Lack of memory capacities... anyone have this?

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My memory was great, but the more NT I became, the worse my memory got. It's a very interesting proportional increase/decrease.

My memory is horrible, except for things that interest me; most other things I don't care about and forget. Also, I don't remember the past well, at all. I barely remember my childhood at all, except a few instances. I'm in 11th grade and barely remember 6th grade. My memory gets really hazy around 7th or 8th grade. I remember last year pretty well, 9th grade quite a bit, 8th too, but not much of 7th grade, and barely anything before that, only specific instances which I can see in my mind.

Yeah, for both long- and short-term. Though when it comes to long-term, I think it's actually better than average -- it's just hard having the right context come up so that I can access it. The stuff about memory being triggered makes a lot of sense. For a while I had thought I forgotten a lot of things, but I've found that it's still there -- it's just hard to get at it.

Like many of the previous posters, my memory is very uneven. I have horrible short-term memory, to the point that I have a really difficult time remembering phone numbers or names or what I'm doing. If I can manage to retain something long enough to get it into long-term memory, then my memory is great. If I'm trying to recall something, I am very, very slow to remember, but once I start remembering, I can recall a lot of details.

Same here. I'm becoming less NT now and my brain is starting to clear up. I think that's why once I stopped caring about coming across as NT, my marks in school skyrocketed.

My memory is variable. There was a period in my life when my mind was so fogged up that I can't remember anything specific that I've learned then, just random scenes from my day-to-day life. My memory also gets worse due to stress and sensory overload. It's in its top shape during the summer holidays, but the further I get into school, the more unreliable my memory becomes. My short-term memory is much worse than my long-term memory, but when my mind is in its top shape, I can remember concrete pieces of information presented to me verbally from the first attempt. I can also sometimes remember things photographically exactly as they are.

I understand now. Thank you for clarifying that for me.



Yes. I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, Tourette's, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Asperger's, and ADHD as a child. My Bipolar is rapid-cycling, and I have hypomania to severe mania, mild low mood to major depressive episodes, and a state of mixed symptoms, frequently cycling from low and high, and everything in-between, in a day.

Thank you for responding, everyone. I'm still reading the rest of the replies. I'll try to have a response later today. A bit busy this week.

Yeah that's the one thing that I feel seperates me from people with Aspergers apart from a few people posting on this thread including yourself Unlimited_Sky, my short term memory seems a little none existant in some instances, example: I do voluntary work which involves setting up gym equipment a certain way for folks with learning disabilities, I'll often find myself reading specific written down settings many times over, it's as though after I read them the first time they are left in suspension somewhere in my brain - unreachable, so I have to re-read to push the process along & access them, though when I look at the instructions the second time they seem very familiar ah .

I'm unsure if my long term memory is very bad, if my memories are never formed fully (aka many gaps are missed), accessing them that's the major problem or a mixture of the above, either way it's the same muddled up outcome. It seems as though my memory is made up of millions of photographs - most of them torn up scraps, some bits appear blurred some have been patched up in a mix mash of similar looking but altogether different photos - similar memories always interfere with specific details cutting the interference out can be a real challenge. I have no real time frame, I have to work out the time things took place etc from looking at the picture in my mind trying to spot people, objects, scenery that can give me an idea, using the present time & fresher memories as a marker.

Recently I ended up seeing part of a comedy show I had already watched the night before, it was a repeat my dad just happenned to be watching on tv. I was utterly shocked when parts of the show along with the jokes appeared to be totally unfamiliar & new to me, other parts were very familiar & recognisable but it wasn't as though I'd remembered one half of the show then not the other, it was as if I'd remembered 30 seconds, then no recollection of the next 30 seconds then recall of the next etc you get the pattern, I just can't explain it. Took me bloody ages to type this lol.

My memory seems to come and go sometimes. Like I will forget something at one point and even without being reminded remember it later. If I really focus I can make it come, such as for tasks.

What gets me really pissed off is that people assume you either know something 100% or 0%, so when I'm doing any kind of new activity with people I have to put all my focus into the activity and ignore them while doing it or else even if it's something I know how to do (or know it somewhere in my brain) I'll screw it up and they'll embarrass me by assuming that it's nowhere in my brain and that I never had done it right before.

One time I was bowling with new people but wasn't really in a very competitive mood, felt more like talking to people a lot so I didn't put much effort into throwing the ball. People started giving me pointers I had heard before, and someone even asked if it was my first time bowling. I'm not a terribly good bowler, but when I'm focused I'm decent.

If this happened occassionally that would be one thing, but if this keeps happening people are going to doubt my intelligence and competence. I think they might already, but that might be a misinterpretation.

To top it off I've made some very stupid mistakes when I've felt under pressure or rushed, because that stops me from focusing, then I get too focused on worry or on my feelings.

I think I might have just described the whole verbal IQ versus performance IQ thing.

Wow, same here! It's really weird. I think my brain was making more room for social skills, etc. and it had to prune some of the memory stuff.

I would really LOVE to construct a giant post about all this as the OP's memory issues (and those of some other posters in this thread) sound remarkably similar to my own and at least AS mysterious. For all my adult and adolescent life, i've firmly believed I have SEVERE and MONSTROUSLY debilitating memory impairements in ALL types of long-term memory mentioned by the OP.


Sadly....I don't have the time to create such a post at present and don't know when I will have the necessary time again. I'm working now full time/40hrs (and then some!! !.....big OT!! ! ) in tech support/customer service for a well-known call center outsourcing company and i'm servicing their Verizon Wireless account. I'm also doing a billion other things (both "business" and pleasure stuff) and don't even have time to breathe. The starting pay is hardly acceptable, ( $10.00 per hour ) but it's actually a fun job, my co-workers are terrific and it's not TOO far from my house. I AM having SOME NLD/Asperger's-related issues with it and possibly some related to the memory problems I strongly suspect I have to boot. Still...none of these issues have resulted in my termination....YET. Not that management has given me any reason to suspect they're thinking of firing me, but many of us (myself included) with NLD/Asperger's often have a great deal of difficulty maintaining employment, not to mention gaining it in the first place.

They were informed of my disability issues.... (by me of course)......but idk what "reasonable accommodations" they could realistically provide for me. I might be able to get some forgiveness for my weird-ness, eccentricities, introversion, special interests, constant and obvious anxiety, sensory issues, hand/body tremors, eye contact issues, inability to smile or exhibit any facial expressions at all, anger/stress management issues, crap motor skills, etc.... I don't think anything...however.... can be done about my processing speed issues, visual-spatial deficits (those likely wouldn't create any problem/s on this job though), executive functioning issues, (i.e.....difficulty multi-tasking ,etc....) impaired sustained attention, etc.....,

Nor do I think they could accommodate me for any of the memory problems I strongly believe I have.

The trouble is.....NO ONE (aside from many on WrongPlanet) believes I have ANY memory issues at all. I just don't have ANY objective confirmation for the existence of them I have undergone SIX full neuropsychological evaluations in my life and they were all administered by liscensed, perfectly credible and respected professionals.

All I can say is that I KNOW FOR CERTAIN that i'm not deliberately/consciously fabricating these memory problems and they SEEM very, very, real to me and evidently....me and me ALONE. Well..... with the exceptions of the more enlightened non-neurotypical folks here on WP and the few psychologists who've tested me who realize that the conventional neuropsych tests of memory have their limitations..... perhaps to say the least according to much in this article:


http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/content/123/3/472.full



NONE of these evaluations yielded ANY problems whatsoever with my memory.....(long-term or short-term/working memory) save some moderate deficits in visual memory which are exceedingly common among those with Asperger's/NLD-NVLD anyway. In fact......my working memory index scores have always been in the high average-superior ranges depending on which of the six evals we're talking about. My long-term memory for verbal info (the VERBAL side of semantic memory ) and my autobiographical (episodic) memory is also supposedly average-very superior according again to the specific neuropsych eval in question.

Also.....I ALWAYS score EXTREMELY high (97-99%-centile plus) on the Information subtest found on all WAIS tests.....all recent editions at least.

This subtest is a test........ at least in part....... of long-term memory as well.

Idk where I stand on Procedural memory insofar as the psychologists/neuropsychologists who i've seen are concerned. I think my procedural memory is quite horrid as well, but AFAIK, there IS no specific test/s designed to assess procedural memory abilties or at least none can be found in the common clinical setting.

Anyway....according to the most recent neuropsycholgist I saw (in June) AND several things i've read/heard, it is ENTIRELY possible to have severe memory problems which simply "fly under the radar screen" of the coventional neuropsychlogical tests of memory.

This is from Dr. Byron Rourke's (Neuropsychologist and leading NLD/NVLD researcher) website:


"Tertiary Deficits

Memory. Memory for tactile and visual input is poor. Relative deficiencies in these areas tend to increase over the course of development, except for material that is programmatic and overlearned (e.g., spoken natural language). Memory for nonverbal material, whether presented through the auditory, visual, or tactile modalities, is poor if such material is not readily coded in a verbal fashion. Relatively poor memory for complex, meaningful, and/or novel verbal and nonverbal material is typical. Differences between good to excellent memory for rote material and impaired memory for complex material and/or that which is not readily coded in a verbal fashion tend to increase with age."

http://www.nld-bprourke.ca/
_________________
Born into a scene of angriness and greed, dominance and persecution. My mother was a queen, my daddy never seen, I was never meant to be.

Last edited by Horus on 08 Feb 2011, 5:33 am, edited 1 time in total.

Your Brain Plasticity may be unusual, in that long term connections cannot be maintained. Usually a connection requires regular repetitive usage after forming to become more permanent and there is a process that transforms short-term connections to long-term. AS/neurodiverse brain can have a higher consistency threshold for this reinforcement, and there is evidence of impairment relating to the neuro-enzymes that maintain these links and transfer to long-term. Having Bipolar, Depression or a co-morbid condition compounding your situation makes it worse.

My memory is terrible the few times I see my sister like once every 7 years she's always saying how she feels so bad because she was horrible to me as a child.

I only have good memories of her though

Most of my childhood and teenage years is a blank apart from when I've been in trouble, It's pretty weird because I was always out with friends from the age of 4-15 and knew everyone for miles around so you would think I'd have loads of nice memories

My memory capacities change. They get better or worse depending on my energy levels. I generally have an excellent long term memory and can remember in great detail. But sometimes my short term memory just disappears completely for awhile. When I am well rested and well fed I do better. If I am overfed I do worse.

It changes, some time's it is good, sometimes it is bad. Recently it has been terrible. I always have a great memory for my interests though

My long term memory is good, I can remember childhood incidents easily. But I'm rubbish for remembering things from five years ago, or so. At my last job I had to write down passwords for all the various systems we would access, I couldn't recall them at will.

Yeah my memory is awful too- can barely remember anything from childhood, never remember telling people things (my family have a system that if i've told them three or so times they let me say it again, but if i've already said it 5 times or more they'll tell me!), and also forgetting appointments/things i have to do/answers to questions i've just asked.

I do know that a lot of it is to do with attention though. Obviously if I'm distracted/daydreaming about my special interest/anxious, i am not paying attention to what is being said. similarly if i'm info dumping, i am reeling off so much information so fast that i don't really pay attention to what i'm saying and consequently say it again & again.

I was actually diagnosed as having a 'specific processing disorder' (before the whole autism thing became a possibility) which was basically due to my (working) memory being so bad. This, apparently, is very common in people on the spectrum.