I haven’t yet seen this topic discussed in this forum and I’m really curious about it. I myself am dyspraxic and I’ve started to wonder if my attraction to mnemonic techniques has something to do with this. Dyspraxia is a neurological difference that fundamentally affects short-term verbal and spatial memory - exactly those things that most (short-term) mnemonic techniques rely on, and I wonder if I have been unconsciously making up for this difference by practising mnemonic techniques, on-and-off throughout my life. (To explain a little more, I was only diagnosed two years ago with this lifelong condition, and so the idea wouldn’t have occurred to me before this).
I’m wondering how many other contributors on here consider themselves to be neurodivergent, and what relationship (if any), they see between this and their interest in this pastime?
I’ve asked myself the question many times because sometimes I think that I’ve never understood people really (and my family has many autistic/ADHD people, five diagnosed in the youngest generation, and at least three very clearly in the oldest generation, only schools didn’t know about it then).
But ultimately I just don’t care about the diagnosis because in the end, what would it change for me? I’m happy with my life and I already learnt to do things differently when I needed to. And I’m now old enough to not care if people don’t like the way I do things or find me weird.
I think I was just very lucky to be born in a family where many are “weird” and where people are accepting and so, although social interactions didn’t feel natural to me (and still sometimes aren’t), I never felt really alienated. Especially since my family was in a large religious community and so we had social interactions and friends there, so it didn’t matter if at school I was a bit different and didn’t have close friends, because I already had a social network with godparents and other children.
When I began school at six I didn’t understand the other children at all (their reactions, their emotions) but I thought I was the only normal one and THEY were all weird. (Since in my family I was normal). I basically spend the three first years of school observing other children like strange animals in a zoo and then was able to imitate well enough to pass muster (more or less).
Also I think it helped me to be so clueless in a way, because when some children told me I was weird and they didn’t want to talk to me, I understood it as “I need time alone” and since I’m an introvert I understand that! So I didn’t feel sad, I was just “oh, of course, I understand, do whatever you need”.
Hi Hari, thanks so much for this thoughtful reply. It makes a lot of sense and I found it really interesting. I know that there’s a lot of undiagnosed neurodivergence in older generations and that people find their own adaptations and often live perfectly happily as a result of these. Sometimes I question what the impact of more and more diagnoses will be. However, I know that for myself, being diagnosed dyspraxic has helped me make a lot of sense of my life and my mind, especially since talking to a specialist who helped me understand the root causes of the condition a bit better.
Being different isn’t a problem if people are accepting (or at least the important people in your life). Also being able to build healthy self-confidence. Had I struggled more at school academically (I didn’t have the best grades, but my parents didn’t care that much) or socially (I was never physically bullied and didn’t feel the need to be a popular kid), I would have been very happy to understand more about why and how to deal with it better. But due to happy circumstances in life I didn’t need it. Also the teachers had the good sense (and were allowed) to send pupils outside to play when they finished their work, which did wonders for the class atmosphere and motivation (and probably helped a lot the kids who need to be physically active to learn).
For my uncle it’s different, he very clearly has strong ADHD. He left school at 14 to go work in a workshop because he’s “not clever like the others” (his words). I keep pointing out to him all the things he did and does that other people don’t manage, but he still doesn’t believe he isn’t dumb I mean he has a happy life too, so it’s not awful, but you can it that it impacted how he sees himself a lot.
My guess is that the teachers didn’t know how to deal with him during class. I mean I love him and he’s a funny and interesting person, but sometimes it is exhausting to be around him because he never stops talking and moving. Basically he’s the perfect hiking partner because he’s always full of energy and ideas, and unlike many people his age he keeps fit, moving so much. But stuck at home during covid made him (and his family) crazy. For him a diagnosis would have helped, hopefully for more acceptance at school and maybe his teachers could have had strategies to help him. (Because honestly a child who is litterally unable to stop talking is a nightmare for the teacher too).
@Bigdonnyv and @Josh thank you, it’s interesting to know that neurodivergence is probably quite common within this community. It makes sense to me that when people ‘think differently’, they might also get more interested in how their minds and memories work, and how to make them work even better!
I got an ADD diagnosis at 38 years old. While it hasn’t changed who am I, and the diagnosis itself has not become a part of my identity or “brand”, it has had some nice effects.
First off, I am somewhat medicated, which has had a real impact on my ability to focus, how tired I become and all that good stuff
Second, it has helped me and my closest to get some more language and lenses through which to process me and my behaviour
Third, having this awareness as a parent is very useful in terms of paying extra attention to your kids
Fourth, it has helped me understand why I have struggled so much getting through life even though I am quite smart
While I personally wish I had known sooner, I am not resentful. While the diagnosis or “label” has not become part of my identity, I know it helps others to wear it like that.
For me, a lot of things just started to make sense. It has definitely been a part of me reading ALL THE BOOKS on productivity systems, while completely failing to apply most of the useful patterns.
It is definitely a part of me being extremely curious about how brains work, and my brain in particular.
As you, I would expect there to be some correlation between neurodivergence and interest in mental sports. I suppose it for me is a part of the “geek” or “nerd” stereotyping. And that is a label that I proudly wield.
I’m currently going through a screening process for a presumed attention disorder since speaking to a therapist - it’s not a guarantee I have it, but in speaking to friends and peers with ADHD, they seem to think the same.
It’d definitely explain the burning interest I have in this/any topic, that suddenly dies out after a few weeks at best; some days I feel like I could read and practice mnemonics for days straight, whilst lately I’ve been too distracted and fixated on other things to give previously interesting hobbies a passing glance.
I think there’s something to be said about the ease of access for practicing mnemonics, that might be super engaging to a neurodivergent person. Going through a familiar memory palace, and memorising a list of 10-15 items, as a typical practice exercise for people completely new to mnemonics, works wonders in showing its efficacy, as well as having such a low barrier to entry that it hooked me from then on.
To echo RandomSort a bit too, even though it’s too early to say confidently if I have an attention disorder, there’s a degree of vindication that comes with having it identified. I struggle to maintain focus with anything anymore, and seeking help about it might allow me to control that a lot better. It’d give me a lot of peace of mind to know what my pitfalls are and how to control them.
My brain thought about it at night and added one reason for which a diagnosis can be useful, it’s if you have children (I think RamdomSort mentioned it).
it can help understand yourself and how you function better (and explain why apparently “everybody” manages except you, if that’s why your environment let you feel.
Also, depending on the circumstances to be given words to explain things in a convincing way to others is important (but then there are also sceptical people who are going to react badly for you to have joined the “ADHD-craze”, so share with caution).
it can help for more acceptance in your communities in giving everybody ideas for living together better (I’m especially thinking about school for children, where it could be also useful to give teachers help). Or help you to find a new communities of people who function like you, if you felt isolated before.
if you have children and they struggle you may notice it sooner (because children compensate A LOT), and if your child has a diagnosis and you too, they may feel less “alone”.
Also some other random thought on school. I think to be happy we need 1) to feel competent (which school can provide, but school can also detroy your self-esteem if you can’t study the typical way), 2) to feel needed. And if you don’t have this happening in your family/communities (because chores and helping out, and being needed for the good functioning of the group), I’m not sure that school can provide it. Children are after all served by the school, and clearly a cost factor (people always obsess about how much education costs, both for the parents and for the state)… and children definitely pick that up (although it’s maybe more extreme in the US where I hear people obsess about sending their children to a kindergarten (!) that costs a *ton of money).
I’m new to this forum. TommyTurtle - your post caught my attention immediately. I’m the survivor of extensive brain surgery (bye bye right hippocampus & right amygdala!). The surgery took away my epilepsy. But in return, I now have to think 2x as hard to remember anything, and have completely lost all memories of my early childhood years.
The only reason I have ended up at this form is to regain control over my world. I despereatly need to re-form a working memory, and games like Luminosity just don’t cut it these days.
My life depends on being able to remember who I am, and finding what i can do.
I’m sorry to hear that you had to undergo such drastic and life altering surgery, @Beantheredonethat. I hope that this community is of some use to you as you try to re-form a working memory. I can’t imagine how hard it is losing something so fundamental that you used to rely on without having to think about it. Wishing you strength and support on your journey.
That’s interesting @Lukelustre. I relate to what you say about ‘a low bar of entry’, and for me the ability to craft your own world within the systems you create, based on your own mental associations and interests, is a real draw. I do wonder if I’m on the ADD spectrum myself - for example, even within mnemonics I’ve already half-created and then ‘screwed up and thrown away’ a number of systems for remembering numbers and cards, all of which I was fully into and convinced I would stick with in the first few weeks that I was working on them!
Really interesting thoughts, eloquently expressed @RandomSort! Struggling through life despite being, in many ways, very smart is something I definitely relate to. And yes, having some shared language to talk about how you think and act with your loved ones is such a boon - I don’t any longer have to resort to self-deprecating terms such as ‘clumsy’ or ‘scatty’ (though I still use these sometimes).
I mean he has a happy life too, so it’s not awful, but you can it that it impacted how he sees himself a lot.