I learned of my inability to visualize early, in what must have been first grade learning to spell. Teacher had given us an index card with a word spelled out in big block letters. Mine was CAT, in red. We were supposed to look at the card, read the word out loud, close our eyes and spell it. I couldn't do the spelling. Teacher explained, just imagine the word in your mind and read off the letters one by one. WHAT? I can't do that. Can you do that? Can anybody do that? Then, basically the whole thing just went away as an impactor on my life. I'm now 75, have had a successful carreer and life, apparently compensating for this lack with workarounds. Had an experience last year that really brought it home to me. I had problems with hornworms on my tomatoes and was looking at a plant with damage and thinking, I sure wish I could remember what the thing looked like yesterday to know if this was fresh. I have some faint ghostly imaging, and used to dream vividly and in color (no longer, due to brain surgery) and I have the associated trait of poor autobiographical memory as well. Was reading a letter from years ago sent to my sister from an overseas assignment. Didn't recall the event described at all. Two days in a dugout canoe on an African river and I remembered nothing until reading the passage several times brought a moment around a campfire into recall. Another Tom

I learned of my inability to visualize early, in what must have been first grade learning to spell. Teacher had given us an index card with a word spelled out in big block letters. Mine was CAT, in red. We were supposed to look at the card, read the word out loud, close our eyes and spell it. I couldn't do the spelling. Teacher explained, just imagine the word in your mind and read off the letters one by one. WHAT? I can't do that. Can you do that? Can anybody do that? Then, basically the whole thing just went away as an impactor on my life. I'm now 75, have had a successful carreer and life, apparently compensating for this lack with workarounds. Had an experience last year that really brought it home to me. I had problems with hornworms on my tomatoes and was looking at a plant with damage and thinking, I sure wish I could remember what the thing looked like yesterday to know if this was fresh. I have some faint ghostly imaging, and used to dream vividly and in color (no longer, due to brain surgery) and I have the associated trait of poor autobiographical memory as well. Was reading a letter from years ago sent to my sister from an overseas assignment. Didn't recall the event described at all. Two days in a dugout canoe on an African river and I remembered nothing until reading the passage several times brought a moment around a campfire into recall. Another Tom