title: "A room full of strangers every day": the psychosocial impact of developmental prosopagnosia on children and their families.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Individuals with developmental prosopagnosia ('face blindness') have severe face recognition difficulties due to a failure to develop the necessary visual mechanisms for recognizing faces. These difficulties occur in the absence of brain damage and despite normal low-level vision and intellect. Adults with developmental prosopagnosia report serious personal and emotional consequences from their inability to recognize faces, but little is known about the psychosocial consequences in childhood. Given the importance of face recognition in daily life, and the potential for unique social consequences of impaired face recognition in childhood, we sought to evaluate the impact of developmental prosopagnosia on children and their families.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted semi-structured interviews with 8 children with developmental prosopagnosia and their parents. A battery of face recognition tests was used to confirm the face recognition impairment reported by the parents of each child. We used thematic analysis to develop common themes among the psychosocial experiences of the children and their parents.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Three themes were developed from the child reports: 1) awareness of their difficulties, 2) coping strategies, such as using non-facial cues to identify others, and 3) social implications, such as discomfort in, and avoidance of, social situations. These themes were paralleled by the parent reports and highlight the unique social and practical challenges associated with childhood developmental prosopagnosia.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings indicate a need for increased awareness and treatment of developmental prosopagnosia to help these children manage their face recognition difficulties and to promote their social and emotional wellbeing.
authors: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, USA; Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK. Electronic address: kad@umn.edu.
authors: Kirsten A
authors: KA
authors: Dalrymple
authors: Department of Medicine (Neurology), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada; Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada; Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
authors: Kimberley
authors: K
authors: Fletcher
authors: Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA.
authors: Sherryse
authors: S
authors: Corrow
authors: Division of Rehabilitation & Ageing, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
authors: Roshan
authors: R
authors: das Nair
authors: Department of Medicine (Neurology), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada; Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada; Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
authors: Jason J S
authors: JJ
authors: Barton
authors: Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA.
authors: Albert
authors: A
authors: Yonas
authors: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, USA.
authors: Brad
authors: B
authors: Duchaine
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D001364:Awareness; D002648:Child; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000523:psychology*; D004644:Emotions; D005145:Face; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D020238:Prosopagnosia / Q000151:congenital* / Q000523:psychology; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D012919:Social Behavior; D012931:Social Environment; D012938:Social Perception
keywords: Children; Developmental prosopagnosia; Face recognition; Psychosocial; Social development; Thematic analysis