Short Term Memory vs Long Term Memory

[142857]

I'm wondering if most Aspies suffer from poor short term memory?

One of the first things I read online about AS was that Aspies should refrain from jobs where short term memory is a factor - cashiers, etc.

I know that my youngest brother (suspected Aspie) and myself have shocking short term memories. Last time I saw my brother he was telling me about how he now makes a conscious effort to check whether he has left anything behind whenever he moves, as he was constantly leaving things behind. My mother used to call me "the absent minded professor". Watching my 5-year-old son reminds me of how bad my short term memory was as a kid - he insists on bringing his favourite toys with him when we go out and he normally leaves them behind pretty much any time he puts them down. And we normally lose him at least once or twice every time we go shopping - if anything distracts him he just wanders off and forgets where we are.

When I need to remember to do something, or remember where I parked my car or whatever, I now make a very conscious effort to commit it to memory. Then I tend to be okay. This involves closing my eyes and repeating what I need to remember to myself a couple of times, and concentrating on not forgetting it. Before I did that I was constantly missing meetings, going shopping and coming home with everything except what I went to buy, wandering around trying to remember where I parked my car....

But I still lose track of what I am saying halfway through a sentence if I am not concentrating. One annoying thing is that I am constantly saying "huh" when people are talking to me, as sometimes it takes a few seconds for what people say to sink in and make sense. Like I don't have enough short-term memory to process everything as quickly as most people seem to.

 

[mikkyh]

I forgot a lot of homework assignments and where I have put stuff.

But I have a REALLY good long term memory. i can actually remember being 4 and stuff.

I dont know. My mind is all over the place at the moment. I'm so unstable.

 

[mikeg26843]

i have terrible memory full stop, i cant remember stuff i did yesterday or anything before that

 

[Kempy]

My short term memory is awful but my long term memory is great. I was given some house numbers to remember a couple of weeks ago. I couldn't remember them 5 minutes after I had been told, but I remember them now (87, 1, 8, 62a). I remember learning about the Tudors in year 4, where I sat and what was on the display next to me, but I can't remember what we did in media studies this morning.

 

[Sipe]

I think my short and long term memory is pretty good. I almost always remember every important thing but I forget the less important things. And I have sometimes trouble in speaking too because I forget what I was supposed to say or I forget some words and then I`m have to memorize what the certain word was I supposed to say. Thats kinda annoying and frustrating.

 

[kurgen]

I don't know, i only remember things that are important to me, other stuff like phone numbers, names, adresses, bank accounts password go in the very long term memory... weird though....i know every pin code from all family members bank acount and pin code of the phones aswell and it's not important strange...
My oldest memory's are from when i was a half year old

it was my sisters first schoolday, she came running back to my mother screaming and crying she doesn't want to go!!! I can even tell you what clothing she was wearing that day!

 

[Dani Evar]

"I'm wondering if most Aspies suffer from poor short term memory?"

Individually, not exactly, depending on what type of Aspie one is. Rather, the memory of the Aspie is at best FLUID, even often with severe near-Schizophrenic relationship with physical reality (public, objective events). Public accuracy is quite something else.

Allegedly, that's just quite a prevalent characteristic of the majority. But I agree that most Aspies do have vivid memories of the distant past, due to their neuro-plasticity mentioned above.

 

[Emor]

I feel like I've already replied to this post but it doesn't seem so.
Sometimes images will flash of insignificant details like an image from a newspaper article from when I was like 5 :S.
I used to have a really good short term memory and remembered every IM I read and sent and forum post I read and made but now I'm not so good.
I can still remember most of the stuff people tell me though, and frighten some people when I remember random details like their favourite band when they only mentioned it once or something.
When it comes to my obsession I only really need to read something once and I've remembered it for the next 5 years or so.
My short term memory is in decline and I don't know about my long term memory. My ability to store information about my obsessions seems to be getting better.
And then there's these random times where as I said before I'll see something which I saw years ago like I was there. It's so weird.
EMZ=]

 

[aschrisd]

I have a good memory for things like places and directions but then I can't remember what I was in the middle of doing if I get distracted, or when was the last time I did something.