Pamela's Marvelous Memory

Pamela did not always remember events by date. Prior to 2004 when she started a journal that she kept for about two years, she remembered events by location. Like me (a navy brat), we moved often enough for this system to be helpful as you can see in these pictures. The animals represent the Chinese zodiac.

Her memory of events and dates emerged in the Spring of 2004. The first dated entry in her autobiography, which she wrote without consulting her journal, is from March of that year. It ties into her intense fascination with broken things, too:

I didn't go to mass at March 28,2004. David broke a tape. David listen on another tape. Tammy, David, and I go to a library. We didn't have co-op at 3/30/04. We have haircut in a mall. David visited Merlin. They dropped off Merlin. David broke an arm. David went to the doctor.

I decided to go on a fact-finding mission to see how accurate her memory is. While I knew David broke his arm in 2004, I could only narrow it down to a season: either spring or fall because David missed out on some of the YMCA program which takes a break in the summer and people do not roller-blade during a Minnesota winter. I went to David's journal and confirmed three things Pamela covered. First, we did go to the library on March 29. Second, David did invite his friend Merlin over for a sleepover on April 2. Third, he did break his arm on April 3. (Why do emergency room visits always happen on a Saturday?)

This feat may not be all that amazing. After all, Pamela kept a journal during this time period and one of her favorite activities is to relive the past by pouring through pictures, home videos, homeschooling paperwork, and journals. She stopped keeping a formal journal when we moved to Carolina, which would be July 2005 (my memory system is based on the house in which we lived).

What impresses me is that she must keep a journal in her head. I went back through her autobiography and journal-in-a-box and made some astounding discoveries. I am at a disadvantage because my memories of events are not connected to dates, but I have a little helper . . . the Internet! She remembers these post-journal dates in her head, while I have to look them up online.

Perfect Recall
* October 2005 - Saw The Hobbit in Charleston, SC

* April 16, 2006 - Spent Easter with the Grandparents in Asheville, NC

* Wednesday, May 31, 2006 - Stayed with Oma and Opa while I went to the Charlotte Mason Conference in Boiling Springs, NC

* June 11, 2006 - Performed Celebrate Life performance (confirmed by the handout)

* July 7, 2006 - Stayed with Oma for while I attended a relative's funeral

* December 17, 2006 - Performed City on a Hill performance

* December 23, 2006 - Met relatives who attended a great-great aunt's funeral

* December 26-27, 2006 - Went to Universal Studios (Post I and Post II)

* January 5, 2007 - Saw Eragon (I could not remember the name of the movie, which Pamela did not record, but she knew it when I asked)

* Tuesday, February 13, 2007 - Spent two days in Wilmington, NC for a homeschool meeting (confirmed by email archives)

* Monday, February 26, 2007 - Saw Amazing Grace (I remember it being on the Monday after it opened)

* Friday, March 30, 2007 - Picked up relative from the airport (confirmed by email archives)

* Thursday, April 5, 2007 - Cleaned house before an Easter weekend visit from the grandparents

* Tuesday, April 10, 2007 - Dropped off relative from the airport (confirmed by email archives)

* Tuesday, June 5, 2007 - Stayed with Oma and Opa while I went to the Charlotte Mason Conference

Pamela's journal-in-a-box is complete through the end of June 2007. I have searched high and low for any errors, and I found only one! She wrote that David went to a concert on September 22, 2006, but the Casting Crowns concert he attended was really on November 10, 2006. Wow! Only ONE mistake! If I did not have this blog, I would be lucky to get the year right!

A Snapshot of a Century

Pamela spent some time the other day writing up the calendar sheets to the right (click the picture for an even larger view). About three years ago, she started researching calendars on the Internet and memorized dates visually. She has the fourteen basic calendars memorized: leap years starting on seven different days of the week and common years starting on seven different days of the week. She knows the pattern for leap years, even obscure facts like the beginning of every century (1600, 1700, 1800, 1900, 2000) are not leap years, except for those divisible by 400! Unlike the savants who mathematically calculate calendars, Pamela sees them in her head and accesses the information like you would by turning pages in a book and looking it up. The animals are based on the Chinese astrological signs.

One of my favorite resources for homeschooling is the book, The Way They Learn, by Cynthia Tobias. When I started figuring out all the learning styles in my family, it helped me become a better wife and parent.

Pamela is definitely a concrete-sequential thinker like many autistic people. This picture is a great illustration of the strengths of someone who is concrete (real world, practical, things) and sequential (orderly, structured, plan-oriented) as indicated in this online questionnaire for this model of learning styles.

Organized . . . Perfectionistic . . . Precise . . . Memorize . . . Hard-working . . . Practicing . . . Completing work

Look at what are considered weaknesses for a highly concrete sequential person, which dovetails with what we see in autism:

Working in groups
Discussions that seem to have no specific point
Working in an unorganized environment
Following incomplete or unclear directions
Working with unpredictable people
Dealing with abstract ideas
Demands to "use your imagination"
Questions with no right or wrong answers

Hyperfocus in Action!

People with autism and/or ADD describe themselves as having the ability to hyperfocus, or an intense form of concentration that blocks out everything else. High-functioning people use it to their advantage to excel in the workplace, which is why they often become computer programmers.

This morning we ate breakfast at a fast-food restaurant on the way home. Steve always buys a newspaper when we eat out and we all read our favorite sections. Pamela enjoys reading the television guide, even though we have no programmed television at home (not even rabbit ears). The beauty and order of a lovely schedule engages her full attention.

David spilled his drink all over the table. Steve, David, and I reacted immediately, jumping up, grabbing napkins, and sopping up the mess. Pamela, enraptured by the television schedule, ignores the whole thing. To avoid having a sticky mess all over her beloved newspapers, we stood her up and she stayed there, glued to the newspaper. Pamela remained in that position long enough for us to wipe the spill and take this photograph!

Hyperfocus can be a good thing when you find a way to nurture it and develop it into a niche skill desired by employers. It can be a bad thing when it totally blocks out other learning or communication with people. The key is moderation, which is the exact opposite of hyperfocus!