Is anyone else's memory like this?

Post Reply New Topic

I have a great long-term memory, I can remember a time when I was almost 2 years old but my short-term memory is terrible like forgetting what I entered a room for or leaving something in the room that I need elsewhere, etc.

You as well?

I found after burnout and during burnout or anxiety/stress, my shorter term memory can be effected. Long term memories are "Fixed" and are ok...

I often where I have worked in the past have to write things down on my hand. I tried notes but I would forget where I put the notes. I could not forget where I put my hand!

I tend to rely very much on notes to keep myself on track. I feel like if I don't get it out of my head and onto paper then it's gone.

My short term memory sucks, but I can also have a good long term memory. I have a lot of memories from when I was a baby/toddler, but I often forget information or instructions that people have just told me a second ago.

I am very much like that and I have concluded it is the "type" of memory that is different. The long term memories are of events, often involving other people. The things I forget quickly are things like people's names and what I was going to do. We are known for remembering lots of facts but I think other parts of our memories are less developed.

When I received my diagnosis I observed to the Psychologist that I thought Aspies had a great memory. She corrected that to: they (we) often have a great memory for things that interest us. That is a reasonable description of me.

Apparently very few things interest me.

My memory seems to be associative. Thinking of one thing will cause me to think of something else, etc. Unfortunately the associations are inconsistent and unpredictable. But I don't remember much more than a few pieces of data that could go onto a PowerPoint slide...not sights or sounds.

I did better in school when what I had to remember was concepts and how things worked. Computer programming was good for me.

I can relate to this. I recall many things from childhood, even pre-school as clear as yesterday. But short term memory a disaster at times. I can't tell you how many times I leave my milk to boil over on the stove while busy with something on the PC. When I focus on something, I tend to really focus, but when dealing with some everyday issues such as finding my keys, money etc then I feel as scatterbrained as a chameleon crossing a rainbow.

Personally I have a decent long-term memory, but it is very weak before the age of about 10 or so. Pretty much the only thing I remember from that time is getting ready for a hurricane and the aftermath of the storm... and a massive snow fort my father and I built after a snowstorm. Guess I have a particularly bad case of childhood amnesia.

The one weakest point I have is visual short term memory. This lead to frequent question such as "what was I going to do?" or "what was I looking for?" or "why am I carrying so much stuff?". This is backed up by psychological testing which showed I have good memory for what I hear, but not what I see. Probably related to NLD.

There's one exception to my lack of short term visual memory: navigating outside. For some reason I have no problem recognizing a particular tree, cliff, or other landmark. Maybe it's just because landmark recognition is seen as a high-priority task by my brain and therefore more resources are allocated to it.

That "internal GPS" ability to recognize landmarks is very useful!

Sometimes I also go into a room and then wonder why I came there or what I was looking for or wanted to do there.

My long-term memory is quite good but maybe rather selective. Short-term memory kind of hit-and-miss. It performs better these days, possibly because I retired and so don't have to remember so much that I'm not particularly interested in, and I'm not so stressed out or tired as I was. But I do remember a time when my short-term memory seemed shot to pieces. I noticed that it was always worse if I had any other thoughts in between. I gather they call that "working memory," the ability to retain information in the short term in the face of intervening thoughts. It helped me to vividly picture in my imagination the item I had to remember. Usually when I forgot something it was because I hadn't done that, and sometimes I'd paid hardly any attention to the item at all, so not surprisingly it didn't stick. But at work I was sometimes too rushed, stressed and confused to be able to do that.

There's this thing that happens commonly to people when they go into another room to get something - by the time they get there they forget what it was. Happens to me, it's as if I've left my memory behind in the other room. But I've been surprised how often I can remember what I wanted if I just keep calm and wait a few seconds. It's as if the memory is still there, it just feels like it's gone, and it just needs a bit of time to come back into view.

Yes! I have the same thing. I too can remember back to when I was two, well a little before I was 2! But I too can forget what happened minutes or hours ago!

So I feel ya!

Did people ever criticizingly tell you "You can remember this (what they think/say is less important) but you can't remember that?! (what they think is more important.)" I hate that!

Or like "You can remember what happened when you were two but can't remember what you did minutes ago/what I just told you/what 4 x 4 is???"

In a way they're kind of right but on the other hand it is discouraging!

Hmph. You seem to have been issued better memories than I got.

My short-term memory is horrible. I can take my pills (I'm old) and by the time I've walked across the room I'm unsure if I took the pills. On the way out of the house I typically go back at least twice to verify I locked the front door. Etc. (These are not related to age. I had a terrible memory as a young child, too.)

Almost no old memories, except some facts--not pictures, not sounds, just something akin to an entry in an almanac. Due to my memory I very much live in the present...I can't remember the past very well.

Plus, face-blindness. Sometimes I remember useless trivia about folk I've met. But can't remember their name or face.

And I think once or twice I've even gotten lost in straight hallways (which door did I come out of?).

Typically I do best remembering concepts and how things work.

But in proper Aspie fashion, I don't remember hardly a thing unless I find it interesting.

I've been working on my coping skills for a very, very long time.

If you were talking to me, not all my memories from before and when I was 2 were great, some of them I regret, like my crying (one reason was because my mother wasn't there and I was left with someone I didn't know well or with someone I didn't like at the time, or being taken from my grandmother.) I also cried on my first and especially second day of kindergarten, being left with a bunch of people, including children, I didn't even know! I annoyed lots of people and lived with that guilt and with feelings of worthlessness for a long time! And you have no idea how many babysitters I went through! My mother had me at 16!

Sometimes I'm not sure if I'd taken my medication. I may almost be 36 but I already have health issues including mentally and beyond autism, I also have OCD! If I'm not sure I took a medicine, I usually not though it may mean missing my dose for that day, better that than to OD!

I've also had to check to see if a door was locked, even while inside the house. Or check to make sure I turned the stove off, and I had times I forgot to turn off the oven and my mother caught it, which was embarrassing, not to mention dangerous and fire makes me uncomfortable, even the smallest amount and even if it can be contained instantly! Again I have OCD (back in 2012 I had this problem of washing my hands excessively!

I too have face-blindness if that's what it's called. I too am bad with names and sometimes faces, and that's shaming! And i too can remember useless trivia about such people or remember wrong things about people, like bad things they did instead of the good! Need to work on that!

"I had a terrible memory as a young child, too.)" Wow, I hate to imagine what your childhood was like, no offense meant! This coming from me not remembering things others expected me to remember and getting criticized and even punished for it. I even tried remembering things and still failed and still got reprimanded! If this happened to you too, you have my empathy.

I've written too much, but I think I understand you and you might just understand me!

Unfortunately no "hugging" emoticons/smilies or I'd select one!

Retirement is very nice.

While I wish the Pandemic had never happened and would like it to magically disappear, mainly the impact on me has been minor inconvenience. I would make a great hermit, but I miss fast-food.