Memory and how I am able to use it

When I have heard Dr Temple Grandin speak, I recall her mentioning that she sees things in pictures and not words. As an adult, I also visualize the same way, only I have no artistic ability. When I plan activities or organise my day to day appointments, I tend to visualise more pictures than I do words. A word or a series of numbers often means little to me unless it is a birthrate or year of significance. If for instance I visualise the year 1972, it is the year of my birth and I can recall a lot of events that happened that year but rather than see the words of the events, I see a picture of the events themselves and link them to the respective year. When I catch up with friends or organise an event, I see the event in my head as a picture but how the event will unfold is another matter. I respond to colour, certain sounds of music and pictures. When I hear certain songs, I can recall memories from the past and when I was in Pre School and Grade 1, my favourite jumper had a pattern on the front of it and when you pressed the pattern it would make a horn sound. I can recall being in Grade 1 Music Class with a teacher called Mr Straw and when I pressed the pattern on this jumper which was a relaxant to me, I ended up getting into trouble as it disrupted the class. Also I remember visualizing having my legs crossed and floating over the school as I guess was a form of depersonalization at the time.

Often my memory is so sharp that I can recall names of people and events others have forgotten and I am almost able to recall an event from every year from a certain period. History and knowing dates got me through writing assignments and thinking in pictures helps me to get through some other events. When I think of a car I see the car in my head as a picture and have difficulty making sense of the word. I see colours as a means of lifting myself out of the doldrums and see gray as a means of enduing down moods. When I plan events everything is mapped out in my head and I see the month of the oncoming months and years in my head too rather than the dates of the month. One of the difficulties or triggers associated with anxiety and depression is too much focus on the future than on the present. I have learned relaxation techniques of counting in for 4 seconds and exhaling for 8 seconds to control anxiety better. When you are anxious and your mind goes into over drive, focusing on breathing is but one means of bringing you back from the anxiety to be in the present and to induce a calm frame of mind. I wonder how many people with Autism actually think in pictures and not words?