Dory, Short-term memory loss, and autism

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I'm surprised there are no discussions on this, instead just a discussion about Gerald (who is NOT autistic). So, Dory has short-term memory loss, and her portrayal of that was met with critical acclaim. Many people on the autism spectrum also have some degree of short-term memory loss. I have no seen the movie yet, so I have nothing to say on the portrayal, but for those of you who have, what do you think about it? And I don't want to hear anything about Gerald, just Dory.

I thought short term memory loss was dementia.

Maybe it could be considered a form of dementia, if you take it as meaning losing short-term memory capacity as you get older. A lot of people use it incorrectly to refer to anterograde amnesia. Her portrayal in Finding Nemo mixes symptoms of just having a low short-term memory capacity and both retrograde and anterograde amnesia, but not severe enough to actually be amnesia, so I think they just mean she has low short-term memory capacity. Finding Dory makes it clear she does not have dementia, as she had it as a baby.

Hi. I carry a small note pad with me at all times to remind me what i was thinking about 10 seconds ago. Fleeting memory is one of my signatures. I was quite relieved to hear that it's a trait of the autistic brain (Attwood, Grandin). Now i don't beat myself up about it anymore and i don't let my girlfriend chastise me. I just carry a note pad.

You tell me your name.....it's gone
You ask me to do 2 things.....one's gone
Explain multiple concepts to me......no chance
Go shopping without a list.....pointless
Remember what i'm doing next weekend......ask my girlfriend.
Bought a bright red car....so i can spot it easily in the car park.

What other tricks do folk use to help with short term memort? Are the new smart watches any help with reminders. My note pad was much cheaper i think. Hey-ho.

She couldn't remember lot of stuff that happened a few minutes ago. It's like in 50 First Dates except that character could only remember what happens that day and then it erases when she goes to sleep and wakes up. She could only remember the day of the car accident and before. But in Finding Dory she was born with it while Lucy got hers from a head injury from the car wreck.

I lose track of what I am doing easily, often abandoning conversations part way through without realizing it. I cannot remember people's names and will forget 30 seconds later. It takes many meetings before I remember someone's name. I use my S Planner in my Galaxy S7 to remind me of every appointment and things to do. I use the app Any.do for lists of stuff that I need to do in a day and that helps a lot.

I watched this funny College humor video on forgetting people's names which couldn't be more accurate than what I go through.

Dory reminded me more of Alzheimer's patients.

She reminds me of Sid from Flushed Away.

Well she canonically does not have dementia as Finding Dory confirms she was born with her condition.



First, Dory CAN remember stuff that happened a few minutes ago, it just depends on the situation. So not anterograde amnesia at all, where someone can't remember ANYTHING outside the bounds short-term memory. Also, the condition in "50 First Dates" is fictional, but it's inspired by anterograde amnesia.