Special gift

Paper said:

Sadly I have a very bad episodic memory, so I don't remember social/people type of stuff or events in my own life. So my family will tell me about a holiday I went on with them and I have no memory of it.

I'm the opposite of you.

My memory for life events is quite detailed.

There's quite a lot of research about memory and autism.

I think that your type of recall is more typical of autistic people.

I have a brain that's like a sponge for remembering technical information, numbers etc. In the pre-internet days when I was a little kid my parents used me like a combination of a notebook and Google. What time did they put X in the oven? What was the phone number for <company>. What's the car registration plate that we saw a few hours ago? What exact model of car did we have 4 years ago? What serial number part did the manual we read last week say we needed to buy? They would never double check or look it up because they knew that their 7 year old kid always remembered such things correctly.

Sadly I have a very bad episodic memory, so I don't remember social/people type of stuff or events in my own life. So my family will tell me about a holiday I went on with them and I have no memory of it.

This is a nice thread, thank you.

My autistic friend remembers the dates of lots of things.

So, for example, I can say 'when did we visit so and so a place' and he will tell me a day of the week, month and year within the last 30 years.

I think it's good to think positively about ourselves.

I suppose my memory is a gift but it can be a bane too.

I remember a lot of my past.