Amanda Green suffers from Prosopagnosia, Face Blindness
Amanda suffered brain damage and later Prosopagnosia at age 10. Amanda Green having could not recognize her professors or classmates or even class. This spring she graduated from the White Bear Lake Area School District’s Transition Plus program and the Northeast Metro 916 Career and Technical Center’s Child Development Careers program.
“It’s like I’m meeting everyone for the first time every time, I had to relearn everything. It’s hard for people to understand” she said.
She also has trouble gauging facial expressions. The recognition impairments also extend beyond faces. She also has trouble recognizing places and many objects.
Prosopagnosia is a disorder that impairs our ability to recognize faces. It is also called “face blindness”. It is moreover related to acute brain damage; it is found that there are people who inherit this disorder. 2.5% of the population suffers form prosopagnosia.
Some people are born with prosopagnosia. Others, including Amanda, acquire it after a brain injury.
Along with prosopagnosia, she suffered memory and other cognitive deprivations. She forgot how to read, how to calculate math problems and more.
Special education services helped her relearn and continue on to graduate from White Bear Lake Area High School in 2008. She started taking courses at the Career and Technical Center senior year. Transitions Plus provides additional services for adult students, ages 18 to 21, with special needs.
Case manager Jean Thompson said Amanda keeps a positive attitude and doesn’t give up.
“She’s come so far,” Thompson said.
Her 916 teacher, Deb Warnsholz, encouraged her to attend Century College. She’s now taking a full course load working toward Associate of Arts and Associate of Science degrees. After this summer she’ll have completed 47 credits.
