Sensorial memory & Asperger syndrome

As the two sides of the same coin, children’s with Asperger’s have problems with generalization and overgeneralization. This has repercussions on their rigid thinking and behavior. ( Bogdashina, 2004)

The generalization, or capacity to extrapolate information, fails given their gestalt and literal perception; whereas the overgeneralization leads from their fragmentation.

Children with Asperger’s remember things through sensorial experiences: smells, tastes, noises, textures and/or images, depending on the most reliable sense for the individual. This allows an easy access to memories. This is also known as “associative memory”, that might be helpful to compensate their difficulties to process information quickly, but a disadvantage when it is used in an excessive or inappropriate manner. ( Bogdashina, 2004)

Following the author, there is a high number of children within the Spectrum that “see” their thoughts: the visual thinkers. Unlike most people, they think from specific to general, not being restricted by traditional conventions, which, at the same time, requires more effort. Firstly, they have to “select” images, placing them in appropriate words.

As perceptual thinkers, they have problems with abstract words and social experiences, which can not be turned into “ mental images”. Paradoxically, that can make them great poets when their concrete thinking is used to describe abstract ideas that become original metaphors. (Bogdashina, 2004)