"Everyday Memory" Impairments in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Background: The term ‘everyday memory’ refers to the use of memory in day-to-day life. For example, remembering directions, remembering to carry out a chore at a particular time, or remembering to ask someone something. Despite anecdotal evidence suggesting that individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) have difficulty with everyday memory, this hypothesis has yet to be formally tested. Objectives: To test the everyday memory abilities of individuals with ASD. Methods: 94 adolescents with an ASD (mean age 15 years 6 months (SD 6 months); mean full scale IQ 85.4 (SD 17.7)) and 55 age- and IQ-matched adolescents without an ASD completed measures of everyday memory from the Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test (RBMT) and a standard word recall task (Children’s Auditory Verbal Learning Test-2: CAVLT-2). Four subtests from the RBMT were selected: Route and Message, Appointment, First and Second Name, and Belonging. The subtests all measure the ability to remember within in an everyday context (e.g. remembering what to do when an alarm rings; remembering a route). Results: The group with ASD showed significant impairments on the RBMT, alongside impaired performance on the CAVLT-2. Social and communication ability was significantly associated with spontaneous remembering in an everyday memory context but not with the CAVLT-2. Conclusions: This is the first study to suggest that everyday memory is impaired in ASD. Further, we interpret the data as suggesting that poor social and communication skills in ASD impact upon everyday memory competence.