Anonymous wrote:He very likely has early dementia. Just keep reminding him, even starting interactions with “hey I’m Jessica.”

This.

“This man does not have any cognitive issues or disabilities that I’m aware of.”

I have had trouble with word finding, especially names, as part of a disability that can affect cognition. I didn’t tell anyone at work about it because it was extremely embarrassing and I didn’t want to disclose personal health information. It certainly presented itself in a similar way where people may have thought I was singling them out for some reason. (Instead of male/female, I blanked on 2 people from a particular sub-department). Idk what the best way to deal with this would have been. Checking my email helped me say names after seeing them in writing, but it wasn’t always possible. Sometimes i thought I got someone’s name right and then realized that I called them the wrong name a day later.

How does he respond when you correct him?

He very likely has early dementia. Just keep reminding him, even starting interactions with “hey I’m Jessica.”

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have name blindness to some names. Like I have a neighbor named Hames and I constantly am unsure it is John, Jim, or even Bob or Mike.

I like him a great deal, we go to the same church, and see it each other several times a week.

At some point the early name confusion can linger as a panic when you see the person and are aware you keep forgetting their name and that adrenaline rush jumbles the name stack.

Me too. It's so embarrassing that I avoid social interaction sometimes if I can get out of it. I literally can't find the names of people I've known for a decade or more sometimes, while at other times and with certain people I remember. I hate when someone I know joins a conversation and I'm the one who knows everyone am supposed to make the introduction -- 60% of the time I can't do it! DH knows this and always introduces himself to get me off the hook, but in other scenarios, I just look rude. When introduced to someone, I typically forget their name in seconds even when I try all the tricks they teach you. I HATE it. I know how I come across and it is so humiliating.

If it were ONE PERSON at work, I am confident you could come up with a way of solving this.

Ugh I did this with a male coworker for far longer than I want to admit. His name was Jeremiah. I have a friend's husband who we see frequently named Josiah. I called this poor man Josiah so many times. It was NOT intentional. I had to basically pause before I said his name so I could remind myself. I eventually got it right but it was so embarrassing. Thankfully, he was understanding.

Wear a name tag for a month.

I would start telling him my name was Bananarama or Stephanie the wiggle or something really weird every single time.

Anonymous wrote:I have name blindness to some names. Like I have a neighbor named Hames and I constantly am unsure it is John, Jim, or even Bob or Mike.

I like him a great deal, we go to the same church, and see it each other several times a week.

At some point the early name confusion can linger as a panic when you see the person and are aware you keep forgetting their name and that adrenaline rush jumbles the name stack.

Me too. It's so embarrassing that I avoid social interaction sometimes if I can get out of it. I literally can't find the names of people I've known for a decade or more sometimes, while at other times and with certain people I remember. I hate when someone I know joins a conversation and I'm the one who knows everyone am supposed to make the introduction -- 60% of the time I can't do it! DH knows this and always introduces himself to get me off the hook, but in other scenarios, I just look rude. When introduced to someone, I typically forget their name in seconds even when I try all the tricks they teach you. I HATE it. I know how I come across and it is so humiliating.

Well that’s embarrassing for him. I would not take it personally, maybe he DOES have cognitive issues. I occasionally forget names and let me tell you, it’s not a good look for me.

I also blank on names I should definitely remember, but if I get one wrong I apologize. Does he?

Anonymous wrote:Call him by the wrong name. If he’s Eric call him Elvin. Jayden, call him Jerome. If he’s Scott, call him Seth. If he’s Jeremy, call him Jerry. Guarantee he’ll all of a sudden manage to get your name right.

this. have fun with it.

Call him by the wrong name. If he’s Eric call him Elvin. Jayden, call him Jerome. If he’s Scott, call him Seth. If he’s Jeremy, call him Jerry. Guarantee he’ll all of a sudden manage to get your name right.

You're not the one making this awkward, he is. He has plenty of solutions if he cared about solving this problem. Since your boss has picked up on this already, have a conversation with him about it.

I have name blindness to some names. Like I have a neighbor named Hames and I constantly am unsure it is John, Jim, or even Bob or Mike.

I like him a great deal, we go to the same church, and see it each other several times a week.

At some point the early name confusion can linger as a panic when you see the person and are aware you keep forgetting their name and that adrenaline rush jumbles the name stack.

I am one of the only women on a team of men. I have a very generic white woman name, think ‘Jessica’ or ‘Hannah’. About six months ago, a new man joined the team. He seems to be nice enough but he cannot remember my name - despite having no issue with the men’s names.

Every time I meet with him, he either calls me some other name beginning with the same letter or a nickname of my actual name that I do not go by (so say my name is Jessica…I get ‘Jane’, ‘Jessie’, ‘Jennifer’, etc.) Last week I was so frustrated that I snapped at him when he started with the wrong name and said ‘Again, my name is not Jane. It is Jessica. JESSICA.’ It is starting to feel a bit demeaning: I think my boss picked up on it as well as he corrected him in a recent meeting as well (“Bob, I believe you are referring to Jessica Smith, we do not have a Jane on this team.”) This man does not have any cognitive issues or disabilities that I’m aware of.

How would you address going forward? I already feel like the odd one out much of the time and it’s kind of embarrassing to have to keep correcting him.