Autistic memory

L said:

Sometimes my memory feels like a special gift and other times it's more like a curse.

I find that remembering past pain and what caused it (emotional mainly) is something I'd rather not have.

It's very easy to access emotions of, say, 40 years ago and exactly why.

It's the reason I no longer listen to music - so much of it is a trigger.

L said:

I can remember traumatic things really well.

Me too.

Homebird said:

However in regard to the past I can be on a journey and at a particular place remember who was with me and what we talked about many years ago. I also have memories about perfumes, for example a smell of a soap I took to a particular special place I went to stay years ago. 

Both those points are true of me too.

Amerantin (former member) said:

I’m also excellent at losing keys, wallets etc. I put things down and immediately forget where

Yes, me and my autistic friend too.

Interesting.

Amerantin (former member) said:

I suppose there were lots of clues that I was autistic, had I or anyone else been paying attention.

'Hindsight is a wonderful thing'.

Me too.

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.

I am not very good at remembering recent things and frequently going into a room have to stop and think what I went to get. If I have something new to learn I have to keep doing it before I remember. I am terrible at remembering telephone numbers and also birthdays unless they are certain numbers.

However in regard to the past I can be on a journey and at a particular place remember who was with me and what we talked about many years ago. I also have memories about perfumes, for example a smell of a soap I took to a particular special place I went to stay years ago. 

I did a long reply to this quoting (which is where I go wrong, the spam bots seem suspicious of quoting).

It went into spam.

Hopefully it will appear on Monday.

The crux is that a lot of what you experience, I do too.

I have had to rejoin the forum as my reply went into spam.

Whenever that happens, I'm no longer able to reply (at all, to anything) until the mods approve it.

So, I should have my old ID back by early next week.

I therefore won't be replying to PMs either.

I have a rather odd experience every time I have a cold. Basically it’s like I lay down  a memory of my body/mind state. It’s not a feeling, or smell, or a sound it’s like everything mixes together to make something else.

But the result of this is that when I have a cold I get very vivid recall of all the other times I’ve had a cold, all the way back to childhood.

I’ve tried explaining this to people before but never found anyone with a similar experience.

I have an amazing memory. I can remember people, places, everything really. Sometimes I can remember smells as well. I can remember traumatic things really well.

Sometimes my memory feels like a special gift and other times it's more like a curse.

I’ve always thought of myself as generally unusual. I certainly knew my memory for dates and events was very odd.

I suppose there were lots of clues that I was autistic, had I or anyone else been paying attention.

I’m also excellent at losing keys, wallets etc. I put things down and immediately forget where.

I just replied to this but it's gone into spam.

shooting star said:

if someone gives me verbal instructions i have to write them down or have them repeated at every step.

I believe that's very autistic.

I'm the same.

shooting star said:

I have difficulty in visualising especially people's faces

Me too - this type of 'face blindness' can also be an autistic thing, I believe (but I'm not sure).

shooting star said:

but I can remember tiny details of things from my past like the buttons a dress I had when I was 4 or the way Louise used to pick at the skin on her fingers in pre school can't picture her face tho), the smell of the shed where we kept out goat Rosie and the exact order my dad would mow the lawn in.

Yep.  Absolutely!  Just like me (although not those actual memories)

shooting star said:

Dates are a real issue

Me too.

Interesting.

Amerantin (former member) said:

I have an excellent memory for anything related to my special interests.

Before you realised you might be autistic, did you think your memory was unusual?

My memory is shocking in some areas, most days I can't remember  what I had for breakfast and if someone gives me verbal instructions i have to write them down or have them repeated at every step.

I have difficulty in visualising especially people's faces although I'm more able to visualise a photo of them than from real life but I can remember tiny details of things from my past like the buttons a dress I had when I was 4 or the way Louise used to pick at the skin on her fingers in pre school can't picture her face tho), the smell of the shed where we kept out goat Rosie and the exact order my dad would mow the lawn in.

I can probably tell you what I've eaten at any given gathering or event, as long as I can remember the event but I couldn't tell you anything about the venue or who was there.

I seem to retain random general knowledge that I don't particularly want (although useful for quizes!) and if it's a subject I'm really in to I'll retain information but struggle to hold on to things I'm just not interested in.

Dates are a real issue, I can't remember birthdays or important things like the dates iof passing of family members and if I didn't have a cv I wouldn't be able to tell you where I've worked or when. I forget how old I am and have to work it out!

There is probably more but I'll leave it there for now.

I have an excellent memory for anything related to my special interests. Bit of a walking encyclopaedia in that respect. Also peoples names, birthdays etc.

I also tend to have an overly specific memory for events so while most people might say something happened “five or ten years” ago, I will generally be oddly specific - either give the date or say “7 months ago”.

I am aware that age is catching up on me a little bit though, sometimes my recall takes a little longer than it used to.