This is the fourth entry in a series of posts examining the life of a neurodiverse child.
Flynn is not alone in his facial blindness and other afflictions. His family knows that they must compensate for his disabilities and do so lovingly and patiently. But, they can’t protect him in all situations, and each school day or play date is fraught with anxiety when mom and dad are not there to help Flynn get through those hours.
Not only is it devastating to find out that, with facial blindness, you are different from most people, but it is equally defeating to deal with people who refuse to compensate for your disability.
Or who don’t even believe there is such a thing.
No wonder some people with facial blindness give up trying to explain their situation to others. Or find the better solution is to fake it.
Jane Goodall said, “It is humiliating, because most people simply think I’m making an elaborate excuse for my failure to recognize them and that, obviously, I don’t really care about them at all — so they are hurt. I have to cope as best I can — usually by pretending to recognize everyone!”
Brad Pitt told Esquire that he’s often dubbed “egotistical” and “conceited” for his inability to remember people. “That’s why I stay at home.”
Pitt revealed that he had asked people to remind him where they’d met, but “people were more offended.”
Heather Sellers wrote, after she reached out to members of a support group, that a face-blind member had debated for a year about “coming out”. When she did begin to inform others, “no one introduced themselves, and she feared people now considered her unstable.”
Is a hard-of-hearing person “conceited” because they ask you to speak more clearly? Do service dogs offend you? Is mental illness an affront to you because you can’t “see” it?
Who is more blind? The person with the affliction or the “others” with cataracts over their hearts?
The next entry will examine Flynn’s social experiences.
The Q-View 