The Everyday Autobiographical Memory of Autistic Children

Abstract

Autobiographical memory (ABM) and social cognition are mutually constituted, and both are affected in autism. Meanwhile, very little is known about the heterogeneity of ABM in autism, how ABM differences are present in real-world contexts, and how to best respond to autistic children’s ABM differences. The goals of this qualitative study were to examine the nature of ABM in autistic youth to understand its presentation and practical impacts in everyday life and to identify research priorities to inform clinical and educational practice. Nineteen parents of autistic children (ages 6–15) participated in a semi-structured interview designed to solicit information about their children’s ABM. Interviews were transcribed and coded for the presence of themes. The main themes and their subthemes (in parentheses) were: (1) episodic memory problems (disorganized/overgeneralized narratives; poor episodic foresight; confabulation and avoidance/escape) that demonstrated an effect of task support and (2) ABM strengths (semantic memory; sensory-perceptual memory; emotional memory) that were described as forms of motivated memory. Results were broadly consistent with existing empirical data but expand understanding of the complexity of the memory profiles of autistic youth with important research, practice, and advocacy implications. We conclude that a focus on ABM assessment and support is overdue and critically relevant for clinical and educational goals involving social cognition and communication.