Corina Wachter

Have you read the article on the expanded definition of Aphatasia, which is being broadened to include subcategories such as auditory, olfactory, etc.? I have near-global aphantasia, with my only sensory memories/imagination being auditory and spatial. I learned Spanish fairly easily in high school, and I now realize that my auditory memory is the only reason I was able to. Perhaps you have multisensory aphantasia, with auditory memory bring affected/absent. Are you able to hear songs in your head?

I recently had a very interesting conversation with a visualizer, and realized that I have zero sensate memory or emotional memory. He described being able to imagine/remember physical sensations, smells, tastes, emotions, and I have none of that. I can describe some smells in words if pressed, but cannot actually remember or imagine them. I have aural memory of songs and voices I have heard often, and I have spatial memory that has no visual component but allows me to "remember" faces, what my home "looks like," etc., but other than that my entire thought process is in words. When I think, I have a "conversation" in my head with myself or with someone else as the one I am "speaking to." That is how I think the vast majority of the time, except if I get a song stuck in my head, and usually end up listening to it to clear it out. The conversation led me to discover something called Severely Deficient Autobiographical Memory, which I have now realized I have. I also have what used to be called Asperger's Syndrome, and when the visualizer I was conversing with described all the myriad senses involved in his remembering or imagining, I was literally repulsed by how utterly chaotic it sounded to me. I "remember" events as if they are simply a factual recounting of what I experienced, without any sensate, physical or emotional memories attached. I also cannot have flashbacks to my abusive childhood (which prevented me from realizing I have CPTSD for quite some time). I always knew I was different, but it really blew me away to realize just HOW MUCH my thought process/memory is different from others'.

I could describe myself to a sketch artist as well as I could family or people I've seen often, but the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of my own face is high school photographs that were displayed at my grandparents' house that I looked at often, then I mentally update it to my current state of aging. One very interesting conversation I had recently with a visualizer led me to Google spatial memory/imagination, and I found that it is possible to have Aphantasia but have spatial memory. My spatial memory is fairly strong, but I'm sure this is another brain process that exists on a continuum, so it would be weaker for some. It makes sense to me that recall of others' features would be stronger than self-recall if someone doesn't spend a lot of time looking in the mirror or photographs of themself.

Hi Patrick. Wow, seeing "OOP" was a blast from the past, LOL! I worked as an HVAC control systems engineer from 2006-2012, using OOP to program building automation systems (BAS) for institutional buildings. I have aphantasia and what people used to call "Asperger's Syndrome," but technically do not have ASD, as my daily life is not affected severely enough to qualify as having a "disorder." I did some internet digging, and found that Johnson Controls, a prominent company in the BAS industry, now uses what they call graphical programming language (GPL), which utilizes a graphical interface within which OOP is performed. The beauty of a career in this industry, for you, would be the fact that maintenance staff must be able to interface with the BAS once the building is completed and the programmer has left, in order to adjust schedules & temperature setpoints for rooms & zones within the building, etc...... so these types of controllers are basically prohibited from ever "evolving" into using text-based programming (unless the human race evolves to the point where fluency in a text-based programming language is very widespread, which shouldn't occur within your lifetime, LOL!). There are things about this career that might be challenging for you due to having ASD. Of course, individual jobs within this field will vary, and there has undoubtedly been some "evolution" in the decade since I had this job, but some things I encountered that might be challenging for a person with ASD were: - The programming itself was done on the construction site, where the front-end computer was located, and it could sometimes be a noisy environment (the development of the programming was done in an office environment, and then I brought the binders of flow charts I had created to the construction site) - I had to work closely with the installers who ran the wiring from the individual field components to the PLC, both in designing the BAS architecture and on the construction site, where we communicated via walkie-talkie to test that the signals sent from the front-end computer were reaching the components in the field - I had to work with a couple different people in the process of commissioning the buildings, which required communicating with each via walkie-talkie and in-person for the duration of my workday, for 2-3 days in a row This job definitely required working with people more frequently than what I believe the typical "programmer" job would, but these were people who were also very technical thinkers, and needed me to interface with the system to initiate the various BAS processes that would yield specific physical results in the field. These involved a completely different type of interaction than meeting a client to discuss their "vision" for the software would. I have an Environmental Resources Engineering degree, so did not have a background/education in HVAC, but my degree gave me enough background in flow dynamics that I had an affinity for HVAC systems design, and was able to learn that aspect of the job easily. How I got the job was a fluke, and I definitely did not fulfill the requirements typically associated with a control systems/BAS engineering job. I believe it's very likely that, if you wanted to pursue this as a career, you would need to obtain additional education in the mechanical/HVAC aspect to qualify for most job openings. In my internet digging I came across a GPL programmer's manual for Johnson Controls, here is the link... https://cgproducts.johnsoncontrols.com/MET_PDF/631010.PDF Industrial/manufacturing automation processes also utilize PLC's, which makes them less likely to use text-based programming, so this is another area you could look into. Best of luck! Please feel free to respond if you have any questions :)