Published on 12, July, 2020
I've not Googlerated this so I'm starting from quite a low point of knowledge.
I know that we can tend to have very good memory in certain areas and I know about the autistic savant.
So, what do you know about how our memories work and why?
Mainly though, what is your memory like?
What do you remember and what do you not so well?
I have an autistic friend and he can quote back to me the day of the week, date and year a lot of events happened - small events, things like the day we went on a day trip somewhere over the whole of his life - he's 63.
I don't have that kind of gift but I have realised in recent times that my memory is quite unusual.
I do remember being in the pram and then the pushchair.
However, what I remember really well is places, events in my life and people and the things that people say, going back all 6 decades.
I can mentally walk through every room of the places I've lived in during my life and even where the furniture is.
How about you?
I have excellent long-term memory, but pretty poor short-term memory. Someone will tell me something and I'll forget it. This was always a problem during studying. Yet I can remember these intricate details from meeting people, what they said, what they were wearing from 20+ years back. Completely useless details to remember in modern life. But there we go. It's a gift!! (maybe)
Temple Grandin's book The Autistic Brain sheds quite a lot of light on this, if you want to read into it further.
et I can remember these intricate details from meeting people, what they said, what they were wearing from 20+ years back. Completely useless details to remember in modern life. But there we go. It's a gift!! (maybe)
Indeed.
It's so interesting to find these points of connection between us.