Can you picture objects in your mind?

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For example if you were asked to picture a toy car can you see all of it?
I first feel what it sounds like if I flick my fingernail on it.
Second, with the car facing as if it were driving to my left, I see the bottom right wheel and slightly above it.
Third I see the top middle but lose the wheel.
Fourth I see the bottom middle.
Fifth I see the front left.
Each time I lose all other parts.

Chairs show up in bits and pieces, again losing previous parts of it that I had seen.

Individual people are impossible. I might see a glimpse of hair but that is it. Even with trying to picture my family. And the strange thing is that I don't look there when I talk to someone. I look past their ear.

And even when closing my eyes and mentally trying to picture something, I end up with a headache from moving my eyes.

How about the rest of you?

Wow I relate to this quite a lot. When I imagine something, I too can only imagine parts, and the rest is like it's not there.

Same. l didn't look to see if you have DX or not but it is very common for autistics to be extremely skilled in visualizing objects.

l think NVLDers have an impairment in that area, l would say l fit most of that label. l can't visualize as well as most NTs can pr even most NT women can.

Simple geometry is a challenge for me and you wouldn't believe some of the tasks l did the hard way for years due to spatial deficiency because of this.

Last edited by EXPECIALLY on 21 Jul 2012, 12:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Short answer: yes. I also see everything in "exploded view" with imaginary lines showing where each part of the object belongs and how the parts relate to one another. I can also readily change the perspective from which I see the object.

yeah, with varying degrees of resolution and recall, depending on the object.
Things I don't care about slip away quickly. Things I like, like machines, devices, anatomical parts, they're all things my mind likes to dissect.
When I was a kid I used to fill my notebooks with 3d drawings and lots of triangles. Now, when I'm working on something in my head, I absently draw those things. For example, I will draw a big triangle and then continue dividing it into smaller ones until the pen is too big to be accurate.

Being able to see things in this way has been very helpful to me in my working and personal life.

Actually, this is probably it. I tried imagining things just now and I did find it was depending on what I was trying to imagine.

I tried imagining my front room, and I could picture everything, but picturing some people in my life, some I can imagine in full, and some I can't, they're just like floating heads.

I know one person with AS that can see full objects in the mind.

I wish I could. Do you think it is possible to learn or teach yourself to do that? It would make sign language (I'm taking a class.) a lot easier because in ASL you often show what something looks like with your hands.

Especially, you mentioned NVLD. I am verbal but have a LD-NOS.

@uhura yes, l think l have NVLD. Not sure if things would have been better for me if l were ever diagnosed with it. Maybe l would have been excused from geometry, that's basically when l went off the deep end math wise and gave up afterward -_-

It's the reason l still hang out here, even some of the personality traits are shared and the general weirdness but l suppose l ultimately feel more like "half" of an Aspie.

Yeah, but you'd have to unplug and really focus.
I feel like a lot of the problems people on the spectrum have arise from the web access they have and the constant thumbing through the interwebs, playing games, etc. They never have a chance to sit and just be.
*old man mode*
In my day (the 80's), we didn't have all this computer stuff (though computers were neato and we had DOS and Atari and Nintendo) and I spent a lot of time outdoors cultivating woodcraft skills or just staring into a creek, reading real paper books with a smell and a feel, and eating dinner at the table without the TV on.
The average kid nowadays gets 0 time to have their brain in neutral, so I believe a lot of these mental hat tricks like visualization never really develop well, or they atrophy from disuse. We know that the brain will often prune neural pathways that are unused.
*old man mode off*

I remark that a lot of the other vintage bike mechanics I know of will spend hours alone in their shop working on a machine, usually solving a problem or tackling a problem that's arisen during a "routine" maintenance.
I think there's a lot of value to unplugging and not allowing yourself the luxury of distraction. One of those is the ability to see things in your head with a high degree of accuracy.
For example, in times past it used to be a big deal to field strip a 1911 military handgun blindfolded while being timed. That's serious integration of mechanical agility and mental visualization that an Aspie can excel at, but you'll not see many young Aspie's doing stuff like that because they're all jacked into the matrix.
I.e.:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_hrLanhQnQ
and stuff.

Can you develop it? You bet. But, you can't develop it with a half hearted effort. You have to stick with it, which is a problem for many on the spectrum.

Yes. It's all about "mindfulness". Google mindfulness. It's easy, everyone does it without realising. It's about just being mindful to what you're doing. Doing 1 thing at a time.

Have you ever read a book and been so sucked into it you forgot everything around you? That's mindfulness

As Kraven said above, a lot of the examples he gave, were being mindful. As he also explained, because of the technology now, people just don't get a chance to use their brains properly anymore.

Let's see: How to reply?

First of all I am not a kid. I'm not sure if you were saying I am or not. I am actually in my late 30s but between AS and other disabilities people think I am 10 or more years younger.

I'll try to personalize what you said into how I can use it. I was an adult when I got my first computer. It was a gift from my dad, who I think was tired of snail mailing me and wanted to email me. Funny with a parent more into the computer than the daughter.

I would have been a kid in the 80s though. I spent my time indoors with a book and dolls. Although I can only remember the books. The dolls I just know from pictures. I remember very little of my childhood.

When I was really young, I was told we did but I don't remember and basically didn't grow up with it. Mom worked too late. Nothing against my parents. I am not saying that.

I guess maybe my book could be a substitute for what you were talking about in the bike mechanics. I am reading, or on internet forums most of the time. Although I do things with people as much as possible. Which is not often compared to NTs.

Youtube isn't an option to watch right now so can't comment on that.

I don't know if it is because of AS or my LD-NOS but I can't generalize. Very frustrating to need to have everything taught to me as a separate skill and then to struggle to categorize when others see it as a variation of a skill they already know.

I just need step by step ways to learning to see full objects in my mind.

I see the whole thing. I know what a toy car looks like so I picture a toy car.

Yes, its very easy for me. Its harder for me to put a mental picture in words, though I do try through poetry & other forms of creative writing..
Its as natural as breathing, I must say.

Sincerely,
Matthew

Sorry, didn't mean to imply that you're a kid. I often write responses as much for the asker as the casual readers who might stumble across it.
Professional byproduct of being a freelance writer.

Steps to visualization:
1. Get yourself a deck of cards.
2. Turn off everything around you, including your phone and computer. Be mindful, as mentioned. Or try to.
3. Shuffle, then draw 1 card.
4. Look at it for 10 seconds or so.
5. Close your eyes and try to recall what details look like. If it's a face card, what color are the eyes? What is the left hand holding?
6. Open your eyes and look at the card. Compare your recall with it.

Do this until you can accurately recall what the cards look like, including flaws like ragged corners or scratches. Change decks frequently, including the type of deck, if you can.
Then, step up to more complex drawings or paintings.
If you're mechanical at all, take things apart and reassemble them. It'll get your brain (central nervous system) and the rest of your nervous system working together. Your sensory input can help you remember.
Try putting random objects in a bag and feeling them, then guess what they are.
Walk through your home with your eyes closed, seeing if you can visualize the room. (I do this a lot)
There you go. It takes time, so don't beat yourself up if you're not redrawing Matisse paintings from memory in a month.

I'm very visual in my thinking (although I have an internal dialogue too). I see the whole image or part of it, stationary or moving, any colour, whatever I like. But, my daughter's visualisation skills are way out there. She appears to have an actual photographic memory. She also projects images from her mind into the real world - only she can see them of course. The last thing she did which I found to be quite interesting was when she was creating a Mii for each member of the family. I was taken aback by how quickly and accurately she was able to select the right size and shape of nose, etc, without looking at the people or photos of them. I'm waiting with anticipation to discover the extent of this (she's only 6). I'm hoping she'll be able to put it to good use and that she doesn't lose the skill. Neither of us has a diagnosis, but of us have traits of ADHD and ASD. Her diagnosis assessments start next week.

Thanks.
I didn't know there were different types of decks of cards.
I will print the list you told me. I think it will help.