Explaining things

[Autos]

When I try to explain something,I know what I’m going to say but when I start to talk I forget it almost immediately. An example is when my choir was finished,my dad was waiting in the car and he asked me if I did get any new information from the choir teacher,I nodded yes and began to talk,and has soon as i started I forgot everything I was going to say and could’nt remember what I was going to say for like 15 minute. Anybody else have this problem ?

 

[pjcnet]

Firstly welcome to ASPIESCentral.

Yes I have awful selective memory issues, mainly short term memory and I've learnt that it's actually a common trait of people on the autistic spectrum, I was very slow to develop speech as a child as opposed to people with Asperger Syndrome who didn't and I'm not sure whether this has any relevance or not. The problem has gradually become even worse as I've got older and I'm now 48 years old, I guess everyone's memory degrades somewhat with age, but it's probably more of an issue for myself and others in a similar situation since it was poor to begin with. I will however mention it to my doctor just in case as a few people have been nagging to do so for a while.

I have exactly the same issue as yourself, I can be about to talk about something and then completely forget what I was about to say or even what I was already saying. At least if I've already started I can usually ask the person I was talking with to remind me what I was talking about when my mind goes blank, but it's often a lot more frustrating if I haven't said anything at all yet and sometimes I will never be able to remember again. I think this can happen to anyone very occasionally, but it happens quite often to myself. I've noticed it can happen more if I'm about to say something or I'm in the middle of saying it and I'm distracted before I can say or finish it, E.g. I'm about to talk about something specific I experienced earlier that day and I'm interrupted with a simple question or instruction such as "are you warm enough?" or "can you shut the window please?" before I get the chance to say it.

Another issue that is particularly stressful is losing things and putting them down or away somewhere without remembering doing it. For instance last week I was looking for an important letter and after searching my flat for about an hour, tearing my hair out, I finally came across where I'd originally put it "safe" and I was really relieved. I then told myself that I definitely wouldn't lose it again and that I'd put it somewhere much more obvious this time, but a couple of minutes later I was cursing myself as I'd amazingly lost it yet again and I just couldn't believe it. This time luckily it only took me a couple of minutes to find the letter again as I'd put it down subconsciously nearby, but this kind of thing is very frustrating to say the very least and is happening more often for myself.

I can also forget appointments, whether or not I've taken medication and more. Remembering appointments is easily solved these days by using a calendar as long as I ensure I don't delay updating it as otherwise I can forget to do so and medication can be put into blister packs that are labelled by the days of the week (in the UK you can ask a pharmacy to prescribe them like that if you need it, I'm not sure about other countries).

 

[Accelerator]

When I try to explain something,I know what I’m going to say but when I start to talk I forget it almost immediately. An example is when my choir was finished,my dad was waiting in the car and he asked me if I did get any new information from the choir teacher,I nodded yes and began to talk,and has soon as i started I forgot everything I was going to say and could’nt remember what I was going to say for like 15 minute. Anybody else have this problem ?

Well, I'm glad I'm not the only person with ridiculously short short-term memory. If you're wondering exactly to what extend do I mean, I mean almost exactly what you have. Granted, mine seems to extend to literally everything I do in a day, so I need reminders to tell me what I was doing between things, though your bit about forgetting things you want to explain mid-explanation is pretty much a thing I have to deal with too. Really frustrating, and when I finally remember it I have to go back to it after just finishing talking the person, or while midway through a different conversation about something else.
In any case, welcome to the site~! I hope you have fun here
PS: I think maybe writing keywords somewhere about what you want to talk about may help. Dunno how useful that would be; never tested it, but y'know, something to try, maybe.
PS: FINALLY HAVE PROPER INTERNET BACK

 

[Streetwise]

The letters below mean shalom which doesn't just mean peace it also means welcome or hello

When I try to explain something,I know what I’m going to say but when I start to talk I forget it almost immediately. An example is when my choir was finished,my dad was waiting in the car and he asked me if I did get any new information from the choir teacher,I nodded yes and began to talk,and has soon as i started I forgot everything I was going to say and could’nt remember what I was going to say for like 15 minute. Anybody else have this problem ?

A good aid to memory is make what ever you want to remember into a bizarre picture ! ie if I want to send a letter I imagine The postbox carrying the letter !it works , another one try picturing being with the choir! for instance !not trying to force yourself to hear what you said !!!!,but we appear to communicate in pictures so if you could make a picture of it your memory may return more speedily .

 

[onlything]

When I try to explain something,I know what I’m going to say but when I start to talk I forget it almost immediately. An example is when my choir was finished,my dad was waiting in the car and he asked me if I did get any new information from the choir teacher,I nodded yes and began to talk,and has soon as i started I forgot everything I was going to say and could’nt remember what I was going to say for like 15 minute. Anybody else have this problem ?

Hi Autos, welcome to AC.
I have something similar though not exactly the same. When I start talking about things, especially my interests or projects I pursue, I can loose any ability to do so - I just can't find any words to say, with my brain jumping from visuals, through phonetics, ending on different languages. It mostly happens when I am unprepared to talk and it was always like that, starting with school where I would turn into a blabbering or mute mess after being suddenly asked a question by a teacher, even if it was an easy question I knew an answer to a minute before that.

 

[Sabrina]

... and you are talking, a fly passes through, and you wonder ‘why are they black? Wouldn’t it be cool if each fly had a color of the rainbow?’ ... and then you realize the person you were talking to is still there, and you are thinking ‘what am am I supposed to say now?....
... just saying ... that hasn’t happened to me... today.

 

[Tom]

Hi & Welcome,
I have a short term memory problem to some degree. Enough that I learned to always write down anything important, otherwise... ???