Barbara Duhl

I, too, am new to learning about my aphantasia. Your description and the comments below it are so familiar to me. So interesting!

Hi- I'm new to this network and this is the first time I am posting a comment. I'll start by saying that like others, for many years I was unaware of this difference in visualization. I knew it was rare for me to remember dreams and other people always seemed surprised by this. I also eventually noticed that friends sometimes talked about seeing scenes from books they were reading and I really didn't understand what they were talking about. Well into adulthood I came to realize that what I called my "visual memory" was very weak. I couldn't tell you what a person I just met looked like or remember what someone was wearing. I am a retired reading teacher and I used to encourage my students to notice what they were seeing when they were reading --providing exercises to help them notice these visualizations. I did this because I learned that visualizing was one of many strategies that good readers use. It was then that I became more conscious of the fact that I don't do this. Although I am an avid reader and love fiction, I do not "have pictures in my head" when I read. So I'd say I've been aware that I was a person who is less able to visualize than other people I knew --I didn't think it was a big deal and certainly didn't know it had a name or that there were people researching this condition. A few years ago I did come across an article or something that introduced me to the fact that this is a condition --and I found that quite fascinating. I read a little about aphantasia and probably mentioned it to a couple of friends, but that was about it. Then a few weeks ago a friend mentioned an interview on our local PBS radio station. I listened that night and have now signed up for this network's email. I am only now starting to realize other impacts this lack of visualization has in my life --like understanding for the first time why I have such a hard time navigating in unfamiliar places and why I can get so disoriented even in familiar parts of town. I am finding it very interesting reading about other people's experiences with aphantasia and want to learn more. I am also looking forward to talking with friends and relatives about the vivid imagery that they see. I have tried to do one of the quick questionnaires to help determine where I am on the aphantasia spectrum --but I am really having trouble answering the questions. I know I don't have vivid images. But do I have vague or dim images or no images at all? I really don't know. I try to visualize my daughter for the first set of questions --or the sunset questions and I really don't know which box to check. "No image, I just know I am thinking about the object" or "Vague or dim image." I start to answer "vague or dim" --but then I return to "No image." I know what my daughter looks like or what a sunset looks like, ! but do I see it? I don't think I do. Maybe it is kind of like asking a colorblind person about what they see when looking at a color. I guess my question is --if I'm not sure I see any image, does that mean I don't see an image --and just know I am thinking about the object and know some facts about it? Not being able to do the questionnaire is kind of driving me crazy.