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Memory problems and making conversation

Guernseyguy

Hello everyone.

I am new here and i have been browsing the forum here for a while now.

I wanted to make a post, to see if other people who are autistic, suffer with both, short term and long term memory problems? 

In particular, remembering conversations, or remembering a programme you watched last night,? et's say for example EastEnders. If I was to watch an episode and then the next episode the following day I've forgotten what happended the day before.

I can't remember conversations I've had with people the previous day. Sometimes, even the same day, but only a few hours later. I find myself trying to recollect what was said, but to be met with complete mind blank.

I have struggled, for as long as I can remember, with small talk, making and holding conversations,  like many others here on the forum.

Talking and the effort it takes me, to try and do the above I find very stressful. I also tend to script play scenarios in my head, how I think the conversation will go and what I'm going to say.in reply  issue is tho, Most of the time, it goes another direction and I'm then left feeling on the spot and very uncomfortable.

I hope joining here I will find people I can relate too.

Seeing everyone around me making conversation and making it appear so easy makes me feel a failure too. Does anyone feel the same? 

Has anyone with asd ever felt like an outcast to the rest of society?

If anyone here suffers with the memory issues or similar like I have  mentioned at the start of my post, do you have anything that you find helps you? 

Thank you for reading my post 

p 

Parents

  • I remember faces more than names but ngl if I spoke to someone only once or twice 10 years ago I won't remember their face either, and then I get a random stranger wave at me in the street and in my head I'm like oh no where/when are you from? Faces will go into the long term memory easier if I interacted with the person more than a handful of times, but the name will take months of regular interaction to be retained, and I swear it's not personal it's just I already have so much I struggle to remember daily and weekly that unless you "join the regular cast" I just don't seem to have the memory space to dedicate for what your name is and the last conversation we had.
    Case in point: Because I barely meet my neighbours (ships in the night is the term I'd use) it's taken me about a year I've lived on this street per house to learn the immediately nearby houses occupants names. I only just got the names of one of the next door downs because they dropped a xmas card and signed their names at the bottom. That card has now gone in a collection of last years cards I use to double check not just the names but the spellings of people I know just incase I meet them on the pathway. Sometimes if I get chatting to one of them I'll be trying to alude to others and get them to drop the name so after the conversation I can run inside and write the others names down.
    Other half is no use to ask as his brain does the exact same thing. But then we suspect him of having ADD.
    (I'd consider it myself too but mine is not at the other half's level, and I do know my memory has been damaged by trauma as it never used to be this bad for me.)

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  • I remember faces more than names but ngl if I spoke to someone only once or twice 10 years ago I won't remember their face either, and then I get a random stranger wave at me in the street and in my head I'm like oh no where/when are you from? Faces will go into the long term memory easier if I interacted with the person more than a handful of times, but the name will take months of regular interaction to be retained, and I swear it's not personal it's just I already have so much I struggle to remember daily and weekly that unless you "join the regular cast" I just don't seem to have the memory space to dedicate for what your name is and the last conversation we had.
    Case in point: Because I barely meet my neighbours (ships in the night is the term I'd use) it's taken me about a year I've lived on this street per house to learn the immediately nearby houses occupants names. I only just got the names of one of the next door downs because they dropped a xmas card and signed their names at the bottom. That card has now gone in a collection of last years cards I use to double check not just the names but the spellings of people I know just incase I meet them on the pathway. Sometimes if I get chatting to one of them I'll be trying to alude to others and get them to drop the name so after the conversation I can run inside and write the others names down.
    Other half is no use to ask as his brain does the exact same thing. But then we suspect him of having ADD.
    (I'd consider it myself too but mine is not at the other half's level, and I do know my memory has been damaged by trauma as it never used to be this bad for me.)

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