Everyone here mentions having a terrible working memory. Does anyone else have a really good working memory but an inability to transfer it to long-term memory?
When I received my NVLD diagnosis, this is part of what it said:
"He performed well above the level expected for his age on auditory attention/working memory and expressive language tasks. ... All of these findings suggest a mild level of dysfunction in his right hemisphere as compared to strong language dominant (typically left) hemisphere functions. Nonetheless, despite this longstanding pattern, on this assessment [name] demonstrated clear deficits/ impaired functioning in memory retrieval on two different verbal-based memory tasks in the context of essentially intact performance on initial learning/memory encoding and memory recognition via forced choice responding. This finding points to dysfunction in the dominant left) temporal lobe region, which is consistent with brain MRI data showing left hippocampal sclerosis and EEG data indicating epileptic involvement in the left temporal lobe."
I remember acing the "digit span" test; I think I was able to hold up to nine numbers in my head and recite them back. But in school, I had to rely on my working memory and ability to hold a bunch of things in my head at the same time to get through school; I couldn't learn in the typical sense, and I remember that on days where I had "free recall" tests requiring essays or fill-in-the-blanks with no word bank, I had to study up until the test was handed out. I couldn't talk to anyone before the test, because if I wasn't consciously thinking about what the answers were, I'd fail (and often did anyway). I thought this was the normal way to study and I just wasn't doing it right until my NVLD diagnosis at age 18.
I don't know if anyone else here is like this, where their working memory is single-handedly what got them through the higher levels of school. If your working memory sucks, how did you get through high school/college or its equivalents, if you did? Did you have the ability to commit some things to long-term memory better than I did?