Making It Fit

*This is about me, mainly. It's a little different.

Knowing HOW to access information is more important than memorization. The computer can hold the facts, but you hold the computer.

When it comes down to it, you will find I know processes. I didn't memorize a bunch of random facts. I have learned how to perform something. I'd be interested in it, so I would learn about it. This could involve history and use in other cultures. If something was mechanical, sometimes I would take it apart and put it back together. I did that a lot when I was younger, especially as a child. With ideas, sometimes I will put them to use. You are reading one. I learned the process of writing long ago.

I may or may not fit in the category of savant syndrome. I may have some things but not other qualities. (Maybe a subset will start. It might take care of that medical mystery thing.) This is why I don't like diagnosis and have always avoided it. (My background is psychology.) I turned and went towards special education. The children usually had a diagnosis or were close.

I communicate a lot, but not by speaking. I write it down. I usually use the 'non-fiction short story' as my format. This allows me to give information, but allows you, the reader to make inferences and come up with new ideas. The not speaking is going to fit in real well with savant syndrome. The style of writing, maybe, will not fit. Any style of writing used as a means of communication may not fit. I never did like these things- trying to fit in a box.

I type this all with one finger. That definitely fits in savant syndrome. I didn't always just use my left arm after a brain injury, though. Initially, I didn't have any arm to use. I knew I would move, but that was many years away.

I would have to remember everything. Again, strong memory is associated with the condition. I have that.

So, knowing HOW to access information is more important than memorization. I never learned all the diagnoses. I could look one up if I needed it. Instead I learned underlying principles of human behavior. That's my BA in Psychology. I could apply that to anybody. Not everyone will fit in a square box of a diagnosis.

This brain injury could probably be covered by a sub-category of savant syndrome that addresses creativity and is made non-specific, or NOS.