FralovesMika

I think I'll take care of TV News and maybe Instagram if timing will be my fella 

Here's the 1st 2 links of video i and some others found, they're both tv news services one from Rai3 national tv and Sky:

http://www.rai.tv/dl/RaiTV/programmi/media/ContentItem-bd1e4853-d930-4fb1-81ef-9d756bb37ca2.html here's the Rai3 full Tv news around 30 min Mika's part is by the end here's a link with just Mika's part from Facebook page No Omofobia https://www.facebook.com/omofobiastop.it/videos/567408016731353/?pnref=story

http://video.sky.it/news/spettacolo/mika_insulti_omofobi_sul_manifesto_di_un_concerto_a_firenze/v250745.vid

Here's another one from Rai News national TV (Thanks Marina):

http://www.rainews.it/dl/rainews/media/Mika-la-liberta-di-essere-se-stessi-f4994490-3fa3-4be5-92d9-14fb66f0a1ad.html

Here's another nice vid from Nanopress and Zoomin.tv showing tweets and famous people along with average people speaking against omophobia    (Thanks Marina):

http://www.nanopress.it/video/143921880191655c8bc71df9a7/mika_e_la_scritta_omofoba_rompiamoilsilenzio_diventa_virale/

Here's another one from Studio Aperto another TV news on national italian TV, Mika is on the min 27 (Thanks Marina):

http://www.video.mediaset.it/video/studioaperto/full/edizione-ore-12-25-del-9-agosto_554584.html

Here's another one from Ansa.it :

http://www.ansa.it/sito/videogallery/spettacolo/2015/08/09/frase-omofoba-su-manifesti-di-mika-lui-la-pubblica_34df6e7d-d945-4b50-8c7a-66add25c1146.html

Here's another one from TG1 most important tv news on national italian TV, Mika at min 9.24  (Thanks Sarina&Lucrezia):

http://www.rai.tv/dl/RaiTV/programmi/media/ContentItem-4108fc7c-c2a9-4c11-b685-8182fc791291-tg1.html#p=0

Here's another one from SKY TG24 another TV News service from Sky (Thanks Marina):

http://video.sky.it/news/spettacolo/mika_ecco_perch_ho_risposto_alla_scritta_omofoba/v250942.vid?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

And here's a video that puts together pretty much all what appeared on italian TV till now! (Thanks DerMoment1608) Enjoy:

Here's a new one from TG La7 another TV News on national italian TV:

http://tg.la7.it/cultura-e-societa/mika-insultato-replica-non-ho-paura-nessuno-deve-averne-12-08-2015-96506

For Instagram posts

Of course 1st of all the post from the boss   https://instagram.com/p/6Ix9OOziBq/?taken-by=mikainstagram

Here's a few links of Instagram posts from Mika colleagues from X Factor Italia:

https://instagram.com/p/6KN8ncQPE-/

https://instagram.com/p/6K8d4sD8Ad/

https://instagram.com/p/6J1svOFjR-/

https://instagram.com/p/6KZm6mAi2n/

Here's the post from the fan who put a poster with the hashtags on that vandalized Mika's banner:

https://instagram.com/p/6Kk9ORIYTJ/

These are from France:

https://instagram.com/p/6PXr4yqRMa/

https://instagram.com/p/6PODa-SaOg/

https://instagram.com/p/6OBOq-GmKy/

https://instagram.com/p/6PfNQbpr2z/

These show the hashtags overlay on tv when sky transmitted Mika's gig at Parc de Princes the other night:

https://instagram.com/p/6Nt_IalQjy/

https://instagram.com/p/6NtdE3ON-c/

https://instagram.com/p/6NpKJXAWoo/

and a few others i liked to share  :

https://instagram.com/p/6NuBuUm6Th/

https://instagram.com/p/6PT_aCtKg-/

https://instagram.com/p/6MwD5TlLv0/

Here's the Instagram post from Maison Valentino: 

https://instagram.com/p/6ULtwkPtyy/

Go ...

no worries, I've merged the 2 threads

Ups opened another thread didn't  realised it was already on!

http://www.ecodibergamo.it/stories/Cultura%20e%20Spettacoli/mika-a-stezzano-il-15-giugnoanteprima-del-suo-nuovo-album_1121282_11/?src=newsletter&when=f00&now=201505180305&click=summary

http://www.mikafanclub.com/topic/31849-mika-mediaworld-centro-commerciale-mall-le-due-torri-stezzano-bg/

News fresca ragazze  buongiorno   ho aperto anche un thread in new and press 

E tipo solo ora mi sono accorta che ce n'era già un altro LOL 

http://www.ecodibergamo.it/stories/Cultura%20e%20Spettacoli/mika-a-stezzano-il-15-giugnoanteprima-del-suo-nuovo-album_1121282_11/?src=newsletter&when=f00&now=201505180305&click=summary

Appartently Mika will be at Mediaworld in a Mall in Stezzano, province of Bergamo, the next 15th June giving an exclusive preview of his new album "No place in Heaven", with an agreement between Universal and Mediaworld/Saturn in their stores will be available the exclusive version with 2 unreleased songs, also available for Fnac in France, these tracks are «Le Baisers Perdus» and «J’ai Pas Envie». 

Mika is expected to be there around 5.30 pm.   

I think that there will be an autograph session like last time, good news for all italian fas! 

Got my email too!! Over excited it's been a while looking forward for Sunday!! Thx MFC & Ticket Fairy!!

Sent mine yesterday thank you!! Still have to get used to the new forum  

I'm back from holiday now. Just popped in to let you all know

Welcome back Marilyn! How's your holiday?

Obviously I'm back too, even if I'm still exhausted and next exams are approaching fast! I'm also writing like a mad to have all done soon, I'll try to translate some paragraphs to post eventually

By now i wrote the introduction and your personal statement on the condition, i collected all together the info from your posts and added an incipit this should be the opening of my essay if everything goes as planned, hope it does!

And by the end of july it has to be finished and all exam too this way i'll get my degree in september yes i like to complicate my life but for now i'm happy this way, for this project, this thread and everything in between, hope this will bring me luck

Io son già partita, per chi c'è ci vediamo là!

Per chi non c'è sarà per la prossima!

I'm well jealous about Saturday and Sunday! Need videos guys.

Tongue is already hanging out.

This might be a good Time to mention that Alan and I are going to the Isle of Wight on Monday, for 5 days. I'll be taking my Kindle and the hotel has free WiFi, so providing I can figure out how to get onto it (my son set up the kindle at home for me) I should be able to post, but probably not as often while on holiday.

Fran. I've been really happy to do this. It's helping me a lot, just to talk about it with people who understand, or want to know about the condition.

God bless everyone on the thread. It's wonderful to talk with you all.

There will be a live streaming, If you check Naples thread I'm sure someone posted the link

Me too I won't be able to connect until late monday eve or tuesday I guess, so everyone enjoy this week end and see u next week

I'm glad and happy for every word you write Marilyn really, you make this project marvellous every other day, enjoy you holiday dear

Sweetie I am learning something new

You are more than welcome sweetheart

I studied neuroscience at uni so I find this really fascinating. It is amazing to me that we don't just remember the things we see but that we have a specific function in our brain for remembering human faces.

 

Part of me can almost understand what it's like because I do have trouble visualizing complete faces in a way that I don't have when visualizing other objects. But I almost never have trouble recognizing a face when I see it.

 

What I have a hard time imagining though is why one can't focus on facial features as individual objects and remember them that way in the same way you can remember that someone is tall, has curly hair and wears glasses or a hat. Eyes are quite distinct features on people and I can't imagine not being able to distinguish between people that I know well even if I could only see their eyes and not their whole faces.

 

And also voices. I can understand that recognizing voices doesn't eliminate the social problem. If you were totally blind then people you know would not approach you expecting you to recognize them before they spoke. So you're still going to have situations where you walk by people who think you are stuck up or they just smile at you and expect recognition. But I can't imagine having a conversation with someone and not knowing who they were, even if I was completely blind. When I first started working in an office back in the 80s there was no email so you talked to everyone by phone all the time. People would call and say hi and I would know who they were even if I'd never met them or seen a photo of them before so it's not linked at all to facial recognition for me.

 

Anyway it's been interesting reading and I love learning what it is like from Marilyn's perspective.

 

Oliver Sacks is a famous neurologist and has face blindness himself:

 

k5bvnXYIQG8

 

664vzbwkc0M

Thanks for these amazing vids and your partecipation in this thread Christine, I'll try to translate all what he says in the next days and add something to my essay for sure!

I hope everything is going well for you. I'm sure you're thesis will be brilliant!

 

I've found an interesting video. A stroke victim who developed Prosopagnosia.

She's very positive about it.

She didn't recognize herself in a mirror when out shopping.

I don't have that problem, because I tell myself each day, what I am wearing. It's the same technique I use for recognizing anyone else, like if I'm separated from Alan in a shop, I remember what he's wearing, and Alan is overweight, so that helps.

When I look at the mirror at home, I know it's me, because I'm looking at a mirror. I check my hair and clothes closely, and as far as I know, it works for me when I'm out of the home.

Some sufferers see an object and think it's a person. I don't, thank God.

Here is the video

http://findingstrengthtostandagain.wordpress.com/2011/03/20/how-are-you-spectator-monthly-news-for-ui-alumni-and-friends-the-university-of-iowa/

Thank you for this vid Marilyn, I've already wrote about it in the paperwork I presented, it was really beautiful and added something more to all what we talked about until now, I'm happy the way this is going and I'm sure it'll turn a kick-ass job! Of course thanks to you and all the other people who took part in this tread

Good luck Francesca.

This is all quite a journey for me too.

It's made me look at my life and realize about the coping strategies I've developed, without even realizing they were strategies.

For example. At the beginning of the thread I said I don't have a problem recognizing myself in a mirror. But Alan has always noticed that I spend a lot of time looking in the mirror at home, and stare into every mirror I pass, when I'm out with him and notice a mirror.

 

Since the thread started, I've been conscious of doing this, and I've realised it is a coping strategy. I'm checking myself, to see what I'm wearing and what my hair is like today. Because I've had the condition all my life, I haven't always been conscious of the development of strategies, for me it's just normal behaviour. But now I realize that so many of my little quirks are actually ways of coping with my condition.

Yeah the strategies are the best part in it is so interesting and personal and make you look to the condition in a totally different perspective imo, I'll surely add your last part of this post too, it's surprising how many things you can discover about something even when it's been years you're facing it.

And it's also hard to find someone actually into it willing to share it and who can explain this in a such a detailed and precise way, really I'm very very glad we started this project together!

Hi everyone! This is an interesting thread. I've tried to read your discussion but haven't had time to write any comments before this, sorry about that. Wishing the best for your thesis, Francesca!

 

I'm familiar with this issue as my 15 yo son suffers from prosopagnosia. I realized it during his early years as it was obvious he could recognize our neighbour and their kids in their yard/garden but had no idea who they were when we met them at the supermarket or play ground further away (he connected them to their house). Similarly, he could recognize our close family but not for example his godfather or some other relatives and friends even met them regularly.

 

However, my son had a lot of autistic spectrum challenges so not recognizing faces was only one challenge among many other social difficulties (like not recognizing facial expression, tones or emotions, late talking, difficulties to communicate etc). At school he learnt to cover this difficulty and recognize people simply by learning to remember their hair styles, eye glasses, clothes etc.

 

He is intelligent and advanced in many other areas and has a very good memory so sometimes I forget how challenging and tiring it must be for him not be able to easily know who people are (for example after all these years he still can't recognize all his classmates if randomly met them somewhere) and I need to remind myself to be more understanding and to give him enough time to rest after meeting a lot of people.

 

Spreading awareness is the best way to help people with prosopagnosia, imo. If other people know someone suffers from this condition they can go and introduce themselves in new situations to avoid any misunderstandings. Good luck Francesca and thanks for sharing your experiences, Marilyn!

Thanks Nina for adding your son's experience too and partecipate in this thread it's another interesting aspects of this condition and I admire you for the attitude you have about it, I've known different children and adolescent with autistic spectrum disorder and i understand how hard it can be, but having a positive attitude and speak up about these syndromes it's the best thing we can do thank you again and can't wait to meet you again in Naples saturday, there's Pizza waiting for us, besides this guy on sunday

Hey there everyone I don't have time to reply to all this eve, i'll do it tomorrow

Anyway i did a paperwork on what we talked about until now on this thread and my relator liked it very much, infact we decided to modify the structure and some sections of my thesis, i'll put this paperwork about the thread at the beginning and then moving forward from that, exposing the condition and all the correlated matters.

I've a couple of books and I'll have to resume some topic for the different sections and decide if i'll introduce any articles from the research literature, anyway it goes all in a essay that should be less than 40 pages, so i'll have to resume a lot because I wrote 8 pages only for what we talked about until now but I'm happy on how this is going!

So thanks everyone for support and this great discussion, especially Marylin for sharing her experiences

See you tomorrow, nighty 'night

Hi there everyone!

Tomorrow I've a meeting with my relator for the thesis to discuss the material I had and other thing, I'm also going to present a paperwork on what we talked about until now in this thread, I'll let you know how that went later tomorrow I hope and I hope it goes too

Here I'll post a link to the pdf index in english of an italian book I found on prosopagnosia, I think I'll resume some chapters from this and add other stuff, it's very interesting, sadly I've a copy only in italian and i can't post but if anyone of you is interested can google it and see if you find at least a preview in english

Here it is:

http://download.springer.com/static/pdf/133/bfm%253A978-3-642-40784-0%252F1.pdf?auth66=1400186384_8c2fd58ea0195360e3c2e32bf2369675&ext=.pdf

Wish me luck!

'Night!

Cara Francesca,

I tried to upload a bibliography a few days ago but the file was too big...

I'm pasting a list of articles, hope you find something helpful!

 

Wow there is a lot to go through! Thank u Giovy I'm waiting they accept my request for the proxy service from the library and I'll surely look for some of these! Thanks again

I've been thinking a lot about my life, and how Prosopagnosia has affected it, so I could share on here.

I have a sister, two years younger than me. As children, we hung up pictures of pop stars and actors on the bedroom wall.

She did it because she fancied them. I did it because she did. Sho was normal. I wasn't. So I tried to appear normal.

It was me not recognizing faces on TV that first made my mum realize something was wrong. I was obviously born with the condition.

Because the faces on TV didn't stick in my memory, I didn't have the crushes that young girls have, for boybands or singers, or actors.

But then, as a teenager, I fell madly in love.

Who was it? You ask.

It was Mr Spock!

He, of course, had a lovely voice I could recognize, but more than that, of course, he had those huge ears and odd shaped eyebrows. I could always recognize him.

I never thought about it at the time, but everyone I've loved on TV have always looked different. The Lion Man Vincent, from the 80s series Beauty and the Beast, several from Star Trek, and Robocop from the TV series.

I got to love Mika from the radio. I loved his voice and song. It didn't matter what he looked like.

I thought I'd share this with you all.

Of course it was hard for you, you just did the same thing to try to be and feel the same as your sister, in the reality it was easy for you to recognise and appreciate voices or particular characters, I think you were lucky knowing Mika also for this you surely appreciate him more than others both for empathy and the voice, his amazing voice you surely perceive a lot more than other people on that, i think it's impossible not to love him in the end

Marilyn, I have just finished going through all of your posts here and I'm honestly blown away from what you've been through. I'm glad your life is a bit esasier now you've been diagnosed.

I've been very moved by your stories. Some of them are sweet and sad at the same time, like the one about your crushes... or the one about how you weren't able to recognize Mika and remember his face, but his voice has stuck to you for good.

I've studied neuroscience too, at med school. All in all, tuberous sclerosis has a great variability of expression, so it's good you don't have many other terrible issues that are related to this pathology, such as mental delays, seizures, kidney and eye conditions, etc. But it sucks you don't have access to the studies there.

Thank you for sharing your story, it's amazing to find out how much strength you have.

I'm glad you joined us in this thread Iole, you have the same fresh but professional look I have on this topic, but you also are very kind, can't totally wait to meet u in Naples

Actually, I've had two cataract operations. Both eyes were affected by the time I was in my 30s. But the ops were successful. My Tuberous Sclerosis caused it.

I do have issues with depression and anxiety. I also become very confused. This is why I find computer skills hard to obtain. My brain just goes blank.

It's also why I can't work. I tried to work in a charity shop to see how I would do, but when people would be coming to the till, one after another, I couldn't cope. I just, kind-of switched off. I did work experience in an off license (liquor store) but I asked the same person, on several occasions, for her ID, and she got annoyed with me. But of course, it was because I had forgotten her face.

I was suspected of having epilepsy for many years. But it turned out that I didn't. But my anxiety disorder does cause problems that are similar, and I can't multi task, if I try I just switch off for a while. I kind of, stare into space and can't do anything for a while, until my brain sorts itself out.

Obviously, I can't drive.

But don't think I am unhappy. I'm not. Especially at the moment, with this thread, I really feel like I am some use. If my experiences help others, I am so pleased about being able to share my stories. I've been blessed, by God, with my good writing skills and I'm glad I can use them.

I also have my faith. I am a Christian and my faith has helped me all my life.

I also have a wonderful husband, and a son that I am deeply proud of.

I'm also a member of the best fan club, for the most wonderful star on the planet. So I think I'm very lucky.

I'm very sorry Marilyn for all the issue your condition brought with it, but I'm also glad you take it in a positive way and you act so clean and kind, I'm really glad you are Happy for this thread and sharing your stories, in the beginning of this project I honestly thought i was asking you a lil too much, that i was passino the limit for your privacy but every day we keep going with this project I'm glad for you to be so involved, I was really lucky to get in touch with you, now i truly believe i'll do a great job with this thesis, and even if i have a short time i will do the best I can also for you and this thread

Now I've read everything written on this thread, and I must say I'm impressed - both by FranlovesMika, who dive into this subject, and writes a thesis on the condition - and you Marilyn, who share this privacy, it's so kind and nice of you !!

I've never heard of it before, and I can only try to imagine what kind of challenges it means, to suffer from this. You're a truly amazing woman - and I think that we all are the lucky ones, to have you here, so active, on MFC!! Lots of luck - to both of you!!

 

Love,love

me

Thank you!

Ti capisco, la mia vita=studio

Grazie per la gentilezza a presto, non vedo l'ora

Ragazze, un po' di sano divertimento farà bene anche ai vostri studi!

Se non staccate un po' rischiate l'esplosione, e secondo me questa sarà un'occaione fantastica. Già vi immagino tutte lì in piazza....

Hehe grazie, di sicuro faremo del nostro meglio

I don't know when I'll be back tomorrow because in the afternoon I'm getting a new tatoo, and Idk wich time I'll be home, see you later!

My teacher never missed his receiving hours, he used to read every chapter in one week and he didn't change a single comma when I gave him the complete work: I cannot complain, after all.

My sister has a master degree in psycology and had the same problem as you: too many students compared to the available teachers, it was very difficult for her to find a professor and she had no support at all. Almost twenty years later, in a different University, I see that nothing has changed...

Not it has not changed a bit sadly, but I can't complain too my relator is one of my favourites professor, though this is kind of a second choice because she teaches General psychology, the 1st you study when get into college, and I'm more into neuroscience but i got to do something interesting anyway, so I'm happy even if it's gonna be a long work

I'm loving this thread. I also admire you so much for choosing something so medically unknown for your thesis.

This discussion is teaching me so much already and I'm sure, teaching others on the thread, a lot as well.

I had never linked my inability to locate objects, as part of Prosopagnosia, but then I read on one of the sites who's link is in the first post, that it's a part of it, for some people.

I think, an important point is that it's not the same for every sufferer. Some seem to see black faces with their eyes. So I think that's worse for them, than for someone like me.

Yes, Alan is very wise and perceptive. He's absolutely right. It's the link between my eyes and my brain that seems to be the problem.

I recently had a memory test. I was asked to draw two hexagonal shapes that were interlinked. The doctor drew it first, and then showed it to me. Asking me to copy it.

I looked away from the drawing, looked down at my sheet of paper. Took my pen and started to draw.

I honestly thought I had drawn it right. It was such a simple thing. But when the doctor showed me his drawing again, I'd made a big mistake! I had drawn the two hexagonal shapes, but I had drawn them far apart, not interlinked! I was shocked.

So my difficulties do seem to be linked some kind of communication problem between eyes and brain, rather than a perception problem, as it is for a lot of Prosopagnosia sufferers.

 

I would probably have to borrow my son's laptop if I can't see something on this tablet. My computer skills really suck though.

I will try to look something on youtube and post it, if it's in english or with subtitles

Thank you Marilyn I'm learning new stuff everyday too, i fave the link to this thread to my relator too, if she will ever read something will ad it that too, anyway there is enough material to study and write on but you have to know where to look for it, most of the time is inside the different colleges or research lab and so most of the time you have to pay to read it, for subscription or downloads, it occurs bè tweet the 10 and 20 years for something to ne published on books for something more than just a mention, for now i have a few article s from the magazine brain an italian ebook specific on Prosopagnosia and a copule of thesis were there are some chapters that i coul use I'll try to post some screen of the english ones

I think it's better for you to see face characters and not recocognize them instead of seeing just face shapes with out characters that must be really terrifying, I remembered i had a nightmare once where people around me had question mark instead of their faces, I al most cried when i woke up!

For the object shape test and memory test you have to try the gestalt tests on perception and see wich one you fail, I think it would be really useful, to know if you have problems only in interlinked figures or something else too

It's about communication for sure, i hope to find something useful in the material I have

Wow - this thread seems very interesting!! But it's quite a lot, so I'll read it all when I find time for it ...

 

Love,love

me

Come back whenever you want

Eh ti capisco, io ho la pretesa di finire tutto entro luglio figurati come sto messa, infatti posso scrivere solo a tarda notte

Ormai ci vediamo presto e tranquilla anche io ai tempi ero una timidona, ma passa subito

Guylainem123! ho riso per 20 minuti, anche per i commenti delle altre

Ho visto dopo il link sul post del gruppo comunque davvero ogni volta che lo vedo rido XD

Francesca a Napoli ci divertiremo me lo sento !!!

Ma di sicuro, ultimo respiro di libertà quindi me la voglio godere

Ciao Iole! Mi fa piacere conoscerti qui in anteprima prima di Napoli, benvenuta nel gruppo delle matte diciamo eccentriche quanto meno dai, avremo sicuramente modo di conoscerci meglio e divertirci

Grazie per i complimenti l'argomento è particolare e sicuramente interessante, fai psicologia anche tu? Se vuoi puoi intervenire nella discussione, più siamo ed interveniamo meglio è!

Comunque ci vedremo presto oramai

Ciao Francesca

ne avevo sentito parlare della prosopagnosia, è sicuramente un argomento di tesi interessante e affascinante, buon lavoro!

Grazie Mari, si è molto interessante, ti ho risposto anche di là come al solito farò del mio meglio anche se dopo Napoli sarò di clausura per mesi

Credo che tutte abbiate visto l'interessante discussione sullo sbucciare le patate. Non credo che nel thread internazionale coglierebbero la profondità di quello che sto per dire ma... vi suggerisco "pélame" di Cristiano Malgioglio

 

 

Per chi va a Napoli: ci si sente nei prossimi giorni

L'ho vista pure io ma su fb, è fatta molto bene nella sua sottigliezza, mi piacerebbe sapere chi l'ha pubblicata

Thank you Mari, and all the posters here. I'm thrilled with how the thread is progressing.

It's so great to be able to talk about this. I've never really been able to.

I would have loved to join the studies in London, but living up North, having no car, they said they couldn't afford to pay my expenses on the train, and since I am on benefits, I couldn't afford to keep going there.

I think the worst thing about conditions like this, is that so many people don't take you seriously. I used to say that I couldn't recognize faces, and they never really understand. I couldn't get anyone to listen. Then, about 3 years ago there was a program on TV. The man they were talking to was worse than me. He couldn't even recognize himself. But when they talked about face blindness, and about how people cope, recognizing people by their hairstyles, glasses, clothing, I think my mouth opened and didn't close for the whole hour.

There was also an interview with a face blind woman on a morning show. I'm going to try and find it, maybe tomorrow.

It's good we're talking about it. From what I've read about it, I think there are different kinds of Prosopagnosia. Some people say that everyone looks the same. The faces look blank. But others say that they can see the face, but it doesn't stick in their memory. This is the kind that I have. For me, it's like, if two similar looking people are standing together, I can see the differences between them. If I see them separately, I can't tell who is who.

I can see the expressions on people's faces and I know if they are good looking. But when they go away and then come back in a few minutes, I've lost the memory of the face. So though I remember, with my mind, that Mika is drop dead gorgeous, I don't actually remember what he actually looks like, once I don't see his picture, or a video for a few minutes. I can picture his slim shape in my mind's eye, wearing one of his designer suits and I can picture his hair. But, although I know he has brown eyes, and he's shockingly handsome, I can't actually picture his face in my mind. I hope that explains it well enough. It can be confusing to try and explain how the condition affects me.

I'll never thank you enough for all the things you write, you express your condition very well and is an infinite source of inspiration to me personally!

There are a few of different types of prosopagnosia, as all neuropsychological disorders can change in different aspects from a person to another such as Associative Prosopagnosia, Apperceptive Prosopagnosia, Developmental Prosopagnosia, and those are just some examples, I'll try to explain better another time cause I'm still going through all the material I have especially the english ones, but believe me I'm really thankful for you to being so open

Thank you for opening this thread and sharing your experience Marilyn, I had heard about the condition, but didn't remember reading, that you were suffering from it .

I'm happy you have a lovely and caring husband, who helps you deal with it.

 

It's a good idea to talk about it openly, it surely makes you feel better about it and it also helps personal relationships.

 

Marilyn and Francesca, thank you very much for all the infos you're posting, it's a very interesting and useful reading!

Thank you Mari, it's helpful for me too, a lot indeed!

it's a good thing your professor allowed you to choose the subject of your thesis (even if I think he/she won't be able to help you that much), I remember that I had to change it because no one was interested in what I wanted to study (it was FGM, just for the record). Back then there was no degree and master degree, I had a four years degree with final discussion.

I've searched in my University's library catalogue, but apparently the only available materials are online and in English. I have no idea if these resources are open or if you can access them only through the library's subscription, but I can send you a list if you think it's useful.

Yeah it's really a good thing, also because for my personal way to work it's almost impossible for me to work on something I don't like, so it's way better for me this way, anyway I wouldn't have had help in any case because I'm in open number class at college, so it's already a challenge to find the relator for your thesis, be followed and helped just comes after, but I'm happy with how the thing are going for now, this forum and other things are helping me a lot!

I'm sad to hear about how did it go for you, it happened the same thing to me in highschool, but in that case I held hard and I continued to do what I wanted, unfortunately they have taken away many points in my final vote even though I had done a great job and not only on my accounts but also by the external teachers opinions, anyway it's done now I hope this time i'll be more lucky

For the library thing I think it is the same way as mine at college, that needs subscription but go on and a list if you can, it surely won't do any harm

That is all so interesting! I also have problems with directions. I always wish they made Sat navs for pedestrians. But I have a satellite street map on my Kindle.

Another problem I have, is with finding things. Most people occasionally miss something that's "right under their noses", but for me, it's a regular thing.

I go to get the ketchup out of the cupboard, and I just can't find it. I'm looking for ages, moving things to see behind them, but it's just not there. Alan (my husband) comes along, reaches into the cupboard, and immediately finds it. I read a while ago, that being unable to locate objects is a side effect of Prosopagnosia.

However, I do know what things are. I don't think a hat is a person. I can usually tell if a person is male or female, old or young.

I find older people harder to tell apart, than younger people. This is because, older women have short white hair, usually curly, they wear glasses, and the old person's voice is deeper, more raspy, less individual. Older men often have bald spots in white hair, glasses, and also more raspy voices.

For me, colour is often the key. Younger people have more colouring. This helps a lot. I'm never going to have trouble telling a brunette from a redhead, a Brown haired person from a person with black hair.

I know white people can usually tell black people apart, but for me, it's impossible. I've been to an all black church, and it's so hard. I would rely on their voices, but the African accent is so strong, voice recognition doesn't work for me. So for me, unfortunately, all black people do look alike.

By the way, for those who don't know what a Brownie Guider is. It's someone who looks after the little girls in the Brownies, before they join the Guides at 11 or 12. The Guides are the female equivalent of the Scouts.

I'm including a statement from my husband Alan. The following is what he has to say.

 

Hi, I'm Alan Mastin. I've been married to Marilyn for over 32 years.

Living with a wife with Prosopagnosia, I find that when we go out together, Marilyn can't recognize our neighbours and friends. I have to tell her in advance, who they are, otherwise she would just walk past them without saying "hello", so they will think she's ignoring them.

She also can't find anything. I always have to look. It's usually right in front of her eyes, but it's like she's not seen it. Though I know her eyes are fine.

If I point out the object to her, once I've spotted it, she then says she can see it. So I think her brain must not be communicating with her eyes properly.

She's had the condition all her life. I think it's probably because of her genetic condition, Tuberous Sclerosis, that she has this perception problem.

This is always so interesting for me too! I heard about the finding object situation as a consequence in prosopagnosia I must have surely something in my material, think it's in english too, and also something about TBC and genetic aspects, I'll look with more attention and let you, if I upload a scan of a page in a JPG file as a normal photo will you be able to see it with your tablet?

Thanks also for explaining the guides thing, i was almost there , and for what concerns black people perception of voices I think it's normal, because

it's not easy even for person without disorders, for you it's even more also because it's not part of your cultural background, so you don't have any kind of hint or basis for wich you can construct a recognition model.

And also your husband message is lovely and so inspired, you two must love each other a lot he's really kind and helpful and caring for you and your condition and also well informed because all he said is correct it's the step between what the eyes see and what you perceive when it comes to the brain, this part of the process in prosopagnosia is defective as if information is lost on the way.

Sorry for the time when I'm posting but I had a rough day in libraries looking for books I need for the next exams!!

I realised I had the beginnning of the interview to Brad Pitt only in italian but I have found a couple of nice articles in english too, here they are:

Does Brad Pitt suffer from face blindness? (CNN)

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/23/showbiz/celebrity-news-gossip/brad-pitt-esquire-face-blindness/

Brad Pitt's Not Egotistical, He's 'Face Blind'

http://www.medpagetoday.com/CelebrityDiagnosis/39420

I'm also posting a couple of other articles on Prosopagnosia in english wich are general in the topic but I find pretty well done

The Atlantic

Living With Face Blindness

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/09/living-with-face-blindness/279898/

Wired

Face blind

http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/14.11/blind_pr.html

Hope you'll find it interesting, now I think I'll go to sleep, 'night!