Do You Remember Your Childhood?

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I remember everything perfectly except for a blank spot aged about 12-14. I was deeply depressed then and have virtually no memories of that time.

I remember most of it. Before the age of 3 is a little hazy, but I do remember the day my sister was born (I was about 2 1/2), the day my parents told me that they were getting divorced (I was 4).

I remember all the things that I did wrong, and now 20 something years later, I know why I did them. I remember flapping, and my mom thinking I was crazy, but otherwise ignoring it.

I can even now recall random scraps of early childhood. For example:

The smell of my Father's pipe, which I always liked even though I have always hated cigs & cigars. Where I sat in 2nd grade. Third Grade, as well. Walking in the Snow. Cotton in my ears because every winter I got ear infections, I rember the feel & the cold ear drops they always put in them. Looking at Maple seeds at Sunday School. Calling out to my mom in the 1st grade School play. Names of enemies & just general classmates. Art projects. Smell of Elmer's glue..

OK, enough of that, I might never stop! <g> Anyway I find it hard not to recall my childhood, good & bad. It would be horrible to lose it I think, I cannot imagine being any other way.

Sincerely,
Matthew

I remember lots about my childhood, it was actually pretty fun and enjoyable until I was 9 or 10ish. I had really nice, nurturing teachers until the third grade, never did really like school much after the 2nd grade though. Summer was always lots of fun with my family, trips to the beach, aquarium, me and sister in the back of an old honda with smashing pumpkins, cranberries and sound garden's "black hole sun" playing a lot. We had so much fun and I'd always cry when we had to go back home and go across the big bridge.

Earliest memory I have is probably when I was 2, I remember being in front of a big window looking at a street light while playing with a wind up toy car. Everything is really unfamiliar to me but gradually my mind adjusts and I become use to people around me, I remember being small enough to fit in the kitchen sink when mom would bathe me, that was lots of fun! I remember being 3 and visiting some relatives who picked me up, made me laugh really hard and gave me cookies with lemon creme filling then laying down on a bed to take a nap. Also remember my mom and dad buying me a little electronic Mig-29 that made obnoxious "wooooooosh" noises and running around with it, much to my parent's chagrin, was probably 4 then too. Also recall my mom showing me how to make parachutes for my toy soldiers using a plastic bag from the grocery store. I recall 1989 vaguely, the year dad brought our (now long gone) Isuzu trooper. It was raining and the guy selling it to us was some black fellow. He was very polite to me and addressed me like an adult even though I was only a few years old.

I could go on and on really, 3-6 is nothing but fuzzy, fun memories. Seems like I had it pretty good as a small kid compared to a lot of posters. We never had a lot of money but my dad was really cool and was a park ranger then a science teacher so he could make the most mundane, boring trip really fun and interesting. When I was 5 he took me on a "field trip" to a sewage treatment plant because he would often joke with me about it and how "poop" went there and he said one day he would take me. This would make little me laugh very hard and lo' and behold one day he takes me in the car, along with grandpa (RIP..I miss you ) and we got a personal tour of the treatment plant near our old house then we went farther out to a water purification plant. I remember the spiral staircase inside, all the neat pumps and gauges and this big clear pool of sterile looking water. Dad probably sounds like a weirdo but his obsession was microbiology, among other things.

Yes, in fact I can remember my third birthday with vivid detail. I also remember the layout and details from the house we moved out of when I was three. I remember few names and fewer faces though.

I don't remember being born or as a little baby. I remember a lot from age three on. I can probably write a book with several volumes about my childhood (not sure why anyone would read it). My earliest memories were a major earthquake, hard to forget that. I don't think my parents remember any more than I do. If you don't remember much you should probably bring someone who does when you get your diagnosis.

I remember bits and pieces but not everything I can piece together. I had a few head injuries as a child so i think it's caused a bit of an impact on my brain and how i function. Not traumatic brain injury was but just minor little bumps that rattled my brain some.

This sounds pretty accurate for me, too. My memories of events and people are vague at best. An exception is the many chess games I played from about 10-18 years old, let's say, in junior competitions. Using the recorded list of moves I can replay the game. Often I can vividly recall details about my thoughts during the game, how I felt at different moments (under pressure, confident, tired), and perhaps details about the day.

Because of the reputation of chess most people (and my family) seem to have always thought my memory to be excellent. From my experience and talking with people I am sure my memory for social and basic life things is horrible. Certain things stick, but not the kinds of things that many others remember. Mostly I am good at finding visual/conceptual patterns such as in chess, lists of numbers, many visual IQ testing type sequences. This obviously never crossed over into practical/life memory.

I'm coming to realise just how little I know and remember even about my family. So many references have to be explained to me.

In my case, I think a major reason is that I don't ask questions. I only know about people what they choose to tell me. I'm starting to try to work through this and make basic small-talk from time to time. Most social memories probably had no meaning because I didn't invest myself in them on any level. In many ways life has just happened around me, and I was too busy with my interests to collect anything on the way.

I remember my childhood. Who can forget growing up in the good old 90s?

I can remember one brief moment from age one and a half, I think. It was natural for me to crawl, and I understood speach, but didn´t yet speak myself.
I was crawling on a wooden floor with broad planks (they weren´t broad at all). An older girl crawled in front of me. She turned her head and said : "We are going to play "psst"". I thought "OK", so we started crawling after each other saying "psst".
Otherwise I have no recollections from before age three. From then on I have lots.

Last edited by Jensen on 28 May 2013, 4:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Having vague to no memories at all before the age of 3 is normal in most humans. I don't think I have any memories of being below a year old, and I may have one or two very vague memories of being 1-2 years old, and a few more of being 3 but not many, and the memories get more stronger as I grew older. I don't have many memories of being 4 and 5, although I can remember what my playgroup looked like and what my first classrooms were when I started school. And I have a lot of lovely memories of between 6 and 12, and have about a million memories of being a teenager.

Certain songs are a good way of reminding yourself of different times in your life and can bring back a lot of memories.

Little flashes but nothing solid.

I was lucky to have a very happy childhood spending all my time on the streets with amazing friends. Comparatively, life has been extremely miserable and depressing after the age of ~12. Ah well, it was good while it lasted.

I remember much of it in good detail, almost like I am back there. So much of it still makes me laugh.

I remember very very little at all from my childhood before about 11 or so. I find it a very difficult part of my life to think about. My parents were wonderful but teachers and other kids made life very stressful and confusing for me. Nobody knew what was making me like I was so I was told I was just naughty and weird, ostracised and picked on. I'm certain there were plenty of happy times muddled in with that (mostly outside of school) but just enough upset for the whole period to be quite well blocked out.

At secondary school I became more aware of the nature of my differences and as a result, more able to hide them and try to fit in. Although this only had limited success, I assume that blocking out all of the more obviously autistic behaviour and experiences were necessary to allow me to achieve this. I am not sure if attempting to reclaim these memories would be helpful or damaging now I am 31.

I remember a lot of serious depression through my teenage years as well as suicidal tenancies/attempts. Although I did not / could not block this stuff out, I gradually convinced myself that the problems I was facing were largely imagined and the reaction to them was just regular teenage angst to a higher level than normal. Having been living like this most my adult life, it is very disorientating to realise that those feelings (of not being like other humans in some fundamental way) were nowhere near as mad as I thought.

Just for the record, I played guitar in a rock band for a while and was 17 and developed a love of music and computing, both of which I am still passionate about so it was not all doom and gloom by any measure.

A little of it but the things I do remember, I remember very clearly. Where people were standing, the look of the room, the tone of voices, the looks on peoples faces (which is strange because at the time I had a harder time reading faces than I do now), the smell. These sort of memories span from teenage years to me being a toddler. I clearly remember what toys I didn't like and what toys I did. I remember understanding people but not being understood when I spoke back.

I've been remembering more and with my former step-brother moving in (we were BFF's as small kids and the same age), we've been sharing memories and clearing the "memory fog". I can see why I've forgotten a lot of the stuff. I had a pretty messed up childhood filled with a variety of abuses and witnessing a variety of abuses. Crap that you'd expect a kid to forget.

Most of it, as if it had only recently happened.

Sometimes, when I'm just waking up, I think about how I should get down to the kitchen so I could raid the cereal box for the free toy before my sisters woke up ... but that was 40 to 50 years ago ...