment for faceblindness, it is helpful to know that others face the same difficulties, and that I am not alone.

I don't know what caused my faceblindness. I might have had some minor damage to the brain early in life. I might have had a developmental quirk, perhaps some tiny glitch at a critical time.

I am quite fortunate in that, whatever the cause of my faceblindness, it does not involve other functions of the brain. I live a relatively normal, productive life without serious impairment. I have the occasional embarrassing moment when I don't recognize someone I "should", but mostly I get along.

Some people are more seriously afflicted. The changes in the brain causing the faceblindness also affect other functions, causing in some cases severe dysfunction. Some, whose faceblindness came later in life (from stroke or brain injury), find the problem far more troublesome and distressing than I do.