Do people on the spectrum have good memories?

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My good memory extends as far as my interest in the subject. If I see an actor/actress on television or in a movie, within seconds I can tell my friends what other movies they've been in, who they played, and, on a good day, what their name is.
I have an excellent memory of most of the books I read.
If I like a movie or television episode enough, I can memorize and repeat all the dialog after a few viewings.

However I also often forget simple things that should be a given. I always tell people that my brain space is so taken up by useless knowledge and trivia that there isn't room for anything else!

Extremely poor short term memory. OK long term memory if you like 5-10 word answers.
I can remember random things but never anything that I can actually use.

I forget stuff on an epic level. I am constantly loosing the remote, dog leashes, my shoes, my medicine, and bottles of water. I forget the way to go to places that have been to more than once. I also forget to take my blood pressure medication as well.

I remember things that most people in my family don't remember. I get funny looks out of it.

yeah I can see many similarities in myself as to what has been said on this thread,
yes finding places after being there just once
also I can tell if I have ever watched a show or movie in the first couple of clips, won't be able to recall the name of it though

I have a verifiable eidetic memory.

The one positive thing the ASD blessed me with.

Ha ha ha ha. When I first saw the subject of this thread, I thought the OP meant "good" as in positive or happy memories.

I have an awesome memory. But it's kind of selective. I'm horrible at remembering faces or names. But I can recite a ton of minute details about my company from my job. This can also get me in trouble sometimes because I assume my boss remembers exactly what I told him months ago, but he forgets very easily.

I do.

I'm almost certain my IQ scores, the results of all my memory tests and just about everything else on the neuropsych evals i've had are nearly identical to those of many with Asperger's and NVLD.


Many with AS/NVLD claim to have great long-term memories and even, Eidetic ones.

Very few claim to have poor long-term memories and I haven't found ONE who claims to have long-term memory problems as severe as I believe my own are.

I swear in hell's court...... I think I might exchange my eternal soul just to find out EXACTLY what differentiates my own long-term memory problems from the less severe or more commonly, nonexistent, ones my fellows with NVLD/AS have.

terrible memory here. embarrassing, like i must have brain damage terrible. i couldn't give you anything close to a detailed synopsis of any book i've ever read, even things i've read multiple times. don't ask me what i had for lunch yesterday either.

I've got a good memory when it comes to dates and random things, and I remember names quite well but seem to forget faces

Sounds somewhat similar to me. Though I don't even know if I could give a synopsis AT ALL let alone a detailed one.

Half the days I don't even eat largely BECAUSE i'm so depressed about my inexpressibly awful memory. Thus....I can say there's a 50% chance I didn't have anything for lunch yesterday and that's about it.

Hello

This topic is very interesting because I too have a very good memory. It is like I have a video recorder and a video library in my head. I can remember things from as far back as when I was still being placed in a play pen during the day. I can still see 'footages' of the Amahs busy preparing food in the kitchen 'recorded' from between the bars of the play pen.

My short term memory is not as great unless it is something significant to me. 'Useless' information tends to not stay long in the library.

When it comes to directions, my dad used to find it very amusing to have me (as a 3 year old) showing him how to get to various destinations from our home. I was a little backseat driver. LOL. I also learn very quickly how to get around cities/towns that I move or travel to with ease but recently I noticed that I struggle a bit if we happen to get lost in a very busy street/highway in the burbs, especially if the driver is my other half.

As for traumatic or negative events, I not only remember things said word for word, I also have the footage permanently stored as well as any smell or texture registered. This is not good because any little thing can trigger the video machine in my head to start playing. I hate to re-live the events over and over.

When I was little, my mum used to ask me to count the sheep when I can't sleep at night. This was before I had ever seen a real sheep. On one page of my English 'textbook' at Kindergarten, there were no more than 5 sheep (including a black one) altogether. So it was quite pointless to count so few sheep if you can't sleep in my opinion. Nowadays when I have a busy head (a situation when I can't stop thinking) and can't sleep, I just reorganize shops that I like in my head. The City Target store is one that I feel quite comfortable to shop in because the staff just leave you be as you do your shopping. I would re-arrange the products according to a chosen 'era'. LOL (eg, Where was the toy dept when I first met my other half? What was next to it?) Sometimes I need something more challenging. So instead of the City Target store, I would re-arrange the entire Melbourne Central Shopping Centre back to the days when Daimaru was still there! This is all fine when I do it in my own head but it gets annoying when I drag my other half to places to point to him where a certain item we have at home was when I/we first got it! LOL On Monday, we went down to Chapel Street and went past a boutique with a rudish name and logos. There I stood at its entrance pointing at the precise spot where I bought the black tallboy back in 1993 when the shop was still a furniture shop. LOL

I have such a good memory, that I remember everything that happened to me, in my life. It makes it impossible for me to talk to my family members, who remember nothing. It also causes me emotional flashbacks. I've had a lot of those, as September 09 came to a close. I also remember what people do to me, and say about me. I remember everything, and that's where the unwanted vigilance used to set in. I've gotten rid of that vigilance, through hard work, and having a good role model, to look up to, in recent months. I'm much happier for it. I even remember everything that's happened, over my 6 years, at WrongPlanet.

This is what my family has always said about me. They say that I remember all of the 'unimportant' details but what I remember I don't see as unimportant. Every piece of every memory has it's rightful place and if it wasn't important to me, my brain would have discarded it. Isn't that the way the brain is supposed to work?
I mean, what you wore last Tuesday might not be important to you and what you had for dinner on a specific day you may not care about at all, but for the person with that specific memory it was be of some importance even if they can't see it, otherwise why hang onto such a thought?

I remember many things no one else does, and not just movies, but real life, too.