Could You Have Aphantasia? Signs & Connection to Autism
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День томуHi! I'm Orion Kelly and I'm Autistic. On this video I explore the topic of Aphantasia. Plus, I share my personal lived experiences as an #actuallyautistic person. #orionkelly #autism #asd #autismsigns #whatautismfeelslike
⏱ Index:
00:00 - Welcome
00:31 - Aphantasia Explained
03:19 - Autism Connection
04:30 - Signs
10:37 - Impact of Aphantasia
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ABOUT ORION:
Orion Kelly is an #ActuallyAutistic vlogger (UKpostsr), podcaster, radio host, actor, keynote speaker and Autistic advocate based in Australia. Orion is all about helping you increase your understanding, acceptance and appreciation of Autistic people.
#AutisticVoices #ActuallyAutistic #Autistic #Autism #OrionKelly #ThatAutisticGuy #ASD
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@ambriasaunders1869 6 місяців тому
I learned as an adult that humans can see images in their heads. Years later, it still feels like science fiction.
@annawhitneysparks3112 6 місяців тому
I'm with ya! I found out early this year, at the age of 35, that people can legit just close their eyes and see stuff. Doesn't seem real😂.
@bluntforcetanya 6 місяців тому
This is how I feel about internal monologues! I'm the opposite - it's all images & concepts & memories & scenes & events, I never think in words unless I'm scripting something I'm about to say.
@annawhitneysparks3112 6 місяців тому
@bluntforcetanya That's so interesting! I also don't have an internal monologue. I have thoughts, obviously, but it's like I have to force them to be words. Usually it's more that I "know" they are there. I talk out loud when I'm scripting, so I'm usually alone for that lol. This is such a fascinating topic.
@koda5209 6 місяців тому
It took me a while watching mean girls. They had day dream scenes and they never made sense to me til later in life
@AlohaVitalis 6 місяців тому
Me too 😢
@Jaggedblades 6 місяців тому
One strange side effect of Aphantasia that has come up in my marriage is that I cannot answer my wife when she asks "Do you think that outfit would look good on me?" The only thing I can say to her is "I'd have to see you in it," because I *literally* cannot picture what something I'm looking at would look like in a different context. It is like trying to tune an old TV; sometimes I can barely see an image, but then it is covered in static again.
@_JustJoe 6 місяців тому
That tv analogy is perfect!
@Riuyilmistico 5 місяців тому
No one can, that's not how it works.
@TruthOverFacts1 5 місяців тому
@@Riuyilmisticowrong. I would definitely be able to imagine and picture how a woman would fit into a dress she isn’t wearing. I’m like the opposite of aphantasia. I cannot turn off the mental images or internet dialogue. I’m constantly talking in my head
@Charlfie333 5 місяців тому
i just think of how the colours would look on the person who asks me and piece it together because even though i cant imagine i can tell how colours would look if the clothes are next to them!
@Vicious-Spiral 4 місяці тому
True!
@ianlynch8676 6 місяців тому
I am 55 years old and I had no idea people really saw proper images when they visualize things. I also feel the sadness associated with not being able to remember my own history in any detail. It feels like your whole life exists only in the current moment and you have no past life. Thank you so much for this and all your videos. I watch them and you feel like a long lost brother.
@heedmydemands 6 місяців тому
That could b a blessing and a curse
@ianlynch8676 6 місяців тому
A very empty feeling. A loss of identity.
@heedmydemands 6 місяців тому
@@ianlynch8676 o I'm sorry I was not sympathetic
@ianlynch8676 6 місяців тому
Your comment was true. I appreciated the reply.
@justinwatson1510 6 місяців тому
If it makes you feel any better, human memories are absolute dog shit with regards to efficiency / fidelity, so your hazy memories are at least more honest in a way. :-)
@andriusbruzas9211 6 місяців тому
The face recognition really explained something I new for a long time. When I dream I see people, but not how they are in real life. I see a random person, but I know who they are to me. Like an essence of that person, irregardless of what they look like .
@LizzyGiggles Місяць тому
Omg I get that too! And I’ve always got weird looks when I’ve said to someone else I was with you but you kept changing into a cat etc but it was still you the whole time. I thought everyone dreamt like that lol
@PurpleRhymesWithOrange 6 місяців тому
I have to explain to people that me not looking at them does not mean I am not listening. When something is important for me to understand the best thing is to take off my glasses and close my eyes. Less sensory input helps me absorb the information better.
@AlexLouiseWest 6 місяців тому
Yes. Totally relatable and well expressed, thank you.
@LEO91968 6 місяців тому
I do that!!! It takes me awhile to recognize new people's faces, especially if the faces are boring, and similar to each other! I can't hold the images in my mind. I can't picture what people are telling me to do. It's hard to train me to do hands on stuff. I can't do guided meditation, either. Thank you for naming it for me. It affects everything I do. I've struggled with it my whole life!!!❤
@lasagnakob9908 6 місяців тому
It's pretty weird, I have a lot of trouble seeing peoples faces in my head let alone remembering them, but I have no problem imagining anything else (seeing an apple and rotating it that kind of thing.) Haven't technically been tested for being on the spectrum, but my family and teachers have long suspected it (was even diagnosed with autistic learning disorder by a doctor, just not anything else more specific.)
@daninraleigh 6 місяців тому
@@lasagnakob9908 Yes, facial recognition is a unique and probably separate part of the whole picture. There have been several research projects to understand how this works. (I saw a PBS special years ago) Some people can't even recognize family members by sight. Some find it easier to visualize 2D pictures of people than the actual person's face.
@Jenna.g.85 6 місяців тому
I hate when people ask "where do you see yourself in _ years?" Um I don't see myself anywhere,can't do it. Great video Orion
@M.Griffin 6 місяців тому
This is me! LoL!
@annamossity8879 13 днів тому
Yes!
@M.Griffin 6 місяців тому
FaceBlind - I was diagnosed… after realizing I cannot even recall my son or daughter in my mind. I see nothing in my mind… which is bizarre to my friends. I was also terrible at imaginary play with my daughter and her dolls, etc. I heard the term “Afantasia” a month ago- FINALLY got answers!
@PurpleRhymesWithOrange 6 місяців тому
Prosopagnosia is the clinical term for face blindness. My family still doesn't grasp that I can't recognize people if I am not seeing them at least every week. They still don't get that even relatives I won't recognize when I haven't seen them in several months.
@Psychobellic 6 місяців тому
@@PurpleRhymesWithOrangeit's not that it's non recognizable.. You just can't describe the person's face in details if police is trying to draw it by spoken details.. I can't picture my mom in my head but I always recognize her when I see her lol
@PurpleRhymesWithOrange 6 місяців тому
@@Psychobellic I have something different then. I my case it isn't just not being able to picture a face in my mind but also when someone comes up to me in the store and starts talking to me I'm trying to figure out who the person is.
@JuliaJames-zx5xy 6 місяців тому
@@PurpleRhymesWithOrangeI thought with myself I just had bad memory. Thank you so much for sharing this info.
@valeriechism2588 4 місяці тому
No idea if I'm on the spectrum but know I'm ADD from raising two kids with that IEP. Dyslexia and dysgraphia also frolic on our family tree and one grandchild has pretty strong signs of autism (not yet formally diagnosed. Definitely aphantasic though but managed to be quite good in areas that didn't involve special perception. The worst effect is the lack of visual memory. I remember the feel of my life but few details.
@Myslexia 6 місяців тому
I’m an autistic graphic designer with aphantasia. How, you ask? I have to make mockups of my ideas in Photoshop to see if the ideas look good before I refine the details of a project and clean up the images. It takes some extra time, but because I’m detail-oriented and a perfectionist, the final product always impresses my clients. They also like that I make examples of what their ideas could look like before we commit to one. Autistim can require some creative workarounds, but I have always found the challenge very fulfilling.
@laura38ab 5 місяців тому
Awesome! I love art and I'm good at copying what I see, but I didn't realize until a couple years ago that others can visualize and I can't. Now I understand how other artists draw from imagination and why I am terrible at that. I also struggle to incorporate rules of composition into my art since I don't know how it will look until I put it on paper (or a screen, etc). Making mock ups is a great idea. I would love it if someone would create resources (like classes or videos, etc) for aphantasic artists. I want to do a lot more, but it's discouraging realizing I have this disadvantage and sometimes I wonder if I should approach it differently or focus on a different creative outlet. I'm happy to hear about others who have this and succeed in art! Congrats!
@themorrislessgroup 3 місяці тому
Same! Mock-up everything lol
@palisade1060 6 місяців тому
I'm gonna be honest, as someone with Aspergers, when I first learned about this I refused to believe it actually exited (because I have rather over-active imagination to the point it actually counteracts coherent thinking.) I now understand it was the closest I ever got to feel the way neurotypicals do when they hear about autism. "I don't experience it so it can't possibly exist." Thank you for promoting understanding and inclusivity.
@chuunibyu 10 днів тому
It’s ,,low needs autistic“ not aspergers. Asperger’s a made up concept by a n@zi. You can google it
@InAHollowTree 6 місяців тому
I have what I assume is called “hyperphantasia”: I cant _stop_ visualizing things, so much that the parade images ketp me from sleeping some nights. As an artist, this is great obviously (most of the time). Im great at building things but Im bad at recognizing faces unless they have some memorable features like a long nose, large mole, or very uneven eyes.
@Tilly850 6 місяців тому
My vison has quirks like that too...artist here as well. Can't recall faces well at all. I know I see "differently" and even knowing I have autism now, it's interesting to realize how we really don't see things in the same way no matter where we are in the spectrum of humanity!
@erikavaleries 6 місяців тому
Wow. I always remember faces, even if I have seen them once or twice. I love art & visualizing things, but it’s hard to do so abstractly, in my mind. I have to draw things out or assemble them first in most cases.
@ishbelharris1857 6 місяців тому
I too have the opposite of aphantasia and find it quite tiring. For me, it seems that the only time I don't have a head full of images is when I have a general anaesthetic - best sleep ever.
@RafalRacegPolonusSum 6 місяців тому
Same
@ciaraskeleton 6 місяців тому
I am exactly the same!! I have too many images, especially when I listen to music, where often I'll actually see the music. I'm an artist and I paint so I find it great for that but not much else 😂 I also have issues visualising faces, I only remember or can visualise extremely characteristic faces, and even still I can't really put the face together cohesively
@kewk 6 місяців тому
Thanks for bringing more attention to this. I am on the spectrum and a complete Aphant. I didn't learn about being Aphantasic until a couple years back. So many things made sense. I do believe that there's way more people with Aphantasia than what is "imagined" atm. I think the big problem is, we never knew to even question it. So the more people know about it, the more will understand and can find out if they are or not.
@gamewrit0058 6 місяців тому
As for acceptance, I've seen online and in-person discussions about, "Hey do you think in words, or do you see images in your head?" It sets up a neat, collaborative conversation about what we have in common - thinking - and how we can have different ways of doing it. In my experience, folks open to the idea that there's a variety of valid ways to be a human person seem to latch on to and enjoy this kind of conversation. "Oh my gosh, guess what I learned about visualization today?!"
@tammarataylor8675 6 місяців тому
I’m a female with two son and very likely a daughter, on the autism spectrum. I’m diagnosed with bipolar 2. So much of what was shared here is familiar to me. I want to cry when cousins and siblings reminisce about our childhood and try to get me to remember people from our old neighborhood. Names of famous people are like very very small. Naming movies is a wash.
@Jhawk_2k 6 місяців тому
Does anyone else have the experience where you finally make really good eye contact with someone and their face looks totally different than you remember? Sometimes I'll see someone more clearly than ever when I'm relaxed and I almost feel like the person turns into someone different. Feels very uncomfortable
@carmensavu5122 3 місяці тому
I think about my crush's face a lot. Mostly for obvious reasons, but it's also like he seems to look different to me every time I see him. And every time I try to visualize his face, it's like I see different aspects of it, or like he has a different mask every time. I think I have hypophantasia, so it's a challenge to visualize at all, but this stuff with my crush's face is throwing me for a loop.
@SweetiePieTweety 6 місяців тому
Another Casandra Syndrome thing… most people don’t believe us when we tell them about Aphantasia. And that we can’t see mental pics. Like why would someone lie about that? The lack of acceptance and belief that humans can be wired differently one from the other is mind boggling to me.
@eileenfb1948 6 місяців тому
I get frustrated when someone says that they don't understand because they don't feel the same way. They compare everyone to themselves - which will never give them understanding as we are all different, including neurotypicals, they are all different
@aidanw-j3091 4 місяці тому
I feel this so strongly. It’s like I’m genuinely so sorry you are hurting but I’m struggling in an avoidable situation that just means you need to accept my disability and adjust your expectations of what I’m capable of. Like here’s a hypothetical: if my partner wasn’t a dang surgeon, I wouldn’t ask them repeatedly if they can give me some kind of elective surgery, let alone suggest that they are just being neglectful/withholding affection from me when they are not a surgeon.
@Phegmore 6 місяців тому
This is definitely me. Even when I can mentally visualize something, it's a muddy mess, and I just assume that's how everyone is. Admittedly, some cannabis strains brings out visuals, making colors and images much more intense. It's fun, but not necessary to perform better in my day-to-day. When it comes to instructions, I don't even try to look at the bigger picture: just take them one step at a time and eventually I start to see why I was doing what I was doing. Also, I rely heavily on repetition: if something throws me off the groove, it can be quite tricky for me to get back on track, applying to both work and home life. And faces? Good night, I struggle with that, upsetting many people over the decades. I don't expect anyone to understand, so all I can do move on, whther people are OK with my quirks or not. Thanks for sharing this.
@eileenfb1948 6 місяців тому
I tell people that, ' I'm sorry I don't remember faces but as soon as I started speaking with you I knew exactly who you are - I remember you'. Those last three words seem to have the most beneficial effect.
@anishinaabae 6 місяців тому
then you don't have aphantasia, but rather very low level phantasia.
@beatlebrarian 6 місяців тому
No one has really explained my learning style at 38 until now! I have accumulated so much education and do well with education but it has to be exactly as you describe! I daydream with words!!!
@laura38ab 5 місяців тому
Yes, as a child I would daydream quite a bit with mostly words. It is a combination of fuzzy, vague images that my brain recognizes as the concept I'm thinking about but mostly with words, like narrating a story to myself. Same with reading. I don't care too much about the author describing what things look like, I care about the words and the story. I can create vague images when I'm not really thinking about creating an image. But I pretty much think entirely in words.
@tulleuchen 4 місяці тому
Words and also talking to myself.
@rubybegonia7052 Місяць тому
@@laura38abI can’t visualize and I don’t really think in words. I think I’m just an intuitive bird.
@susanbeever5708 6 місяців тому
Face memory has been a real problem for me, embarrassing too.
@AlexLouiseWest 6 місяців тому
Yes, it really is embarrassing. I felt less embarrassed when I started to realise what it was. Do you find that you can learn someone over time? I do, mostly.
@christineh4192 6 місяців тому
I might now recognize people of of context.
@susanbeever5708 6 місяців тому
@@AlexLouiseWest some faces yes others I have more of a challenge.
@Ayverie4 3 місяці тому
I always said if I ever witnessed a crime I'd be SOL. If any distinctive features stuck out in my brain it would be sheer luck.
@claytonbonser7629 6 місяців тому
Dear Mr. Kelly, about 6 months ago I discovered that there were videos like yours. I soon stumbled on you. Before then my existence was kind of like a nylon wig in a tumble dryer, all tangled and frizzy. Emotions and why they arise, as well as knowledge like this really help an incredible amount in getting things gradually combed out so as to speak, and gain insights into why my mind is the way it is. They say knowledge is power, and you're imparting to me some of the most empowering knowledge. Maybe I could say you're the conditioner that helps me tame the tangles. Today I walked to the shops without being stooped under some invisible burden for the first time in years and stood straight, and you've had a lot to do with it. Thank you.
@heedmydemands 6 місяців тому
Wow that's so great, good for u
@Y-Knott 6 місяців тому
I'm happy to read that. Congrats to you
@JuliaJames-zx5xy 6 місяців тому
I'm so glad you found Orion. ❤️
@eileenfb1948 6 місяців тому
❤
@rubybegonia7052 Місяць тому
Hair ! Hair ! 😂
@shelbybutler9714 6 місяців тому
Omg! All my life I have recognized faces, but not been able to connect the faces with corresponding names. I thought I was just rude and forgetful, because people get offended, when I can't remember their name. Aphantasia makes perfect, PERFECT sense to me, in this context. I see a person, I know that I met them or saw them somewhere before... or I just have a positive (or negative) feeling associated with the person, but I cannot for the life of me identify who they are. I am self-diagnosed Autistic. I took the diagnostic tests because I have an Autistic son, and I recognize myself in his behaviors. This video explains a lot.
@kdcraft89 6 місяців тому
Thank you for this informative video! I could not remember very much about my childhood. During Covid I started talking out loud (when alone, not to others) about my childhood, and many many things came back. I've been "talking to myself" ever since. I especially do this when driving. It helps me plan in ways I never could before, too. Planning was always an issue for me. People are frequently talking in cars while driving, they are on the phone (hands free), so it is now normative to do this, even if you are not on the phone. I never feel self-conscious doing this. Another clue here is that before I talked using words as a toddler, it was reported that I walked around constantly "talking," but not in real words. There must be something about verbal output that helps me process information. In later childhood I became pretty nonverbal, "shy." I am a visual artist and can draw and paint realistically from life or photos. But it seems like my "imagined" visual images are somewhat unstable, fleeting. There is one thing I'm very good at visualizing and that is color. I appear to have a very good memory for colors.
@Jacq.T 6 місяців тому
I'm glad I'm not the only one "talking to myself", for an actual reason, (other than being perceived to be "a bit mental"). I've been "thinking" out loud for years, it has annoyed people I've lived with alot. I also do it in public eg. the supermarket, as it helps me to remember what I need & plan my route... Sometimes I speak in different accents, because I become sick of the sound of my own voice. Lots of people don't want to be around me "because I talk too much". So thanks for making me feel less lonely.
@ritaburgherr Місяць тому
Wow this is so interesting, when I was 17 I got called "schizophrenic" by my friends since they thought it was super weird for talking out loud to themselves.....
@johnbillings5260 6 місяців тому
I have it. I went 40 years not knowing people actually see things when they imagine. I thought it was an expression that just meant to think harder than you normally would about something. Paradoxically, I have very good facial recognition. I think my brain stores the components of a face, etc. separately and just in words? ideas? that combine somehow when I need them.
@amberjeanne9308 6 місяців тому
Same
@birdiexoxo 6 місяців тому
Yes! Especially about the facial recognition! I think in general ideas and feelings so I can still recognize faces (mostly lol) but I couldn’t picture it if you wanted me to!
@amandamandamands 6 місяців тому
Yep even in my dreams I don't have images, just audio. Learning about aphantasia and so what it means when people visualise made it make a lot more sense when you get told to visualise and that there are people who can actually see in 4K 3D on demand. It also makes more sense as to why fictional books have so many paragraphs in them that set scenes, describe scenery, what characters look like etc and why educators say that they prefer a child to read the book before they see the movie so that they use their imagination. If you give me measurements I can't work out how big something is without physically measuring it out, if I have something in front of me I can't tell you its approximate measurements either. Can't tell you how far away something is or how long it will take to get there (if I have done it numerous times then I can just because of repetition). I feel so seen when you were talking about memories and future planning, so me. I can tell you that I have travelled to different countries, can't really tell you where within those countries I have been and what I did/saw. Don't do future planning and agree that not being able to visualise it does have a big impact. Also agree with what you said re being creative, I failed art at school and a big part is that I couldn't see what it was that I was wanting to draw (I struggle to draw a straight line with a ruler so that doesn't help either), I do photography for fun and it can be something that calms me. I am good at a flat pack though.
@amandamandamands 6 місяців тому
@@lurch789 Don't know about PTSD, have pretty good bouts of depression, my audio line says lots things all the time. I can still ruminate and replay the same thing over and over, it is just the thoughts/conversations without the images to go with it. I don't think not being able to replay the images stops something being a traumatic event.
@michaelmacpherson-wm6mh 6 місяців тому
"straight line with a ruler" ... if I don't think about it beforehand I can draw a near perfect square to the point you need to measure it to see the difference if any
@l1277 6 місяців тому
What's weird for me is that my dreams are perfectly formed, I just can't visualise IRL! But definitely I have trouble with books, I've always preferred seeing the film and I have trouble not skipping giant paragraphs of description.
@amandamandamands 6 місяців тому
@@l1277 Yes, learning about how people can actually visualise so the descriptive scenes serve a purpose and aren't just a page filler. Agree hard not to just skim over them to work out if there is a small amount that is actually relevant to the storyline. I think that contributes to why I had trouble in English class, my writing was very concise and would have trouble putting the 'filler' stuff in. If it was for something factual that meant that I was effectively writing twice as much as most people, which is great if you want to fit more in but not so much if you can't work out how to add fluff..
@carmensavu5122 3 місяці тому
@@l1277 I have trouble not skipping giant paragraphs of battle descriptions. I have trouble visualizing, but when it's a fast-paced battle where a lot of stuff is happening very quickly, I just skip. I'll find out who won and how in the aftermath. I still remember I had one of my best friends as a flatmate a few years ago and this one time I went to her room and knocked because I wanted to talk to her about something. She reads a lot of fantasy and she was like "hey you caught me right in the middle of a big battle scene!" and she seemed annoyed and baffled when I said "oh good, I didn't interrupt anything important". It was baffling to me to learn that most people think battle scenes are the most enjoyable parts of the book. Even in movies I get bored at those parts, because I can't keep track. It's so fast and messy and confusing that I just tune out. I love dialogue scenes, world-building, reading about what every day life looks like in the constructed world. Momentous events are boring.
@hollystafford5261 6 місяців тому
My son is autistic and told me last year that he couldn’t see images in his mind. I immediately started looking it up and found aphantasia. Love your insight on this! I’ve used your channel to learn even more about him, but we watched this one together. ❤️ We just want to say “thank you”!
@JuliaJames-zx5xy 6 місяців тому
I am so happy the both of you found Orion. I've tried contacting my son asking him (autistic) to watch Orion so he'll have a better understanding of what he has. He does not reply. Count your blessings with your son being there, learning & listening to what Orion has to say/offer to help him understand himself autism better.🙏😇
@Slim_Chiply 6 місяців тому
Yep. This me. Almost to a tee. It was kind of funny because you said to imagine a cat and I had just seen our cat moments before you said that, and I still couldn't conjure an image of a cat. Sometimes I can get a brief flash of something, but it doesn't linger long enough for me to do anything with it. I can usually recognize someone, if I've seen them around enough, but I can't really describe them in any meaningful way.
@1IgNeOuS1 6 місяців тому
This is such a complex subject to me... I have autism, and has been pointed out, that I have a pretty good memory because of it, whem my ADHD doesn't get in the way... I have lots of vivid memories, as if I took a video with no audio and saved it in my head. Now the interesting part... Even though I have an almost photographic memory, I cannot imahine things for the life of me, a couple of weeks ago my psychologist showed me a picture of an elephant, then asked me to imagine it, seconds latter, and I absolutely couldn't do it. I also cannot imagine things out of the blue, if you ask me to imagine a field filled with flowers it's like I have the feeling that I'm imagining it but the image doesn't pop into my head, it's all black, it's as if I'm imagining it in the back of my mind, it's very hard to explain... Anyways, this a big mistery for me, these extremes, howfully it isn't something bad
@badcaseofstripes 6 місяців тому
That's pretty normal for people with aphantasia, it's often characterized by the inability to consciously and intentionally pull images into your mind. Some people with the condition can still see things in their head but just not on demand basically, like a TV that's just flipping to random channels
@1IgNeOuS1 6 місяців тому
@@badcaseofstripes That clears things up, I thought you couldn't pull any type of image... But it makes total sense in my case Thank you very much!
@labryntharts 6 місяців тому
I can totally relate.
@jesters.workshop 6 місяців тому
Bahahahah I’m dying 🤡 I’m an audhd artist with aphantasia and I recently graduated with degrees in graphic design and metalsmithing (jewelry + small scale sculpture) It was so frustrating to try to explain that not only am I generally slow at completing tasks (because of the audhd that I just discovered and was learning to cope with) but that I also don’t have an imagination to explain the exact “vision” that I have for a project because I have no fucking clue either! Every project is a full stumble through so many iterations and so many moments of “I just gotta make the thing and if it turns out like shit then I know I gotta try something else” Oftentimes I feel as if the art had to fight for it’s being and I can only ever get glimpses of what it should be ? Absolutely harrowing experience to do that with multiple projects in a class with multiple classes at the same time for 5 years. Great video as always! Glad to be seeing convo about aphantasia it was one of the first discoveries that resulted in me questioning my neurology and discovering my audhd.
@ktemoyer 6 місяців тому
Yes! I definitely have aphantasia. No visual imagery, just kind of an idea of the shape or essence that it should be. The biggest thing I notice is catching names. I simply cannot remember a new name if I don't see it written, will just have an idea of the shape or feel of it. I do have super vivid, detailed, color dreams and apparently that is because dreaming uses a different part of the brain than conscious image generation! So when I wake up and think about it I have the details but no pictures.
@user-cf3vr8yt8j 6 місяців тому
I can totally relate. I think I have a somewhat quirky variant, like a non-permanent or varying aphantasia. When my brain is totally relaxed and thoughts can come and go freely there doesn't seem to be a problem. But as soon as I try to actively think about something, or mentally "focus" on an image, trying to imagine details things start to disappear. I still have a general, blurry image but no details, I can't grasp it. Extremely frustrating at times and makes part of my work very difficult. This wasn't like that when I was young though....
@Brooke_Corbyn 6 місяців тому
Food for thought: people with aphantasia can still visualize subconsciously when asleep! You can even have very vivid dreams. I wonder if for you it has to do with your subconscious when you're not focusing? And your subconscious is really active as a child! I could be way off the mark but maybe it's related? Maybe imagining with your subconscious and consciously visualizing are a little different
@sarahleony 6 місяців тому
Similar for me. With the cat, the second I’m asked to visualize it, a vague image appears but as soon as I try to focus on it or think about it more (like “how much detail does this image have?”) if slips away. Like a dream when you first wake up.
@laura38ab 5 місяців тому
@sarahleony same here, except sometimes a vague image comes up and sometimes nothing comes up. Or sometimes it's more vivid, like that subconscious idea that was mentioned here. But then if I try to determine how vivid the image is, it's gone and I don't know if it was actually a better picture or if I just didn't notice that it was vague because I wasn't paying attention.
@willowtree6657 6 місяців тому
This is really brought clarity to me on my way of thinking- now I understand why I can never meditate using visuals - I can literally see only blackness. This now makes sense.
@user-eg8ht4im6x 6 місяців тому
Thank you, you have explained this very well, it is certainly something I have issues with, I always referred to it as having no ‘minds eye’ I simply don’t see mental images, if I try really really hard I can think around a picture, like the cat, and I list what I know a cat would look like, but I cannot see a cat in my mind. I didn’t know it had a real name. I am also face blind, I took part in some face blind Research taking part in uk, the screening test diagnosed me with face blindness. One of my most embarrassing face blind moments was when I went bounding up to this lady who I thought was my sister in law, she wasn’t. I’ve lost count of times I walk right past people I know even family members! And keeping track of who who in a film, why do all the characters look the same! Interesting how all these things are more common in Autism, also it’s interesting because they are the kinds of things that until somebody talks about what they experience and explains what ‘normal’ is then we think everyone experiences the world as we do, my Autistic brain really dose have a very different view point from a non autistic brain. Great video thanks
@joycebrewer4150 6 місяців тому
I have never felt more blessed that my mind Can picture things not there for my eyes to see in the moment! I remember as a child, not yet having vocabulary to express my thoughts on certain situations. My mind dealt with this by building visual imagery that explained to myself what, exactly I was worried about. I never shared what I was thinking with others in my family, but I knew what I meant!
@EmiaRaine 6 місяців тому
Greetings from a fellow Aussie! I think I just learned something new about myself. Thank you so much, Orion! I'm in my early twenties and currently going through the diagnosis process. As such I am starting to think about things that I either never noticed or never understood about myself and try and learn more about ASD. With this condition in particular I have trouble with faces unless I'm really familiar with the person, I love to read but unless there's a basis the images in my head will come out fuzzy, I'm a creative person but my imagination isn't as vivid as I thought it should be, I'm a visual person so teaching me through words alone has never helped & my memories aren't always clear so I've been starting to worry about my brain. But maybe I don't need to. My journey is still ongoing and your videos especially have really been helping me identify traits about myself and deepen my understanding of Autism as a whole. As time goes on I feel less like there's something wrong with me and more that my brain is just wired a certain way.
@willowtree6657 6 місяців тому
Thank you for you open and honest comment- you have in fact just described me. I am 65 and I am only being to recognise my self as a whole being. Meaning more information I get and understand regarding autism I begin to see me, I Intergrate this new knowing and feel myself being whole.
@eileenfb1948 6 місяців тому
@@willowtree6657 That is wonderful to realise that you are not broken, indeed you have always been whole.
@dtroutmann 6 місяців тому
I have an extremely difficult time with memories especially from childhood
@ladyamalthea85 6 місяців тому
Your shirt is amazing.
@AngieBanangie14 6 місяців тому
Thank you for bringing awareness to this!! I didn't realize that people could actually see images until college - I thought it was supposed to be hypothetical. No wonder I struggled so much with meditations that tell you to "go to your happy place" and such :P
@TinyGhosty 6 місяців тому
My mind is blank and quiet and as an autistic person I could not imagine having bombardment from mental pictures and inner monologue. I still have dreams unlike some other people with aphantasia, and they have a negative effect on me. The more dreams I have the more tired I am and the less functional I become. Because of this negative effect of dreams I could imagine my life would be more difficult with mental pictures and inner monologue. I am grateful I have aphantasia.
@snowburkitt974 6 місяців тому
Same
@palecorpse 6 місяців тому
My sister has aphantasia and is a teacher. She uses auditory word lists to build a fleeting image. So I guess she's lucky to have some ability to create a slight image. It actually helps her identify connections (or lack of there of) when getting to a conclusion. She's a whiz at taking information in and getting it back out, to find solutions. Sometimes having fixed images gets in the way of being able to find the answer.
@kellyschroeder7437 6 місяців тому
Like the that expression - fleeting image 👊👊
@palecorpse 6 місяців тому
@@kellyschroeder7437 It fits. :)
@christineh4192 6 місяців тому
I have trouble with verbal instructions. I literally have to repeat what they are saying instead of just " uh huh" and the like.
@christineh4192 6 місяців тому
I remember my past too well.
@christineh4192 6 місяців тому
I adore that pink light!
@MoonbearStartiger 6 місяців тому
Oh I WISH I could forget everything from my past... I could finally just be free of it and treat each day like my first, and have trust things will be better.
@TentoesMe 6 місяців тому
It wasn't until I started hearing about aphantasia that I realized people really could "picture in your mind." I always thought that was a figure of speech for "think about."
@turtleelephant8884 6 місяців тому
When you started describing hands on learning, that was a big YES for me. I can see visuals when I dream, and I have had experience with psychedelics where I was able to achieve mind visuals, but normal day to day thinking is purely verbal.
@Slim_Chiply 6 місяців тому
I do ketamine for depression. I see geometric shapes. Mostly cube like structures that are shades of gray.
@snowburkitt974 6 місяців тому
Same
@jadedoggie121 6 місяців тому
i have aphantasia and i love to draw. However, there is very little that i can draw without first searching for a reference with the correct vibe, which sometimes takes hours and sometimes makes me incredibly frustrated, which then leads me to not drawing some things that i would maybe like to draw. Also, it leads to a lot of people saying "you could make comics you'd be so good at it!" because i'm also a writer. But making comics would be hellish for me and no one seems to understand that. I'm also only able to write imagery and poetry because i understand the meanings of words really well, but it took me a long time to understand that too
@laura38ab 5 місяців тому
I can relate! It's so frustrating trying to find just the right reference as someone who can't imagine it looking different in any way.
@radar4763 6 місяців тому
It feels like it goes Hand-in Hand with what is called Face-Blindness, kinda related. I struggle with Images in my mind. I tried to visualize a cat while you where talking about it. It was all over the place, only parts that don't "stay" still in my mind. My mind conjures images of parts of cats, many, but no whole cat. I can get it, but if falls apart all the time, and it is like a uncompleted puzzle on a desk. All the parts laying there to look at, but not put together in the right way. I struggle with building things, I came very late to doing that. I kinda gave up to make a detailed plan and my approach is step by step. Building, testing against reality, correcting, and the whole thing again. Other people do detailed plans beforehand, I gave up on this approach. And I'm often frustrated and feel stupid because I did not see certain implications of the build I did when it conflicts with the real world. I loose also my dreams very very quickly, that feels related, yes. I cannot conjure the dream again, it fells apart fast like the cat in my mind. And yes, I can see that could be related to daily struggles. I fear situations I do not know, I cannot imagine them or have problems with imaging them beforehand. It's hard to say, like many things with ASS. We are all in Platos cave and there is no reliable way to see and think what another person does in their head. But yes, it rings true. Thank you for your explanations of all this. It helps a lot to watch them. I can be more honest to myself when no one is in the room :) In social situations I tend to diminish my problems I think. "No no, that is not my problem, I'm a good and perfect human like everyone else and have no shortcomings what so ever."
@genegray7 6 місяців тому
Prosopagnosia.
@heedmydemands 6 місяців тому
Yeah I feel like I would b quite incompetent at trying to build something. And then u add in the measuring and cutting, so I could start out with messed up pieces too lol. I sew and I have made dresses and coveralls before but to look at the patterns and conceive of how everything goes together it's a bit tricky, especially depending how many pieces u have going on. Remember in school, being shown the net shape and then I cut it out and fold it up into a 3d object? It wasn't very easy for me to picture how it would go together. It's easier for me to just start moving things around and doing it in a more hands on way than a planning way. If I try to picture the face of someone I know I can somewhat picture them, I loosely know what they look like but not as much detail as I wish there was and it's not easy to hold an image in mind. I also do forget my dreams quickly, I think if u write it down or tell someone is the only way to remember a dream, and u have to tell someone pretty quick sometimes or it'd b too late. I guess I sort of have this idea that if I can't easily picture things it means that I'm not very imaginative and I have a problem with that idea. I am very imaginative. You can be very imaginative in your perception of things. There are great things to b seen and experienced.
@Psychobellic 6 місяців тому
Wired UK video about Aphantasia made me recognize it in me *while in tears*, which put me on track to figure out my autism later on "ah, autistic people have that", someone once said in an evaluation..
@user-bp3ez2sj9y 6 місяців тому
I’m definitely glad you made this video. I don’t think enough people are aware of this. It’s a very strange feeling to be around someone a lot of the time and not be able to imagine what they look like if you aren’t in the same room. I “know” what people look like, ie hair, eye, and skin color, but I can never picture them and that makes it difficult if you aren’t around people to feel like you aren’t the only person in the world. It’s just odd. I haven’t been diagnosed with anything as yet, but I do have an appointment booked for the beginning of the year to hopefully get answers on a lot of things. I definitely relate to many of your videos though.
@dawnbowra8885 6 місяців тому
My son has this disorder. He has generalised anxiety disorder. He also has ADHD and probably Autism. He sees black and lives in the moment. He def has image free thinking.
@BrittneyHillsbery 6 місяців тому
This isn't a disorder.
@snowburkitt974 6 місяців тому
I have anxiety, adhd and autism and I am the same as your son. It’s not a disorder it’s just a different way of living. It’s helpful in many ways as we can’t experience ptsd from harmful images and it’s easier to get over things like exs with no images
@snowburkitt974 3 місяці тому
@@TaylorStrand I have both also I personally get over trauma fast and grief as I don’t see images or have visual memories . I just expected everyone to feel the same. I feel things emotionally in the moment and how I live is in the moment. Sorry if it offended you
@snowburkitt974 2 місяці тому
@@TaylorStrand I was molsted by my biological dad when I first met him at age 16 for the first time. Neglected by my mom as a child. And dealt with multiple men touching me in work places. I feel blessed I don’t see imagery or have vivid things I can see from my past. I know it happened but I have no feeling to it or image to hurt me. Maybe I’m just broken
@messagesofmercedes2352 6 місяців тому
Thanx for the video Orion! As soon as I saw the thumbnail for 'Aphantasia' I instantly looked it up... After a few highlights/articles I realized I have this 💯% And instantly gave myself the permission to 'be sad' and cry cause I realized my child, whom I Adore and Love COMPLETELY I can't see their face when I close my eyes. I can remember- "I know" images like pictures of them but can't actually see them. As an autistic & very creative person I NEVER even thought or realized when other people closed their eyes it wasn't automatically 'pitch black'. Hadn't occurred to me how Blessed so many people are to 'See' with their eyes closed... and they take it for granted 😪 On another note it was easier to forgive myself for not being 'BillionaireZ' yet since I can't visualize that sh1t despite how easy Tony Robbins makes it look 🤷🏾♀️
@StarFireG3 6 місяців тому
I definitely don't have Aphantasia. I'm vividly visual. Only problem I have is visualizing math formulas without supportive graphics. Geometry? No problem. Arithmetic only works if I visualize somehow. Complex math I can't even understand if I can't get a picture.
@WhoThisMonkey 6 місяців тому
Yeah, maths for me always comes with mind fog, I simply do not concentrate on it, it takes sheer will power to work out anything maths. Yet ironically, I'm actually pretty good at it, because I remember the rules really easily, but I will go out of my way to avoid maths. 😂
@jimnutter6901 4 місяці тому
Orion has described me and my experience better than anyone else. It’s been fun finding excuses for my shortcomings in my late 80s.🌹j.
@bearsbreeches 4 місяці тому
I think in words. I have a running conversation in my head.
@sarahmonehan8889 4 місяці тому
Yes, at uni I figured out that if I just listened to lectures instead of trying to write notes, I was able to learn and take in the information
@hollymiller8226 3 місяці тому
I can’t believe this is real. It’s amazing how different we all experience the world. My head is the most interesting place in the world to me and I don’t know how I would function without all the pictures in my head. It’s so trippy to me that people are out there in the world living with no pictures in their mind!
@JonTheHorribleGaming 6 місяців тому
Thank you so much for this video. I am aphantasic. I am neurodivergent but not autistic. More cluster b. I have had it impact my relationships because of out of sight out of mind. So I have to cognitively remember to check in on friends and loved ones as they don't naturally flow into my minds eye. This has caused me to have a small group of friends I dont see a lot. On the plus side, I accidentally got rewlly good with patterns to cope. I am great with mental arithmetic, languages and music. Strangely I do write poetry and use metaphors but I don't picture them. I link the metaphors with words. I wonder if anyone visualises when they read my poems. They've been decribed as raw and emotional. I'm interested to find out! Additionally I do dream in pictures and I used to get a lot of sleep paralysis.
@Slim_Chiply 6 місяців тому
I'm the same way. Out of sight of mind. I've thought maybe I should put pictures of my family around the house to help me remember to call them.
@cryscavanaugh675 6 місяців тому
I also write poetry in metaphor because I've spent my whole life trying to find a way to make other people understand me. But I, too, have difficulty imagining images, only feelings really. Guided meditations and such are difficult and I usually end up just immersing myself in the emotion of the music. But I also dream in visuals as well as strong emotions. Most of my dreams are more abstract but still include visuals. I hadn't actually thought of anyone visualizing my poetry or music before now, though. Interesting.
@ttfan3257 6 місяців тому
Suggestions for topics for future videos: 1. Music & Autism, how it affects learning to sing, play guitar or piano... and the "inability to follow the beat" ? 2. Motor Coordination & Autism : Dancing, Sports, Martial arts etc 3. Driving & Autism: TV-series = The-Good-Doctor suggests some Autistic people find driving difficulty due to sensory-overload
@Brooke_Corbyn 6 місяців тому
Heres a bit of a hack for anyone wanting to explain aphantasis to a friend, start the conversation with "how does your memory work? Do you remember with visuals, words, feelings, sounds, etc?" (Can replace this with "how do you learn best", or "do you think visually?") It opens up a discussion where they feel heard, and also implies right off the bat that there are diverse experiences people have with this! After this when you explain how your brain works, the other person will probably be more prepared to have an open mind.
@Baptized_in_Fire. Місяць тому
Orion, you're funny and articulate. I have verbal issues but high IQ. Hearing someone else say what I'm experiencing has helped me to communicate better with others. Thank you
@subhalibrary 9 днів тому
Hi, I have Aphantasia. Since childhood I developed various coping mechanisms to handle Aphantasia. In fact I had no idea this was the issue I was dealing with until couple of years. So I used the coping mechanisms even when they were not needed. I figured out best strategies to study and ace my exams. In fact I scored 97% in my Higher secondary exam and went on to study Mechanical Engineering, a field where you need to make a plenty of drawings and designs. I worked as a design engineer too. Challenges are real. But when you build a system to handle your Aphantasia, you will get exponential results. You will even outperform those who don’t have Aphantasia.
@michaelpineiro533 6 місяців тому
I never understood why people told me to close my eyes to imagine, I just figured most people needed concentrate really hard to imagine things.
@JustinRettig1990 6 місяців тому
A couple people I know that are autistic have aphantasia, I’m autistic and have hyperphantasia. I have visual phenomena going on in my mind throughout the day nearly all the time. I think with visualization. It phases in and out depending on how much the external world is stimulating me I suppose but at home by myself without distraction it regularly gets so vivid I can’t see the outside world at all even with my eyes open. I have heard people with PDA generally have a strong imagination though but idk what the connection is
@christineh4192 6 місяців тому
I seem to have that. I need to daydream.
@rubikzombie 6 місяців тому
Thanks so much for this video Orion!
@shlurrpedy 6 місяців тому
I lost my father a few months ago..and it sent me down a rabbit hole of grief so I turned to UKposts/reddit etc..something I always had questions about was dreams! I always asked people “can you dream?/do you dream in colour?” Etc! I was fascinated coz I can’t! Next thing I know I came across the word aphantasia!!! And by god my life makes sense! Im so glad I found a community that I can interact with..when you said the words “it can feel isolating “ that hit hard! Im still processing it but I’m so happy it’s something that is getting discussed more and more! Coz it’s helping me cope! So thank you so much for your video! 🥹🙌🏼 I’ve subscribed and look forward to learning more, about everything! (Also I’ve started a course to become a Special Needs Assistant today so I’ll be learning and hopefully helping down the road) 🥰
@hellomiakoda3782 6 місяців тому
Very interesting. I'm not someone experiencing this, watching this one to just expand my knowledge. I can't picture what thinking without images would be like at all. The inside of my head is FULL of imagery, constantly, even if I'm not trying to think of stuff. The default kinda looks like a computer desktop, actually. Just chilling. Glad my mind's eye isn't susceptible to burn in, cause there's no screensaver in here. Duuuude the stuff I see when I listen to the right music... Wild! "Picture it like you're there" doesn't make sense to me though. If I picture a beach, for example, I'm not on the beach. I'm looking at a picture, or maybe a video of a beach in my head. I can't BE there. I can't even see it 360. Best I got is a video of said beach. Even if I picture MY car, for example... Something I'm very very familiar with.. it's an first person video of my car from the driver seat, but I'm not IN my car.
@badcaseofstripes 6 місяців тому
For me it's the difference between seeing something and recalling what something looks like, and thinking purely in concepts and patterns and understanding what something is. That's how I retain the information with aphantasia
@tomaszk54 6 місяців тому
Don’t see images in my mind other than very vague wisps of things (imagine a photo that has been photocopied, then the photocopy photocopied, and then that photocopy photocopied, and then drop it down to 20-30% opacity) which are difficult to hold on to. However, I’ve discovered recently that when I’m just waking up I can see and hold mental images that are remarkably clear and vivid. But I’m good with faces, which I attribute to sharp visual pattern recognition.
@mandrewsvideos 19 днів тому
It took me ages to believe that everyone else could actually see stuff in their head, when my twin brother told me about aphantasia. I always thought that 'visualise' just meant think or imagine. I can imagine things, but I 'see' nothing. My spatial awareness is unaffected by my inability to see in my mind's eye. Being able to see stuff in your head sounds like a super power. So jealous...
@shmeleu 6 місяців тому
Not only images, other senses also - smell, feel of texture, etc. As having total Aphantasia - don't have any of that. When asleep or going to sleep, not fully awake - I have images in the head, but it goes away when fully awake. Just use the paper and pencil or any other visual interface - visualize outside the head. It becomes a problem, when you are not allowed to use interfaces. And yes, interfaces take more time, than visualizing in the head.
@amberjeanne9308 6 місяців тому
I really liked the way you articulate aphantasia in this video because I'm actually realizing the way my mind pictures things. It's almost like I create a mathematical view or a drawing when I try to visualize something or someone. I think to myself... I know their lips look like this and their eyes.. etc. Then in the end I could picture the face of someone I know well. It's like of course I can picture a tree... after a few seconds or thinking about each individual part that makes up the whole of a tree. Then someone might ask what kind of tree did you envision and I start cataloging all the different tree identification items and chose a species that has a visual closeness to what I might have envisioned. I think that when I just picture a tree it is an abstract nonsensical tree with very specific scientifically plausible traits such as deep enough roots to withstand the force of wind it might encounter.... all this to say that I always thought I could visualize things but maybe I just hold a collection of traits loosely together in my mind and assume that's what visualization is. They had me remember a diagram during my autism assessment and draw it after one minute and twenty minutes and I remembered all of it with incredible accuracy apparently. I think that was because I remembered it as a math problem and that's how I remember everything I encounter in order to understand if someone uses a metaphor or if I try to picture someone's face. I always thought it was strange when someone would say "I can't get their face out of my head". Probably because I have to try to envision someone's face.
@orionkelly 6 місяців тому
I'm glad you enjoyed it Amber and thanks for sharing your experiences.
@Baptized_in_Fire. Місяць тому
Thank you, Amber, for the words.
@earthlyng_official4599 6 місяців тому
For me I can remember what a cat looks like but I don’t produce an image in my head. So it’s like the thought gives me a representation in a thought form but not an image
@SequoiaMakes 6 місяців тому
Hey from an AuDHD person with aphantasia who is also an artist and who has a degree in interior design. You can do visual work with aphantasia, it just means that you find another way.
@laura38ab 5 місяців тому
Any tips for other aphantasic artists about what helps when you can't visualize? If you feel so inclined to share.😊
@laura38ab 3 місяці тому
@TaylorStrand I guess you're right. I enjoy drawing and painting and I'm learning about digital art. I would love to be a children's book illustrator, but I am much better at copying what I see than creating anything from my imagination, especially since my visual imagination is extremely vague and even that disappears if I try to consciously think about it. I do think that it might be somewhat of an advantage in creating realistic art based on a reference because I only go off of what I see, not what I think something looks like.
@anishinaabae 6 місяців тому
interestingly enough, i have neither phantasia nor aphantasia. i have something i've seen referred to as "phantom eye" where i can still sense things in my mind, but there aren't any accompanying images. so if you were to ask me to describe the layout of my house, or the more common question of "how would this look on me?" i could give you an appropriate answer, but not because i actually have visuals appearing in my brain to assist me, rather i can simply *feel* what they might look like. people with phantasia tend to assume that i have an easier time watching or listening to horror content, but that isn't exactly true. because while i may not close my eyes and continue to see explicit images of certain scenes in my head, i still feel the emotions that come with seeing that sort of thing. it's like having a computer without a monitor hooked up to it; you don't get to look at what's going on, but all of the data is still constantly being processed and running in the background.
@Sketchu_ 6 місяців тому
I am an artist and I suspect I may have a slight aphantasia but still I am not sure… I work on art better when it’s based on references, drawing fanart (again, not my original ideas totally, but my interpretations), or clients or friends ideas and I often need guidance and explanations for the the things I am supposed to do. I have troubles imagining the poses and compositions I want to do, I really struggle coming up with ideas unless someone suggest something, or I draw from references enough for that idea to hit in. It is hard and confusing… As you were mentioning to imagine a cat I just got images of my cats in mind but there was a little delay in imagining the picture. I also recall a situation meeting an old friend and not remembering from where I exactly knew that guy from. Everything seems like a muscle I trained along the way with the determination to become a better and more effective artist. Thanks for bringing some light on this topic Orion! It was very helpful ✨
@InAHollowTree 6 місяців тому
If you’re up for learning a new type of art, I recommend 3D mixed media collage. An assembly of items get glued to a background like canvas. Its more awesome than it sounds, and the main thing is that instead of visualizing in your head, you can actually move things around physically. 😊
@Sketchu_ 6 місяців тому
@@InAHollowTree sounds interesting! Thanks for recommendation! I will look it up!
@PhyllisMasters 5 місяців тому
I am an artist, so both my autism and my aphantasia create challenges for me. My art is not deep or wildly creative, I make art of things I can see in real life. I rely on reference photos. I love other people's art because I admire their creativity.
@rondyreeves4772 День тому
I have a complete inability to visualize anything whatsoever no matter how hard I try. I also have no ‘internal monologue’. I didn’t realize that other people could close their eyes and literally see an object that they were thinking about and people could hear their thoughts in their voice, and sometimes in another’s voice, inside of their mind until a couple of years ago, and it still blows my mind.
@flxmkr 6 місяців тому
I’m autistic but only thought in pictures as a kid. I didn’t think in speech until I was around 15 and my head “popped”. I can’t explain what happened, but it’s like connections were met, clouds lifted and I was able to think verbally. I’ve never heard of anyone else experiencing this.
@myworldautistic6839 6 місяців тому
You sound like you are doing so much better. I am glad you are better. ❤
@loisrogers9042 6 місяців тому
Thank you for all of the good information. 😊
@jibberoverjava 6 місяців тому
I broke down in tears... This is the best, most satisfying and fitting explaination I've ever found!!! Thank you so very much!!
@l1277 6 місяців тому
I have aphantasia. I also like to draw. What I'm great at is copying things exactly, down to little details. What I suck at is sketching from reference images and making changes or coming up with cool new concepts. Hand me a photo and I will copy that photo; hand me a piece of paper that says 'draw a potato' and I would struggle. Bizarrely, I'm also very good with faces. Show me someone I knew 20 years ago and I'll probably remember them. But here's the interesting bit - because I can't visualise, I have this weird habit of making 'connections' that other people don't see. To me, Gemma Chan is like an Asian Jennifer Lawrence. Ivanna Sakhno reminds me of Scarlett Johansson (with a little Olsen mixed in). But when I tell people those things, they're like 'What? They look nothing alike!' My brain obviously has some criteria to connect them but idk what it is.
@SheerMagnetismDarling007 6 місяців тому
Excellent video production, and information ℹ️ Thanks 🙏 bro
@BaskingInObscurity 6 місяців тому
This video was fascinating to me. Aphantasia is the polar opposite to how my mind works. I think almost entirely in images. This may sound backward, but It's partly why I'm a slow reader, for I have to "hear" the words spoken in order to bridge the divide of text into mental imagery. When I read book passages aloud in school, I almost never remembered a word of what I'd just read aloud. It's why I struggle greatly to translate my highly vivid and creative imagination into words. The act of putting what I see in my mind into words tends to disrupt my flow and I commonly lose my train of thought or retrieve the wrong words, sometimes the exact opposite. On the positive side, I have amazing direction sense, can visualize maps or navigate new places by only looking at a map once. Math and physics just make sense, because I see in my mind a representation of them, not only in 3D, but in motion. I see abstract ideas as blobs and shapes and objects in my mind. I want to share it, but that translation into language interrupts the flow so often it's frustrating, which in turn only makes it harder. At home, I insisted on loading the dishwasher because nobody else ever got nearly as many dishes into it and still come out clean as I. They used to drag me to Costco because I would pack the car efficiently, even leaving space for myself; while when I didn't go along, they had trouble figuring out how to put everything in the cart into the car. It's like I'm spatially aware more than most people, I guess. That only makes it more ironic and annoying that my dyspraxia is high. I can navigate machinery without struggle, but bump into the same doorways and walls and tables and footboards every single day. This is how I'm going to die. I'm going to be old and doddering and bleed to death from bonking my knee on the metal bed frame-again. I have a terrible sense of time beyond a couple of days and have lost more than a few friends for not being attentive enough. But because of my visual memory, I can look back and see a room or some other form of landmark, thereby identifying when something happened. For example I wanted to remember when Pink Floyd released "The Wall", so I saw my fifth grade classroom and a classmate I associate with it, and figured it was 1979, give or take a year. Most of our neurological differences come with both benefits and detriments, depending on the context.
@Piroschatz44 6 місяців тому
That would explain some things and some not. This cat image was there, but only cats ive met regularly, like the one from my neighbour, because she is saying "hello" everyday before she strolls around. Ive also learned the job as Polymechanic, manufacturing high precision parts from diagrams/drawings for rockets, Formula 1, prototype, robotics and so on....but everytime I had to say: "Lets finish it first and then I can see what it exactly is" 😅see it on a diagram/drawing or in real were like 2 different worlds to me. During school we had drawing as a subject, but I was never able to create an image in my head and draw it on paper....i had always drawn a house, some sticky humans, a tree and a blue sky....or things i looked at and it took my far too long to draw anything and I had to constantly have detention. 😑 I or we are searching a house close to my parents. We have looked at a few places and some houses were ruins that have to rebuild and some had still green, grass and trees around and still need to be built. What my parents, sister and the people around me sees "Here the kitchen, here the bathroom, there the living room, couch here, bed there....".....and I? I see only the ruins, grass and trees....😮 It even affects me during gaming where I have to built stuff, like Conan Exiles, Medieval Dynasty, Sim City, and so on. I have to build first and then watching how it works and I keep everything simple and functional, like: Left for sleep, Right for production, Top for storage and bottom entrance/exit and I am stuck to 4x4 or 8x8...even my RL apartment is spartan and functional. While I can memorize rooms pretty fast and accurate, I can't imagine how I'm going to put furniture in an empty room and I also have no idea what my future holds, because there are too many unknown factors.
@AlexLouiseWest 6 місяців тому
I understand about the cat, I could picture my own beloved cat… sort of… 🙀
@heedmydemands 6 місяців тому
Yes I'm so there with u about not being able to picture furniture in a room and also picturing the future is so hard because how do I know what will happen
@SnickerDoodleBug05 6 місяців тому
I learned about hyperphantasia here in the comment section, can you please do a video on that, cause i always thought it was normal to just constantly imagine everything
@lulumoon3636 16 днів тому
This is really interesting. I was diagnosed as autistic as an adult and realised I have aphantasia a few years ago, but I ama a creative person & I draw and make things & play guitar, I cant explain how I can still create and can only describe it as a feeling. I also have really good auditory memory and can hear things back almost perfectly. The brain and how it processes things is fascinating
@mattmakescards433 6 місяців тому
Finding out about my aphantasia is what eventually lead to diagnosis of autism at age 40.
@user-eg4mw9bo9i 4 місяці тому
I just recently found out about the idea that people can actually "see" things in their head (62 year old male)... it very much explains many little details in my life that I never really understood. For instance someone describing instructions to do a task is hard for me because I cannot visualize what they are describing.... my friends have called me "exact man" because I need everything spelled out in great detail since I dont see the steps in my head.
@kierafurneaux3172 6 місяців тому
I never realised until last year that images in my head weren't supposed to be a pale fleeting ghost of reality.
@gamewrit0058 6 місяців тому
I remember and create images as words, not visuals, but I can "see in my mind" some as black-on black moving pictures in black smoke in my mind, quick and "fleeting," as you said. It's usually creative, eclectic closeups of imaginary faces, with an understanding of what actions are happening around them, but not a Technicolor panoramic establishing shot. Sometimes when I close my eyes, the images are scary or uncomfortable, so I open my eyes and then close them again, which works as a reset. I also can "see" light and the residual outline of lit objects behind my closed eyelids if I've been in bright light or high contrast light, which I just learned some folks don't experience. For example, Amanda from the channel I Am MindBlind has total aphantasia, where she only sees black if she closes her eyes. She's also a talented artist, but cannot draw or paint without a reference. She can't visualize a person, bird, coffee cup, or umbrella without seeing them in front of her. I love her videos on her Autistic/ADHD journey of self discovery. She also talks about her PDA profile of Autism and her memory disorder, SDAM (Severely Deficient Autobiographical Memory), which means she remembers personal experiences as lists of things that happened, but doesn't relive the experience internally.
@gamewrit0058 6 місяців тому
I'm great with metaphors, even mixed metaphor, but facial recognition is neigh impossible - I write down things like "name, wearing red sweater, likes classical music," in my notebook when meeting new people, personally and professionally. If I don't repeat someone's name immediately after hearing it AND come up with a complex trick to remember it, I'll forget name and face before I'm even done saying "nice to meet you." I can daydream, but it's like vocal storytelling in my head, sometimes with vague black-on-black in billowing black smoke images, like I sometimes "see" in my dreams at night.
@Vicky_C87 6 місяців тому
I've never heard of the term aphantasia. Thanks for educating me :)
@darkesteye-derkesthai 6 місяців тому
Have you ever considered doing a session or two on autism and meditation? I've never heard anything about it, but as a long-time meditator with diagnosed autism, I'd love to hear whatever you could find out about it.
@rcarrick355 6 місяців тому
Wow, this is hugely interesting!
@crisbanta5068 6 місяців тому
Orion, I appreciate you SO much.
@grabbelton 3 місяці тому
Love it!! So beautiful, ❤️
@TransGuyShane 6 місяців тому
I have aphantasia , figured it out afew years ago and since then it's helped me understand my self better ♡ Thank you for the awareness ❤ Some people have the ability to visualise some stuff , but for me it's totally black
@alyx5114 6 місяців тому
Aphantasia for me is really when imagining something you can't see it but you are listing all the attribute of this thing. For a cat it would be the hair, the nose, the sillyness, the legs etc etc
@Jhawk_2k 6 місяців тому
Yo I've been digging into both autism and aphantasia in the past 2 weeks, such timing!
@codycopeland7527 6 місяців тому
Thats so interesting, for me, I struggle to visualize novel situations, items, places ect.. but at the same time I have a semi-photographic memory. So I can for example visualize and walk thru a building in my head with surprising detail but only if Its something ive actually seen before.
@chrissyjoy08 18 днів тому
I have a very good spatial memory. I don't really see much in the way of visuals, very low on the aphantasia scale, if I see anything it's like a faint outline or an after-image... but spatially I know and recall where things were/are. Thus I'm excellent with maps and almost anything in a grid pattern, like maps and calendars and seating charts (I'm a teacher) and even though I could never actually see a text portion in my mind, I could always recall almost exactly where it was located on the page. I prefer reading instructions and notes and books instead of listening. It's faster for me and I can understand it better.
@illiteratemochi4150 6 місяців тому
I’ve known that I have face blindness for a few years now, but I never even considered making the connection between that and being autistic I also just realized- I’ve been an artist for my entire life, but I have an incredibly hard time picturing what I want to draw. I can have a vague idea of what I want, but I need to have references available or I won’t be able to draw anything well. It’s nice to find out that I’m not stupid or incompetent, I just have more problems I hadn’t identified yet
@lisahutcherson5897 Місяць тому
This is the best UKposts video I have seen on this subject. I liked when you were talking about a guru saying to imagine your dream life and I thought how a lot of people often want to live by a beach and I thought that your shirt fits in perfectly for that scenario 😊 You are a very engaging speaker❤ Thank you for the video
@donnadettrick127 5 місяців тому
I appreciate your honesty in being so open about a condition that must be so difficult at times. I’m autistic but may have the opposite issue and people tell me quite often that I am too much. Imagining I guess, too much? Weird. Thank you Orion
@Bluwin3UV 4 місяці тому
You have explained this soo well!! For somebody like me who has ASD ive always wondered if my mental imagery was some kind of gift! Now that you have explained exactly how visualise by not having the ability to keep the image still! My experience with visual imagery is its only still images and disappearing straight away and not able to keep it!! Ive been researching and asking friends and family about it and some are able to visualise very vividly like a movie as well as sound Smell and taste!! I find this topic very intriguing!!
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