Poor autobiographical memory and the assessment process -?
I am wondering how much poor autobiographical memory is a hindrance when it comes to being assessed for ASD. I was asked several questions which I could only give rather vague answers to as I couldn't remember in greater depth.
_________________
Support mental health research
Please support mental health research
http://www.mentalhealthresearchuk.org.uk/
http://mcpin.org/
https://www.mqmentalhealth.org/
Your neurodiverse (Aspie) score: 133 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 47 of 200
You are very likely neurodiverse (Aspie)
Impaired autobiographical memory has been found in studies on people with ASD, so it shouldn't be a hindrance if you demonstrate such impairment, but should rather be a marker for possible ASD diagnosis. I have a excellent long-term memory that produces gestalt reexperiencing of old events back to about age 2, but I have quite poor autobiographical recall. I used to wonder what was up with that until I found out that autistics have those kinds of memory differences. I believe it has to do with having a very weak sense of self in my case, so my memories are organized in ways other than self-referenced. They're organized around places and patterns (like geometry of rooms), smells, temperature and so on. So I have to really think hard to make a list of all the friends or coworkers I've had or the classes I went to - things that are relative to my own self. But I can remember great numbers of experiences with certain engineering systems I've worked on rapidly and in great detail. My short-term memory is pretty fragile too and sometimes just goes blank ("What were we talking about just now?") and I found out that is common among folks with ASDs.
I was worried that my humming and hawing over quite a lot of the questions , and not being able to give exact/precise details would count against me.
_________________
Support mental health research
Please support mental health research
http://www.mentalhealthresearchuk.org.uk/
http://mcpin.org/
https://www.mqmentalhealth.org/
Your neurodiverse (Aspie) score: 133 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 47 of 200
You are very likely neurodiverse (Aspie)
My autobiographical memory is very good. I can remember the year of when certain things happened in my life, and I can remember nearly all of my birthdays, Christmases and summers since about the age of 6, right up to the present year.
_________________
Female
Aged 30
On antidepressants
Diagnosed with AS, ADHD and anxiety disorder
Empathy score: 61 out of a possible 80. (High)
Dates in general are a relative strong point of mine too.
I remember the sensory details of times and places, and I remember what I was thinking at many times in my life ... but I don't remember the presence of other people and very little is episodic. My memories are like a vortex with swirls of colour, sound and sensation accompanied by a thought process. I have extreme synaesthesia so maybe this is why.
My thought processes aren't always related to what I was doing. For example, I went to DisneyWorld but I don't remember DisneyWorld. I remember thinking about rain and the water cycle. I also remember sensory flashbacks like smells and colours from Disney.
That's most likely the kind of thing they would expect. I am bad at such things and it's due to autism. Other people know more about me along those lines than I know about myself.
nick007
Veteran

Joined: 4 May 2010
Age: 38
Gender: Male
Posts: 23,925
Location: was Louisiana but now Vermont in the police state called USA
Autobiographical stuff was NOT asked when I was assessed. I just did things like predict patterns, put blocks in different shapes, found what was missing in pictures, & remembered sentences & words. The quack ruled out Aspergers when I was tested thou in favor of Schizoid Personality Disorder. I really believe I'm on the spectrum sense my mom suspected it since I was a toddler cuz of my issues. I really think the autobiographical stuff should of been asked.
_________________
"I don't have an anger problem, I have an idiot problem!"
Do you have other common features of autism such as stimming or issues with sensory processing? It's odd that they wouldn't have looked at the bigger picture.
nick007
Veteran

Joined: 4 May 2010
Age: 38
Gender: Male
Posts: 23,925
Location: was Louisiana but now Vermont in the police state called USA
Do you have other common features of autism such as stimming or issues with sensory processing? It's odd that they wouldn't have looked at the bigger picture.
_________________
"I don't have an anger problem, I have an idiot problem!"
Similar Topics | |
---|---|
Poor autobiographical memory |
14 Aug 2018, 11:32 am |
Autobiographical memory. |
15 Feb 2012, 2:14 pm |
Autobiographical memory |
02 Jun 2016, 8:50 am |
Do you remember? Autobiographical memory |
12 Jun 2010, 1:10 pm |