Finding Out Will Change Your Life Forever: Dealing with the Knowledge You are Face Blind

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.