memories of childhood

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I can remember some events (some big, some seemingly mundane) and when I think of those events, I can recall them with vivid detail.

I don't remember much of anything. I mean, I have some specific moments from childhood, school, adolescence, college, etc...that have stuck in my mind for whatever reason, but other than that, my memories are pretty vague. I am only 23, and I can barely remember what it was like when I was 20. Everything is very blurry. I think that if I experienced a specific trigger (ex: a family member or friend talking about past experiences) I would probably be able to remember a bit more detail. But otherwise I only remember things that were very important to me or that induced strong feelings such as embarrassment.

Like trying to remember a dream for me. It could be because of the trauma of sexual abuse, but I really struggle to remember most of my childhood.
The earliest memory I have is from nursery, when I would go into the playhouse and get angry if other children tried to come in while I was in there.
Also, of really liking copying out basic sentences from these cards, when learning to write.
I also recall the pictures around the walls with words like 'Dog' and 'Cat' and how I got this really nice feeling from certain words like that, and used to like writing them out and saying them.

I have a couple of brief memories from when I was around a year old. I know that I was that young because I described the memory (walking through the house, getting into my brother's toys) to my mom and she said the only house that we lived in that was laid out like that was in England, and we moved to the States shortly after my first birthday. I remember a lot more after I turned 2, but it's the movie trailer variety; a little here, a little there. What I remember, I remember very clearly though, so it gives me a pretty solid overall memory of what I was like as a child.

I think in terms of "data" like a list of occurrences in chronological order. I pretty much have a complete memory of ages 6-10 (like a movie), but everything before that is like trying to recall a dream.

When I was 0-5 I remember having nightmares about "all apart people" and a red hand that would try to choke me. I remember one dream where I squeezed the hand into a puddle of red liquid, and another dream where I tore off each finger individually and they were dry. Most other dreams I would get choked and try to wake up. I've heard that children under 5 can remember past lives and still have fears from them, so it is possible that my childhood fears are related to a past life. I also remember being afraid of mannequins. I claimed to be a fisherman and liked reading and talking about fish, but was frightened to look at them. Maybe I lived in Africa.

Music triggers certain emotional states for me that are uniquely tied with a specific point in time, and oddly enough, most of them are when I was barely doing anything (except listening to music). I'll hear a song, and it will remind me of the first time I listened to a particular album, or riding home from somewhere and hearing it for the first time on the radio. So I seem to remember mundane points in my life with pretty good clarity, and luckily, remember them quite fondly.

(Or sadly, remember them quite fondly. Outside of some really bizarre circumstances, you can't experience the same thing for the first time more than once. Which means that being blown away by a particular song, or the excitement of pulling the shrinkwrap off and listening to a particular CD for the first time can never be experienced the same way again.)

I remember some parts of my childhood quite well and others not so well. I remember one time when I was little, me and my family were at the beach, and I started freaking out and having a meltdown cos I left my ball in the sea and it was floating away. Someone even tried to get it but the current was too strong. I remember I was in tears.

I have noticed something very interesting about long term memories. We have many in our family with Aspergers. The ones with childhood memories are the ones who are artistic and can draw/paint well.
The others who are gifted in different areas, like mathematics and patterns, have much better short term memories.

I know of a man who when about your age, obtained his surviving school records from the county or state. What he got were copies of teacher notes all about his behavior starting from kindergarten. It was like a textbook discription, from several different teachers, over a period of years, of a kid on the autism spectrum. These first hand accounts of his behavior were a lot better than recollections.

I just realized the original post was from five years ago. But hey, what I wrote is for anyone it might help.

my memories of my past are rather like a bluray disk, I can access them when I want to, but generally I don't.