On the Spectrum

 

Whiter Shade of Pale

And so it was that later
As the miller told his tale
That her face, at first just ghostly
Turned a whiter shade of pale.

That it is because it is on a spectrum, not a binary.

Autism is said to exist on a spectrum. And a form of high functioning Autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, is still said to be on the spectrum.  A co-worker joked that Asperger’s must be in the job description at our firm. Those with Asperger’s have to be reminded that the old CBS show “The Big Bang Theory” is a comedy, not a documentary.

The most recent podcast of Stuff You Should Know  was on Face Blindness, prosopagnosia, which is a neurological disorder characterized by the inability to recognize faces. The most famous sufferer of Face Blindness is Brad Pitt. The podcast also discussed coping mechanisms for those who suffer from Face Blindness The podcast ended with a request that those who suffer from Face Blindness write to them. However, Face Blindness may not be a matter of you have it, or you don’t. It may also be on a spectrum.

I think that I may have an undiagnosed form of Face Blindness. Admittedly this may be that I have developed coping mechanisms for most cases, but not this one. I do not have the ability to recognize faces in unfamiliar settings. The most prominent example was when I was on vacation in Virginia and heard a voice say, “Hello, Dan.”  I asked the person who they were. I should mention that she was distinctive in the manner that only a freckle-faced, bi-racial woman could be. Her response was that I was her supervisor at work in Massachusetts and sat next to her for the previous five years At work, no problem, 1,000 miles from work, who are you? Oh yeah, that’s why I should know you.

One of the coping mechanisms that I may have developed is trying to treat everyone with kindness. If the old adage is true that "You should treat people nice on the way up the ladder, because you might meet them again on the way down,” then treating everyone nice because they might be a long-time friend that you don’t recognize at the moment is even more true. Those with Face Blindness, even on a spectrum, may have to treat everyone the same because they can’t recognize any differences. People who you have treated well in the past, expect the same treatment, whether you recognize them or not.