Awesome Memory, Terrible Forgetfulness

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I've seen a number of people have the same problem I do. When it comes to memory, I can tell you what I was doing September 25th, 2012 at 3:22 in the afternoon, but I'll never be able to remember what folder I need to grab for class or what I'm eating that night. Because of it I've suffered through people getting upset and my own embarrassment, but I'm always praised for my long-term memory.

My sister and father have ADHD and I match up for a majority of the criteria for it as well, so maybe that would explain it. Anyone have a similar problem?

Yes, I'm similar regarding memory. I can remember events in my life vividly, from all ages, important things and unimportant things. But I can't tell you what I ate for dinner last night, or even what I did yesterday. I have terrible short term memory and it's getting worse with age.

I envy you. I only remember VERY irrelevant details of my life, and I can't tell you what date or time they happened. At the same time, I also have horrible short term memory and can't remember what I did 4 hours ago.

I know a lot of other people here have the same issue as you, though.

I don't get it. What would be the difference of bad memory and forgetfulness?
I am very good for remembering facts, like something I read, but I can't seem to remember what I ate today or where I put my keys. I don't know what is the difference though
Maybe I do most daily life things in the automatic mode (thinking of something else) and since I can only concentrate in one thing at a time I am not actually processing the what I am eating or where I am putting things information.

Last edited by linatet on 08 May 2014, 7:39 am, edited 1 time in total.

In Asperger's, frequently, one remembers things like why there's an E=MC Squared, but forget where they put the shopping list.

describes me perfectly.
but what is the cause of it?

That's where you come in, Linatet. This is one of the bases behind Cognitive Neuroscience.

There are many theories extant. One of them involves the brain growing faster than normal before age 2; related to this is the notion that neuropathways come together too quickly, and with lesser "quality" than those without autism. You should read the work of Courchesne. He is a pioneer in this area.

In a visceral sense, I believe it's a matter of "priorities." People with Asperger's, at times, are as motivated by abstract notions as NT's are about "keeping up with the Joneses." You are more concerned about the meaning behind the Universe more than how long it takes to cook a 2kg roast chicken.

I agree with this. I don't like to think of myself as lacking short term memory, but on a constant basis I will enter a room and have no idea what I was doing there. I have to physically backtrack my steps as well as backtrack through my thought process to figure it out, and sometimes that doesn't even work. I also tend to have something in my hand "one minute ago" and then have to scour the house to figure out where I set it down. However, I am highly organized and can tell you where ANY particular object is in my room at any given time.

I also feel like I lack both long and short term memory related to people and events. I can remember specific details about things that happened that I care about, but My memory labour my life is limited. I also don't remember personal stories that people tell me about their lives at all. I can never remember to inquire about someone's personal life because I have no recollection of their telling me the story in the first place.

That's the difference between "long term" and "short term" memory. things like E=MC^2 are "long term" memory because they are static, where as a shopping list is a "short term" memory because it's dynamic.

In psychology, short term memory is limited to 7 items of information and exists only through maintenance. Memory that you recall the next day or fail to is long term memory.

I am very much like that too.

I heard there is something called recent memory, that would be a long term memory not so long. Like, what you did two days ago. I am terrible at that too. I have to make a great effort to remember something from yesterday, two days ago, last week etc. Older memories I can recall.