MEMORY

[nickye]

I'm just interested in how dyspraxia affects the memory. I have a very bad short-term memory, in that I can never remember where I put my keys. I find it hard to remember a list of instructions.

But I remember people's names, birthdays, brothers and sisters names, for years (even people I was at school with and haven't seen for 30 years). I do family history and remember most of my ancestors dates of birth, death, baptism, etc.

I'm not good with faces or things I've seen though - I will forget what someone looks like as soon as they've gone out the room, and yet voices and names seem to stay with me.

When I worked in a pre-school, and children were assessed for special needs, I often used to think well why do they think these children need assessing, I do those things, they're quite normal. Ah, I thought, perhaps it's me that's unusual. (Not that that is necessarily a bad thing of course).

My Mum told me that when I was two, or not much more than two, I memorised a whole two pages of an encyclopaedia of breeds of dogs. My Grandad used to cover up the names and test me, and I'd tell him what the dogs were.

My Dad has an amazing memory for things from the past - he's great for family history, and will remember what his Dad earned per week in 1939 and what his great-grandmother told him that her father said to her back in the 1890s! But he struggles a lot with reading and writing, and he and I feel sure now that he is dyslexic. He writes certain words with the letters back to front, like "flet" for "felt". He is always losing things, and putting them down and can't find them, but unlike me he is a very practical person, and is a builder, he's really good at making things, bricklaying, decorating, etc. When he was at school he was just labelled as being disruptive and not trying hard enough.

Do a lot of people with dyspraxia/dyslexia have a very good long term memory but a poor short term one?

Thanks,
Nicky

PS: Sorry I can't stop writing at the moment - it's just after years of thinking I'm different to everyone else, it's such a relief to come and here and read about other people's experiences. It's just amazing and I wish the Internet had been around earlier in my life.

[joy]

I would say that most definitely we have a very poor short term memory and a fairly good long term memory,and many will struggle to follow written and verbal instructions I often reverse letters as as oi instead of io especially when I am typing I have to check my words constantly in case I have reversed letters although sometimes my eye tracking and co-ordination isn't very good and I often hit the wrong button on the keyboard because of it which when I look at it looks like nonsense which is why we constantly feel the need to check work several times which is why when you are copying work we have problems from constantly trying to find your place that you are trying to copy from because you lose it, so it would take much longer ,which is often why you will get extra time when you are sitting a exam .

[joy]

I would say that most definitely we have a very poor short term memory and a fairly good long term memory,and many will struggle to follow written and verbal instructions I often reverse letters as as oi instead of io especially when I am typing I have to check my words constantly in case I have reversed letters although sometimes my eye tracking and co-ordination isn't very good and I often hit the wrong button on the keyboard because of it which when I look at it looks like nonsense which is why we constantly feel the need to check work several times which is why when you are copying work we have problems from constantly trying to find your place that you are trying to copy from because you lose it, so it would take much longer ,which is often why you will get extra time when you are sitting a exam .

[joy]

Sorry its posted twice again , don't know why as I only clicked once maybe its a dyspraxic moment

[Jim]

I was going to say something but I've forgotten what, sorry.

[calumfsinclair]

I'm the opposite to you, I remember faces but not the name that applies to them, which has led to some awkward situations! My short term memory is atrocious and so ill do something ten times before I complete it since I can't remember the next step. Also I'll put my phone down, sit on it, and ask where is my phone? I remember instructions but not in the right order, also rembering rhythms in sixth form we have a samba band but icant keep my rhythm since I forget it.

[toxic_ange]

Hmm, my memory for stuff is terrible.

I'm always forgetting where Im going/what i'm doing.

Who I'm meeting, ive taken to writing everything down when I plan it in a diary I keep on me ALL the time. I carry it with me everywhere so I can write down new plans straight away so I don't forget.

It's a pain because I never know what day it is, or the time, or sometimes the month, and I forget how old I am and names and places and directions. but I can recite word for word certain songs/passages from books/ essays from college.

Its like, hello i no longer need that 4000 word essay i need tomorrows plans!

[nickye]

Thanks everybody for so many replies. I just said in another post that my Dad is almost certainly dyslexic, and dyslexia and dyspraxia do seem to overlap. Although fortunately I never had a problem with reading/writing, I had a lot of difficulties with practical tasks, driving etc. My Dad often gets letters round the wrong way when he writes and will miss out letters, it also takes him a long time to copy anything down. But he is very practical, unlike me. He's just doing literacy classes, and his spelling, memory, everything has so improved, so please anyone on here, don't think it's too late, because my Dad's 70, he's brilliant to me, but he's always felt so ashamed of not being able to read and write very well, and yet the improvement he's made in the last 2 years at these classes is amazing.

I think Dad and I both have problems with time management/organisation - we're always losing stuff and can't concentrate. Yet we both have a very good long term memory.

Still, we are all different. Although a lot of the time I feel these things are a pain, they're also in a way a gift. My Dad and I both seem to feel things very deeply, we feel a great joy in music, and it does make you more sensitive to other people's problems and difficulties.

I hope this helps other people. Sorry to be rambling on, but I can't get over the fact that my Dad is doing so well now with spelling. I remember as a child seeing him trying to write a letter, and tearing it up several times. The sad thing is that he felt so ashamed of it, even though he's great at other things, he built a lovely extension on our house when I was a teenager, and designed it all himself. As well as doing his main building job at the same time. Yet he'll say "I'm useless". But now he's not worried at all about telling people he has difficulty reading and writing, and I think it helps other people.

Anyway, sorry for another long ramble! I just feel this website is so great because you can share things that other people don't understand. One of the big problems to me is that I've always felt ashamed of the way I am, and that there's something wrong with me. Now though I am starting to see the good side and how I can help others (hopefully!)