Extreme but extremely faulty memory

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So who's got an extreme long-term memory (that's said to be connected to AS) but also a faulty one?

I have come to wonder if my experience is common for those with AS or not? Or for the whole spectrum.

I have a very very hard time memorising simple stuff such as dates, vocabulary. It's ridiculous, I can hardly learn 5 words by heart. I have a just as hard time to remember what to do next when for example cooking something though I did it at least a hundred of times before.

Automatisms aren't my thing either. I forget how to ride a bike even and I can't drive a car or learn to ride a bike safely because I can't automatise. Sometimes I can't remember what a 5 looks like and very rarely I might even forget how to write a g for a moment haha epic fail

I do however remember and instantly recognise almost all songs that I have heard before when hearing a few seconds of them, I know the full text and songs of several musicals, I remember the exact detail of books, articles, video games, films... everything that fascinates me involuntary. My brain memorises it unconsciously.

I can't control it and I guess that's where the autism comes in. My memory is brilliant in some ways, but as seriously dysfunctional in others.

So... anyone can relate?

Hiya you.

I to have the same sort of memory. I cant remember what someone has just said to me, but I can remember customers from years back just by looking at the jewellery they buy. I attribute this to having an attachment to things rather than people.

Its strange how I can remember dates, where people have been, where they were going. Whether they were wearing glasses at the time, and even how many aunties and uncles they have from years ago. But if someone brings a watch in for a battery and wonders off, I do not remember them, and frequently ask again 'can I help' when they return to the amusement of my colleges.

I hope this helps

...In my case , I have found out that someone , on the Web , thinks that I am a diagnosed savant , with " what I had for dinner/watched on TV that night in 1975 " !
There was an article about a man in LA who does have that type of memory ( And , a similar woman got written up a few months back . ) , and , in the comments section on one big mainstream news site's printing of the article someone wrote about what had to have been ME ! !! !! !! !! !!
They had a very garbled , misspelled ( but not entirely uncommon ) version of my full , Celtic-French , last two names of my full name , misspelling two of the three names , and having a somewhat overly inflated version of the job my late father actually had - They called him an " executive " , which I don't think he ever , really , could have been called when he worked there ( And that ended during Nixon's first term ! !! !! !! !! !! )...and the person posting said I had " memorized all of the Encyclopedia Britannica " ! !! !! !! !! !!
I've never even OWNED a Britannica , I can tell you...I do NOT have that kind of memory...I am rushed for time , I'll say more later !

my memory is awful. even with things i like, i actually envy the aspergers that have great memorys

I can remember some things clearly from as young as eight months old. All my memories are in third person, oddly. I'm not pitch perfect but I can recognise any similar notes between songs, transposed or not. I can also perfectly remember whole classical songs perfectly, such as La Campellena, although I think everyone can do that.

I can't rote learn at all, either I remember something the instant I see it or it's next to impossible for me to learn it.

I have virtually no short term memory, I constantly loose things, forget conversations and if you asked me what happened fifteen seconds ago I couldn't tell you. I'm getting really pissed of tbh, my mind is a trivia-learning piece of crap and I'm just along for the ride. I could have developed savant syndrome for music, but my parents wouldn't by me a keyboard when I was six and it's too late now

...What I meant about what I said was , let's say that my full name is actually " George Jones Smythe " ( which it isn't )
This person was writing about " George Jones Smith " , and describing someone who sounded a lot like an IMPRESSION someone could get of me , and of my father as well , especially once or twice removed .
In a sense , perhaps I should've started this as my own thread...But , memory , and what Raging said , made me think of my story .
I don't know where else I can " talk " about it , on most of my Web boards I'm " normal " .........

I have one of these extremes. I have an incredible factual memory, where I can tell you every detail of a regulatory policy, or history of a musical sub-genre. The downside is my brain is not very good with the pragmatic stuff...like i can remember a persons face, but I will always forget their name, or I will forget where i put my keys, or other such stuff. Thats the funny thing, there is gaps is the stuff which is useful. Needless to say, making meetings does not always happen.

can relate.
I can remember mindless details in the area of my special interests> my memory for things I am interested in is brilliant.

for things i am not interested in? Memory? what memory? minimal and flawed absorption!

Wow, this is cool. Someone else is like me! I have an extreme memory, especially for song lyrics, 20-year old commercial jingles and other things to do with music. I remember most of the names of the kids in my class and on my bus from preschool and Elementary.

But forget short-term. Forget it! In fact, when I was getting my evaluation for my diagnosis in March, there was a test for memorizing a list of words - I think there were about 16. She got to the last word on the list and I just about laughed. I think I remembered 3? When she was giving me my results she said that all of my short-term memory tests were so bad, that if I was 70 instead of 38, they'd be sending me for neuro testing.

So yep, I can definitely relate.

I seem to have a good memory for faces and music too. In fact, I helped a lady out in the direction we were going only because I could remember visual aspects such as the church, the houses, and the surroundings. Had it come to any written signs, I wouldn't have been much help, in fact I'm crap at directions yet sometimes I seem to be of service.

Words, names, books, events in a written format, and mechanical are the very things I struggle with. In fact I've made it a habit of writing what I read or experienced down and then memorizing it. Seems to help a little. I guess I'm more visually stimulated but when it comes to music, I have a very good memory.... I don't know why only that it's one of those obsessions of mine. I also play the piano a lot but I guess you're only good at music if you're mathematically smart which I'm not. I estimate and sometimes count the numbers in song per beat but then afterwards, I get bored and just play by getting a feel (not exactly the right feel) for the beats and the change in speed, tempos, and pitches....although they may not be right if I were to perform in front of a composer who knows their stuff. I guess that's why I hated it orchestra since it was all uniformic and I had trouble remembering how to sit, reading in which the direction the bow was suppose to be going while paying attention to the speed, notes, tones, and so on. Too much multitasking makes it worse.

I can mostly relate. My long-term memory extends back to infancy; I can still recite the class register of names from school when age 5; excellent visual memory; I can visualize all the events I remember in terms of both dates and places.

However, there are odd deficits; I took an advanced biology class once and the schoolteacher noticed them and commented. She was perplexed because she thought of me as one of the best students and sometimes I’d forget facts we’d been taught the previous week and have to look them up when most other students didn't. But I would easily recall the most relevant facts--those that linked to the primary or entire point of a topic--where most could not. On one occasion, I was the only one in the class to do this. Also, when intentionally memorizing for an exam, I'd always cram the day/night before and have an almost perfect visual memory of it all for a few days.

I often can't recall the correct vocabulary for subjects in which I'm not currently immersed. I think visually and associatively, almost synaesthetically, not in words. Some people assume this means lack of intelligence or knowledge. When asked about my research, I wouldn't know how to answer if I hadn't looked at a particular section for weeks because I’d forget the terms. When trying to form words mentally, I would be thinking, "The thing that does this makes this thing do that", and would actually say something to that effect or remain silent.

I would also master subjects where I had astonishing gaps in knowledge/memory of the basics. I often learned backwards. This is how I sometimes read books and articles.

I have a faulty memory, but I can't say that it's extreme either.

It's good for certain things, at least I still remember a few specifics when those around me can't.

I'd describe it as wide but shallow. An example would be in math, I'm good at math. I can process and work through complex things, but I forget the naming conventions and details. Let's say internally I know what the commutative and associative properties are. I know how to use them, what they mean and everything I need to know. But I forget the names of them, and I get them switched around. This comes up in all areas I undertake. I know what something is, but I forget the names and I forget the details... I just have a recollection of something along those lines.

My memory has failed me so much that I don't have much confidence in it, which in turn means I don't say things with much confidence... even when I much more than I let on.

I work best when I can solve complex ideas without much reliance on memory. I mostly work with patterns and general relationships than with my memory, this side of me is strong enough that I can process this way when others have to rely on memorization.