Been reading lotsa posts this morning about funny ADD traits with words, habits, etc. Wanna see how folks do in the number arena.

I CAN remember my 16 digit credit card number, including the 3 digit pin on the back. :)

I CAN remember a phone number of some business I haven't called in like 10 years. :)

I CAN'T remember a phone number long enough to hang up from 411 and dial it 5 seconds later. :confused:

Yes... it's typical for those with ADD to have a poor working memory, but long-term memory is relatively unaffected. The difficulty is often getting items into long-term memory (because of poor working memory), but one it is there, the long-term aspect comes to surface. I have a very good long-term memory... and I can probably memorize the things you have mentioned, but it would take a very conscious effort on my part. It usually would not happen simply from use (small numbers, yes, but not larger ones).

I have Dyscalculia so i have great difficulty in the number area. Going shopping is a nightmare! lol

oh yeah! But isn't everyone like this? I have these occassional epiphanies when I see what non-add people that I never imagined was even reasonable. When I started on meds I remember reading a short newpaper article from from begining to end, one sentence after another. I asked my spouse "you mean you guys do this all the time?" and she gave me this unforgetable quizzical look which somehow combined 'welcome' and 'what species are you'.

'what species are you?'Homo neosapiens
genus-species
aka
neorenaissance man

aka
ADDer

warm wellcome sweetness nice to have you here i have a bad working merroy an def have deilixasya in more ways than one would be intrseting to know each persons streghts with add ie 3 each the good an bad points wiych you think are the things that efft yoour life ....wellcome to the add comoimty sweetness dorm

oh yeah! But isn't everyone like this?
Probably. I'm not even fully convinced yet that I have ADD, so this might just be normal...although the more I find out about the ADD'ers here the more I'm beginning to wonder. Seems all the things in life I thought were normal might now be ADD'ish in some cases, just plain human and others. I'm too new to all this to know the difference!

I had so much fun reading about people's wacky issues with words, memory, etc. in other posts, I just though it'd be fun to see folks' issues with numbers too. :)

Been reading lotsa posts this morning about funny ADD traits with words, habits, etc. Wanna see how folks do in the number arena.

I CAN remember my 16 digit credit card number, including the 3 digit pin on the back. :)

I CAN remember a phone number of some business I haven't called in like 10 years. :)

I CAN'T remember a phone number long enough to hang up from 411 and dial it 5 seconds later. :confused:
This is the way I have been all my life. Numbers that i use or have used in the past still stick with me. But if it's a number that's new to me I have to rwrite it down immediately, it just doesn't stick around.

Wow, I am JUST like that stratdude..it's ridiculous!!!
I know the phone number of a girl I knew in highschool by accidently overhearing it being said..about 5 years ago.
I also know the birthday of a guy my friend went to elementary school with because I saw it written down somewhere about 6 years ago. I corrected my friend when he said it was the day after just this year, and I've never even met this guy!!
Yet, I have to think hard to remember my 3-digit department local number at a job I've had for 2 years.
Go figure.

I think that if I use conscious effort and successfully get something into my long term memory, then it stays very well. However, I don't think that process always takes conscious effort. Neither of those 1st numbers have any relevance to me and I would MUCh rather take that space with something like my credit card #'s so I dont have to find them to pay my bills online. To be honest that has been a huge mystery to me for a while..and when I'm reciting off random peoples' birthday, it's almost creepy.

Been reading lotsa posts this morning about funny ADD traits with words, habits, etc. Wanna see how folks do in the number arena.

I CAN remember my 16 digit credit card number, including the 3 digit pin on the back. :)

I CAN remember a phone number of some business I haven't called in like 10 years. :)

I CAN'T remember a phone number long enough to hang up from 411 and dial it 5 seconds later. :confused:LOL..me too :D I rattle off my card number and everyone is like "Wow, how do you remember all that" ..
I remember things in ryhme..like little blocks of numbers..333, 4234, 7565 etc etc
but if it is read back to me in a different sequence, I get confused, and have to get it repeated in *my* sequence eg 33 34234 7565 that does my head in LOL,:p

LOL..me too :D I rattle off my card number and everyone is like "Wow, how do you remember all that" ..


I know! I once confused the hell outta some cashier at a store I frequent (couldn't swing that at a place otherwise) when I rattled it off w/o having the card.

If phone numbers have a certain "feel" to them, I can remember them easily for long periods. Ditto for dates and other number things. (No, I have no savant qualities or ability to do mental arithmetic.)

And really important numbers -- my bar code for my library card and that of my husband -- I always remember.

Been reading lotsa posts this morning about funny ADD traits with words, habits, etc. Wanna see how folks do in the number arena.

I CAN remember my 16 digit credit card number, including the 3 digit pin on the back. :)

I CAN remember a phone number of some business I haven't called in like 10 years. :)

I CAN'T remember a phone number long enough to hang up from 411 and dial it 5 seconds later. :confused: Had to give ya some Rep points because I'm a Strat man myself! :) (I'm assuming that you mean the Guitar.) (However, if you are a Strattera man, that works for me too! I also take Strattera!)

Good thread!

I CAN'T remember a phone number long enough to hang up from 411 and dial it 5 seconds later either!!!!! But I could play back the tones the numbers make to you a month from now! And probably get the correct sequence of pauses you made when dialing the number too! :)

But ask me for my bank pin number and I'm at a loss (even though I have had the same pin number for 20 years) :)

I CAN remember my 16 digit credit card number, including the 3 digit pin on the back.

I CAN remember a phone number of some business I haven't called in like 10 years.

I CAN'T remember a phone number long enough to hang up from 411 and dial it 5 seconds later.

Some numbers stick like glue others slide out of my mind like slime in grease. . . then there are those that my brain confuses in other words I remember the numbers yes the sequence sort of – I will some times transpose parts of the number or memorize it completely backwards – which means in order to remember the number correctly so it will be useful I have to remember the numbers as well as the transposition.

Dyslexia and ADD can be an interesting combination – I have been coming up with interesting pass words even before they encouraged such a practice but remember the combination to my safe I have had for five years ye ha what a ride- this can only be done if I am not trying to hard to remember it. . .

Thanks for the welcome dorm :)

Some numbers stick like glue others slide out of my mind like slime in grease. . . then there are those that my brain confuses in other words I remember the numbers yes the sequence sort of – I will some times transpose parts of the number or memorize it completely backwards – which means in order to remember the number correctly so it will be useful I have to remember the numbers as well as the transposition.

Dyslexia and ADD can be an interesting combination – I have been coming up with interesting pass words even before they encouraged such a practice but remember the combination to my safe I have had for five years ye ha what a ride- this can only be done if I am not trying to hard to remember it. . .WOW :), this all happens to me and it's not JUST numbers. It's names and faces too. Although I do find it much easier to remember Numbers than Names. Probably because numbers have an easier pattern. If I only a read a name or number a few times, it will often disappear forever. However, if I read it several times and "say" it to myself many times I will eventually remember it. And once I remember it, it's usually there forever.

I read this section on Memory in Driven To Distraction, where it talks about how people with ADD don't put information in it's proper "Place" when it's first presented to them. This makes so much sense if you think about it, at least to me.

For example, when I'm busy working on something or otherwise uninterested in a person talking to me. If I just glance at the person's face while I am talking to them and don't really study them, I will often remember almost nothing about seeing the person even if he/she comes back a few minutes later. I've embarassingly had this happen a few times where a guy I talked to earlier would comeback asking if I found anything when he told me to find something for him and would vaguely remember a thing. But if I study someone long enough, or see the person often enough,(like daily) then I will likely NEVER forget that person or especially their face.

I can open a school yearbook from literally any year and remember almost everyone that I had contact with at least once. There are many people in yearbooks I vividly remember just for a single memorable moment that I had with them. Even if it was just walking across the hall and never seeing them again: If there was something I was thinking about that linked them with me, I remembered it! It's insane but true. I've spoken to some of these people at Class Reunion's, even people I figured I knew pretty well, who honestly couldn't remember ever seeing me.

As far as Dislexia goes.. I think we ADDers get numbers messed up when we're in a rush and don't allow our brains to fully absorb the numbers we are trying to take in. It's easy to see how 54424 can be seen as 54242 when we go over it too fast. Notice how it takes a couple seconds to make absolute sure your reading the right number? If you pull your eyes away before you "say" the numbers in your head, you will most likely come up with the wrong numbers almost half the time.

I aplogize for the length of this post, but I had to put enough information in to hopefully make some sense. It's a phenomenon that has amazed me for years ever since I found out about ADHD. I basically think your mind is going to fast for it's own good and is why lots of crucial info often gets overlooked. Please, let me know how much of this makes sense? :confused: