Is this an Aspie trait?

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I had a teacher who knew which one of his 25+ students were absent from class and could tell you the day they were absent and how many days they missed from school. They once went on a school trip in the city and the teacher actually knew the three students who were absent but did not mention it to anyone. Two months later, he tells two of them, "of course you don't know the answer! You were absent from the school trip!" I bet he actually knew during the trip exactly who was missing and did not have to see a roster to figure it out.
This guy also has other peculiarities.

I think he probably does have it. I can do things like that. Not nearly as well though...

I know someone with autism who does that. Not high-functioning. It's intriguing.

I think it is an intriguing aspect. I wonder what brain differences there are in someone who can actually do this. I mean, how can you possibly remember who is absent from class every time and then bring it up a month or so later (with the day of the absence!)

Nothing particularly Aspie about that. The teacher was conscientious and new his/her business. Teachers are supposed to pay attention to their students.

ruveyn

My brain operates that way. It's easy. You just don't forget things. There is no effort to it.

Umm, not really, this is not something a normal neurotypical person would pay attention to. If you have more than 25 students and know how many absences each individual had (and he did not keep a written record of absences by the way) and on what days they were absent and can recall that information two months down the line, that is not what your average good teacher would do.

So you just keep a roster of random facts and they make it into long term memory? Can you remember what you ate yesterday for lunch?

I can retrieve from memory what I ate for lunch yesterday, like most people. I didn't. And there doesn't appear to be any roster. I remember things that are important like most people but many other times I'm also surprised that I remember something that I hadn't given a second thought to. This is how it happens mostly so it constantly feels like a phenomenon to me. It seems like things just stick that way. I don't like to talk about things like that too much because people are cynics and don't want to believe it when someones knows or says something about themselves which may at times differ from what or who they are. I have more memory capability than the average person is all where most people forget those things quite immediately from what I have gathered.

Actually a lot of teachers can do it. I work in the school system and have for 9 years - see it a lot. NOt all teachers but a lot of them. I do not believe it is just an AS trait but a teacher trait.

There is a women who works in the lunch room at one of the schools I work at. She knows 750 kids names by heart. She learned my name in a day, yes a day. If a kid is absent on day, she will later say, "Were you sick?" She is definitely not on the spectrum.

The guy you described may or may not be on the spectrum but the fact that he can do those things doesn't necessarily make him and aspie and it isn't necessarily an Aspie trait. He just has a good memory for those things

no

Perhaps not an Aspie trait, because all teachers have to keep attendance records.

I agree. The second time I had visited a particular Panera Bread, after moving to Charlotte, the girl at the counter welcomed me by name. This of course confused me and I almost couldn't order as I was overwhelmed with how she knew my name. I asked her and she said names came well to her and probably had something to do with the fact she was also a teacher.