Article: Brain system that appears to compensate for autism

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Rocket123
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13 Feb 2015, 9:19 pm

Summary: “Individuals with five neurodevelopmental disorders -- autism spectrum disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, Tourette syndrome, dyslexia, and Specific Language Impairment -- appear to compensate for dysfunction by relying on a single powerful and nimble system in the brain known as declarative memory.”

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During my evaluation, the clinical psychologist administered the Advanced Clinical Solutions (ACS) – Social Cognition test. I actually scored OK on these tests. But apparently, I lacked “automaticity”. Instead, the clinical psychologist described some sort of rule-based “mental decision tree” I used to determine which emotion was being conveyed. How did she know? Well, apparently, I have this tendency to "verbally mediate tasks".



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14 Feb 2015, 3:00 am

That's interesting, and it seems to line up with my experiences. I'm googling declarative memory now to learn more.


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14 Feb 2015, 3:06 am

Certainly explains why almost "all" geniuses have some level of OCD



androbot01
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14 Feb 2015, 6:48 am

Declarative memory is memory of facts and information? I know I totally rely on memory and learned information to get by socially.



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14 Feb 2015, 7:36 am

I love how it's such a "revelation" when a researcher stumbles across the obvious.

I thought they called it "teaching coping skills" all this time.



rugulach
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14 Feb 2015, 8:18 am

Rocket123 wrote:
Well, apparently, I have this tendency to "verbally mediate tasks".


What do you mean by this?



Rocket123
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14 Feb 2015, 12:21 pm

rugulach wrote:
Rocket123 wrote:
Well, apparently, I have this tendency to "verbally mediate tasks".


What do you mean by this?

It was the clinical psychologist's term, not mine. Which is why I put it in quotes.

I got this definition from a book, "Cognitive-Behavior Modification: An Integrative Approach":

"Verbal mediation consists of talking to oneself in relevant ways when confronted with something to be learned, a problem to be solved, or a concept to be attained. In adults the process generally becomes quite automatic and implicit; only when a problem is quite difficult do we begin 'thinking out loud.' Most mediational processes take place subvocally below our level of awareness".



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14 Feb 2015, 12:25 pm

zer0netgain wrote:
I love how it's such a "revelation" when a researcher stumbles across the obvious.

I thought they called it "teaching coping skills" all this time.

I think it would be hard for an “outsider” to really “get” how our brain works. Which is why I think it’s so important for the research community to include people who actually have ASD.



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14 Feb 2015, 12:40 pm

Rocket123 wrote:
I got this definition from a book, "Cognitive-Behavior Modification: An Integrative Approach":

"Verbal mediation consists of talking to oneself in relevant ways when confronted with something to be learned, a problem to be solved, or a concept to be attained. In adults the process generally becomes quite automatic and implicit; only when a problem is quite difficult do we begin 'thinking out loud.' Most mediational processes take place subvocally below our level of awareness".


In that case, some of the most basic tasks in life are "quite difficult" for me, since I have to think out loud to do them. 8O I have to verbally talk myself through things that I notice other people just do seemingly without having to think that much about it...cooking for instance.



AspieUtah
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14 Feb 2015, 1:00 pm

So, that is why I always get called a know-it-all! 8)

Thanks!


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14 Feb 2015, 1:17 pm

what the hell is declarative memory?



AspieUtah
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14 Feb 2015, 1:43 pm

darkphantomx1 wrote:
what the hell is declarative memory?

Wikipedia.org: Declarative memory wrote:
Declarative memory (sometimes referred to as explicit memory) is one of two types of long-term human memory. Declarative memory refers to memories that can be consciously recalled such as facts and knowledge. While declarative memory is similar to explicit memory, declarative memory is memory that a patient can state in words, while explicit memory is the deliberate recall of information that the patient recognizes as a memory. Declarative memory's counterpart is known as non-declarative or procedural memory, which refers to unconscious memories such as skills (e.g. learning to ride a bicycle). Declarative memory can be divided into two categories: episodic memory, which stores specific personal experiences, and semantic memory, which stores factual information....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declarative_memory


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14 Feb 2015, 6:44 pm

I think I am not so good at using this compensatory strategy.


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14 Feb 2015, 11:45 pm

I think there are cats in my brain.


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15 Feb 2015, 9:24 pm

dianthus wrote:
Rocket123 wrote:
I got this definition from a book, "Cognitive-Behavior Modification: An Integrative Approach":

"Verbal mediation consists of talking to oneself in relevant ways when confronted with something to be learned, a problem to be solved, or a concept to be attained. In adults the process generally becomes quite automatic and implicit; only when a problem is quite difficult do we begin 'thinking out loud.' Most mediational processes take place subvocally below our level of awareness".


In that case, some of the most basic tasks in life are "quite difficult" for me, since I have to think out loud to do them. 8O I have to verbally talk myself through things that I notice other people just do seemingly without having to think that much about it...cooking for instance.


The only time I can think of something possibly(?) similar to this is when knitting complicated patterns (I know what I'm doing, I just hum and rely on tonal and/or rhythm pattern to keep track of the sequencing/numbers -- I can't use words or I screw up).

If I try to talk about everything (or even just attach words silently in my head) as I do or think about it then I can't do or figure out anything.

I need to visually mediate verbal tasks.


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15 Feb 2015, 11:03 pm

No wonder. I've always had a great memory, and of course, I've been referred to as a "walking encyclopedia".