Question about Asperger

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Can ppl with Asperger forget things or it old age?

Most people with Aspergers have a terrible memory, I can literally forget a good friends name, forget what an object is in the kitchen even though I usually use it daily... 'pass me the thingy' it does get marginally worse the older we get but to be honest I am so forgetful I can't remember how regretful I used to be! lol. Interestingly though we can remember very intricate memories from our youth, even now I can remember a full day from say when I was 16... or I can virtually walk through my childhood home in my head remembering every chip, every scuff on the carpet or the type of plants in the garden. The mind is truly a strange thing!

Some have good long-term memories, but bad short term memories. There was actually a study showing autistics are less likely to get Alzheimer's. I don't think anyone is completely immune to forgetting things in old age though.

My mind is a sieve and I'm only 14

I should have answered the question for myself, along with reassuring EzraS (though taken literally, the question implies that Aspies all have eidetic memories, which we don't: a very few of us have those freaky memories that never forget anything). My memory has never been stellar, probably one average thing about me, though when I was young, I could memorize strings of numbers in short-term, and add up the items I was buying in the grocery store in my head (which means _remembering_ the previous total from one item to the next, while figuring prices, etc) better than your average bear. But that kind of memory does take effort to exert: I most certainly did not remember everything! But at age 70, I have noticed that my short-term is going, such things as thinking about the hereafter (you go into the kitchen, then wonder what you came here after), whether or not I've sugared my coffee, and more dangerously, I recently forgot to stub two checks in a row, then when writing the next check, later, and the numbers didn't show, drew a total blank on whether I'd written the two missing ones or somehow totally lost them -- never did know until my bank statement came back and they were normal, unquestionably legitimate, recipients that I had written them to. And for the last several years, I've had to remember to make a careful mental note and pound it into my head to remember where I put the car in the parking lot, or when I come out of the store I won't be able to find it.

I go both ways to extremes. I can recall very specific details and dates - for example I sent off the resume for my current Job on December 29, 2010 and received a reply by E-mail on January 16, 2011. My last day of high school was May 24, 1973. I arrived in Germany for the first time on January 6, 1974 and left there on June 2, 1977. I arrived in California for the first time August 28, 1977 and left there on May 17, 1986. Those are just off the top of my head and I have countless more details like that.

HOWEVER, when it comes to remembering where I put the bottle of syrup 30 seconds ago or whether I already checked something or not just minutes earlier and countless other details like where my cell phone is while I am talking on it - as the old saying goes, "I would forget where I put my head if it wasn't attached to me."

Short Term memories do decline with age and with Alzheimer's. The relationship between autism and these other conditions is unknown as there has been practically no research in how autism affects older adults.

You should have it checked out because
1. If it is not Alzheimer's it will give you piece of mind
2. If it is Alzheimer's the progression can be slowed and you can make preparations.