Published on 12, July, 2020
Has anyone else tried the Aphantasia test which the BBC has put online? I scored 18, which is low aparently. I have trouble remembering/recognising people and this is connected.
I do occasionally have very clear mental amages of things and they startle me with their clarity, posibly because I struggle to conjure up the faces and general appearance of my family. A work colleague once told me she has lots of illuminations on her bike. I have been stuck with an image of her on her bike wearing her green hat and a string of fairy lights from the handle bars to the back of the saddle supported on two poles above her head. However, I can barely summon up a picture of my husband or son. They are very vague. The image of my husband is quite Picasso like, with his disruly eyebrows and thin hair appearing in sequence rather than a total picture.
What do you see?
You may have prognoposia rather than aphantasia. That is more to do with facial recognition. I fail to recognise some people, while others are memorable.
I have tried visualising other objects, eg an apple. If I really try hard, I can visualise the dimple where the stalk is attached, but the rest of the apple barely has a shape and no colour.
I have read about our noticing detail rather than the whole picture and wonder if that affects my ability to visualise a whole picture. I have always struggled with this notion of having ane eye for detail and took it to be a case of "can't see the wood for trees". But now I suspect I see one thing and fail to notice other obvious things that everyone else sees. I once met a friend who I hadn't seen for a couple of years. I had been with her for half an hour when she mentioned the impending birth of her first child. Somehow, I had failed to notice that she was 9 months pregnant.
On asd tests,it asks, "do you notice details about people that others do not". I remember my pregnant friend, and say no. I seem to miss the glaringly obvious, seeing nothing when overwhelmed by new things to take in. I am beginning to think that sensory overload may prevent me from taking things in.
It is so dificult to compare oneself with the "normal". I have lived 60 years not knowing how different I am and find it difficult to grasp that others have abilities that I do not have. I am used to being me and have worked around these things.