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Hi all

Does anyone else ever sit in a room and just act out a fantasy that's in your head at the time? Or do you find that whenever you're alone you start to kind of "live" in your head?

This probably sounds weird and I bet no one else does it, but I do it all the time...... so I wondered if it is connected to my dyscalculia?

I'd be interested to know if anyone else does it.





*looks at post* oh god, did I just write that?

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!!!!

I do that all the time. I mean it. ALL the time. It's kind of like a storyboard, if you know what I mean? "Then I say this, then he says that, then she does that, then that happens"... And I react on what I'm thinking, so suddenly I'm laughing/looking angry or something like that, out of nowhere. Really embarrasing, sometimes - but mostly I do it when I'm alone. Sometimes I talk to myself while doing it - even more akward, because I'm not always aware of what I'm doing when I'm in the middle of a fantasy, as you call it - so sometimes, out of the blue, I "wake up" and wonder if I have said anything out loud or something like that. I don't think I actually talk out loud when I'm out in "public" that much, but I'm sure it has happened... Let's just say, I'm not really that surprised when I hear other people talk to themselfes.

If I watch something boring on tv or something like that, then suddenly I realise that I've been living in my head for the past 10 minutes and have no idea what has happened on the show I was watching - even though I've been staring at the screen. These "episodes" happen every day, but I have never counted or anything like that... But I've been doing it as far back as I can remember. "Zoning out" is a symptom of ADD/ADHD, and having these "episodes" have made me wonder many times if I have ADD/ADHD... I haven't been tested. Not sure I want to, right now.

I know that people daydream, everybody does that. But I've always felt that "daydreaming" was a bad word for what I was doing... Daydreaming is more... Well, more "less" than what I'm doing, this storyboard-thing of mine, in my head. I think.

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I'm so pleased it's not just me!!
That's exactly what i do!

Like you say though, not really worried about getting tested for ADD/ADHD. Sometimes people hear me but i'm not too bothered about that. Wow.......

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I do that too!!! At school it just used to be called "daydreaming" :D

But oh yeah, I frequently create, I suppose the only way to describe them, is mini-films, with me starring of course :D and full scripts etc. I always thought it was just because I have a vivid imagination...!

But I know it unnerves my partner, particularly if we're watching something on TV or he's talking to me and I just... drift off to another world... :p

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okaaaay, either this is dyscalculia related or we are coincidentally quirky in the same way! i do this too, a little too often in my opinion. i play out all sorts of scenarios in my head. maybe i'm developing ADD/ADHD as an adult. is that possible? i thought it was just a lack of B vitamins! :p

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:)I think we do this because we felt rejected from the "normal" world.

What does everyone else think?

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Yeah, mini-films with complete scripts, that's what it is.

I don't know why I do it. I've always wondered how I could be able to create crazy stories in my mind, but not be able to put it down on paper, or something like that - you know, actually USE it for something. You know when you're a kid, you go through some years where you play a lot of role games (playing house - mom, dad - or playing cowboy/indians, all that) - but I never really did that. I felt akward and silly doing it, with other people. But in my head, I made up the weirdest things. I just couldn't/can't "get them out" and use them for anything in the practical world, most of the time.

I guess we need input from non-dyscalculics - do other people do this too, to this degree?

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That's where I live to?
Though I would suggest that it is Creative Thinking?
:(

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So if you're not good at drawing/art, is this a dyscalculic's way of being creative?

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Hi Bubble:),
As a Visual Artist, their is no such thing as 'not good at drawing/art'!

Whilst I think of Drawing / Art as creative expression?
You perhaps raise the other side of Drawing, where we 'look at something and then draw it'?
Which of course directly relates to Visual Spatial Dyscalculia?

To draw something that you are looking at, you need to look at it, then capture an image of it in your mind. Which then becomes your reference as you look across to your paper and pencil.
Then to start drawing it?
But if the image in your mind of what you were looking at, has disappeared by the time you shift your eyes across to the paper?
Then you have lost your reference?
Bubble thanks for bringing this to my attention!
I have been trying to develop some simple exercises for Members with Visual Spatial Dyscalculia, to develop visualisation skills?
Where Drawing Exercises would be a perfect way to approach it!

But then you wrote:"So if you're not good at drawing/art, is this a dyscalculic's way of being creative?"
Where what I wrote above, refers to a Visual Thinking process.
Yet Dyscalculics are generally Verbal Thinkers?
Who dont create a visual image of what they are thinking.
But instead, do it with words rather than pictures.

Where what is now defined as Dyscalculia, is what I would suggest a difficulty coping with a Maths System designed by and suited to Visual Thinkers.
Yet on the other side, are Dyslexics, who are generally Visual Thinkers.
Who have great difficulty with a written language system designed by Verbal Thinkers?
So their is this ongoing struggle?
Geoff:(

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Oh man, I do that all the time. People think I'm crazy because sometimes I'll be sitting on public transportation doing just that, and my mouth will move into the words that I am saying, or that one of my characters is saying, in my "fantasy world", and people look at me very strangely, lol. But yes. All the time. I originally thought everybody did that, but according to my mother, I'm the only one she knows who does that. Glad I'm not just a weird kid!! :) Not sure why this is a recurring theme within all of us, I've been doing it since I was a little kid, before I was diagnosed with a math disability. So for me at least, I doubt it has to do with being socially outcasted, it must be the different brain wiring. Interesting subject, bubble. Pretty icon, by the way!

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Maybe this should be the next poll? Because no one has written that they DON'T do this, so maybe it really IS something most dyscalculics do?

But then we would have to find out if non-dyscalculics do it too... Hmm, how can we do that...

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I think I lived most of my life in my head! Ha ha! When I was growing up I was totally not living in reality at all! I think it goes allong with that whole female ADHD/LD daydreamer steriotype.

But seriously, I am a very introspective person. I always try to think about things in a 100 different ways. I will often get lost in my thoughts. I have learned how to regulate this throughout the years. I am much more able to control this now then when I was a child.

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Well, this is very interesting because my mother has told me that she thinks it is odd that I do this. She doesn't know anybody else who does it--and neither do I, except all of you :) So I have a feeling that this may be a feature of dyscalculia. But I wonder why? What is it about our minds that allows us to make up scripts and scenarios in our heads? Anyone have any ideas?

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Maybe it is our fabulous imaginations? Creativity?

I have heard that dyslexics et al have more intense dreams than 'normal' people as well - colour, flying, smells, etc... I think maybe it is tied into the way we experience things and our creativity etc

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OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH!!! I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE! I do that all the time!! Wow!:o:o:o:o

I can almost say that I literally live in my head, I often think that my dreams can never comes true, and it makes me depressed. Or sometimes when i'm sad, daydreaming of a better outcome kinda conforts me........am I going mad??? hope that's not a sign:(

But just recently some of my dreams did come true, a certain special "guy" came into my life;););)B)

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Oooooh Seeta, a special guy! Nice! :)

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I, too, often slip into my mind and drift away. It's weird, though, because I excel at a sort of multi-tasking, that my brain is moving at a billion miles per nanosecond with uncountable thoughts, and yet part of me just slows down and "experiences" these daydreams... add to that the fact that I'm still aware of the real world, and can almost always respond (whilst retaining the very real, detailed dreamworld in my head).

I've always thought it was a technique developed from losing myself in the books I read. I'm the kind of person who cannot be disturbed once I get involved in a book. Well, my wife throws things at me to get my attention, but other than that, it's really hard to break me away from my "escape."

Of course, I think my self-created escapes are of a lesser variety because I CAN break away from them with ease.

I don't know. I have absolutely no basis for comparison, because the vast majority of how I am does not exist in other people. I'm either a genius, or completely insane. How does one tell the difference? :)

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hi everybody
this is truly amazing. this is like some club of soul mates that hitherto only existed in my head.yes me too. done it all my life.as a child i was always the main character in my head stories and i beleaved them so much, that i was being them.in school this interfered with concentration of course but when you think about it, i as doing pretty well concidering the kind of tasks i had to fullfill as a character in my stories. i mean, who's got time for multiplications when your busy sailing the seven seas and hunting for treasure.but i also think it's a kind of protection from the ugliness of the world. a coping mechanism.i still do it even now.if things aren't going well i disappear into stories, books,poetry.i make up these utopias.new ways for humans to live together in communities of my design.the other thing i do is what neo pagans term pathworking.which is going into a sort of sacred space in your mind, designed by your mind.you go there by walking /journeying to it slowly, getting away from reality to a calm place where you can think in peace,where it is possible to ask questions and have them answered truthfully,depending on your beliefs, either by god/gods/godesses or your deep godself.many people who try pathworking find it exreemely hard to do.to me it was a piece of cakeand pehaps this is indeed due to being dyscalculic.and i always felt that the answers i got came from myself, but that i could only ascess this information, by going into myself.

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I've been daydreaming and my inner life is vast and ever expanding. I can dream the weirdest and most intense dreams that sometimes even shock myself. It's been like that for as long as I can remember.

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i daydream in maths class, although i never meant to do it. I get bored and think of something else, and i go " what was the teacher saying again??'' ayaya.. Trying to Focus really hard in class sometimes equals to daydreaming.

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I pretty much live in my head. Honestly. I have this obsession with the Victorian era, and I'm always imagining that I live back then. And I always imagine that I'm onstage in whatever show I happen to be obsessed with at the moment.
It has become even worse since July, when I heard that my favorite book was going to be made into a movie and it hasn't been cast yet. I am so determined to play the main character, Gemma, because I've wanted to play her for years. So I'm always thinking how I would do this scene or say that line.
I usually don't move my lips to what I'm saying or talk out loud unless I mean to. When I'm saying or rehearsing lines, I say them very quietly under my breath.

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I only get this when a story idea hits me. (used to happen a LOT more.. when I watched movies/read a ton) I'll then proceed to plan out characters, their life stories, plot, every detail of every scene, and forget it by the time I get home.
If I start dreaming, my pen usually ends up finding it's way to a paper and so the doodling begins.

I'm working on getting this under control, because if I lose focus for even a minute, I can't get it back the entire class period and/or hour.

It's slowed down at the moment though, because I never have time to let my brain free.. always school, school, school.

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check out Toe nails entry in the hypnosis thread ( see newest threads) is this the type of daydreaming you mean

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Can't say that's it for me

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Hey Everyone, Gosh, I never realized there might be others like I am in this area, too!:o For as long as I can remember I have always lived in a rich fantasy world that in some weird context crosses and mingles with my every day world. It's almost like acting a part in some play or something or becoming a character in some unwritten book. Needless to say I'm sure to others it's as if I'm zoning out especially when I'm on autopilot or staring off into space. Even so I think having this type of fantasy life has enriched my life immeasurably. I even dream at night in color. Still it makes one wonder do we create our rich fantasy lives as a protective barrier against the hurts we've suffered because of being dyscalculiac or is it something more intangible creative force at work because of our brains being wired differently? Thank you, Bubble for bringing to light something I've done for many years and never told anyone.:p:D:p This is just one more great thing about this forum. we can speak our minds and be whole-heartedly accepted for who we are without someone laughing or ridiculing us:p:D:p:D. sign me, OneOutofOrderScrewball:p:D:p:D

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Dreaming and imagining things, that's what I do best.;) I need a lot of time alone, maybe because I need to dream in peace....

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As Alice said when she was in Wonderland:
'He was a part of my dream, of course, but then I was a part of his dream."

WOndeRLanD:p

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The gift of learning by ronald davis describes your vivid fantasies really well . Quote coming! " Picture-thinkers often indulge in long-term disorientation for the purpose of self-entertainment. Disorientation can throw the doors to inner fantasy wide open. A child may discover this capability while still an infant. With this discovery comes the alternate world of imagination and creativity, a world bounded only by the child's own itellect and own creativity. To him this is a world without bounds or consequences. The stream of consequences experienced by others in the real world is partly replaced by a continuous stream of creative imagination within the imaginary world, where he is the central figure.
Everyone has experienced this sort of alternative reality during particularly vivid dreams. A picture thinker has daydreams or 'waking dreams' that are just as vivid. However they don't fit the model of an ordinary dream because the state of disorientation allows the dream to be experienced as reality. Disorientation also allows the person to interact with the alternate reality."
He goes on further, but I think this is exactly what you are describing. His whole theory of dyslexia/dyscalculia is based on disorientation and so he offers a treatment technique to allow a person to reorientate the wonky bits....to use a technical term.

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Dawn, I must say that I was disgusted by Davis' adoption of the word ; 'disorientation' to define Dyslexia!
Given that 'disorientation' means confusion.
So is he suggesting that Dyslexics have a 'confused mind'?

Though their is lot of money to be made from confusion?
If it Quacks like a duck,...?
Dawn, I moved your other thread to Parents, for you.

Geoff:p

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Hello everyone,

I'm new here. I don't even know for sure that I have dyscalculia, but from what I've been reading I'm fairly sure I am - I seem to fit every symptom!!

I'm interested in this thread as I do this too. I often find that I've been talking to myself for a good length of time before I "wake up" to what I'm doing. TIP: Bluetooth headphones for mobile phones are good when you're out in public - you can pretend to be talking hands free!!

I'm also very worried. I have a 5 year old girl who's only problem in school so far is that (and I quote) "she disapears into a world of her own" and loses track of what is going on in class.

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Geoff, calm down! 'Disorientation' is just Davis's theory which obviously is different to your own. However, please read his book before you have such vehement opposition to his views- after all it is one of the most read books by dyslexics. Dismiss it if you like, but it is worth looking at, I think, you could read the book in 2 evenings. As you see from my other posts,I have a very healthy sceptism of most of these remedies, but I remain open minded.
I'll abridge his explanation of disorientation as he goes on for pages:
"Natural orientation has 2 aspects- consistency and accuracy of perception . A natural orientation does produce a consistant perception but not necessarily an accurate one eg one persons perception of red may be different to another persons. Disorientation is experienced by everyone to varying degrees eg alcohol or sitting in a stationary car and the neighbouring car moves giving the false perception that you are moving- he describes the Beta Apparent Phenomenon. .A simple experiment to ascertain if disorientation in a dyslexic and a non-dyslexic are the same was carried out by rotating a board with a spiral picture on a turn table .no one could tell how fast the disc was spinning, nor tell the passage of time ,nor repeat tongue twisters, nor maintain balance, some were nauseated. The dyslexic students all immediately recognised the distortions as similar if not identical to those experienced while reading. All the symptoms of reading dyslexia were the same as disorientation. When a dyslexic becomes sufficiently confused he will disorientate spontaneously without noticing it." He goes on to say " this is not the case with ADD and maths dyslexia or handwriting problems. For them the effects of disorientation happen long before school age. during development the natural state of orientation and the mental function of disorientation, working together, distort some children's perception of their environment to the degree that they develop an alternate reality or concept of essential life lessons such as consequence, cause and effect and change. the establishment of this can lead to ADD and to some degree maths dyslexia and handwriting problems"
"disorientatin for long periods ,or even for multiple short periods, will distort the perception of time so that the sense of time is not uniform minute by minute, second by second etc. if there is no sense of time then an accurate concept of sequence can't develop and with no timing or sequence then the concepts of order and consequence will under develop "
Now, Geoff, I'm the messenger so don't shoot me . O.K? Have you got long range missiles???? It's a theory . You'll probably find it interesting.That's all.
Dawn PS where did the statistic 4-6% of population are dyscalculic come from please?

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Deneice, I don't want to be alarmist but please check if your daughter is wetting herself when she is in "her own world", because she may be doing anything from simply daydreaming to having petit mal absences which is often associated with wetting . The person seems to blank over for a short time then come to and carry on as though no time elapsed.If that is the case see your doctor.Just trying to think laterally

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2 studies; 1: Lewis, Hitch & Walker 1994 (3.6%). 2: Gross-Tsur, Manor & Shalev 1996 (6.5%).

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yup, this is exactly what i do too! i often snap out of it randomly and worry i've been talking out loud! in terms of mental awareness, i'm very rarely where i'm supposed to be!

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I have really weird dreams sometimes too, but it is my daydreaming that is most vivid. I will make up situations in my head and just play them out--sometimes whispering out loud so that I can really listen to them. I do it a lot, usually several times each day without thinking about it, and it is really a part of me that I am proud of. It shows that my imagination was not lost in childhood :)

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I started this thread so now i will add a bit more....

My first memories of school are of me just sitting in a class (I would have been 5 or 6) and just being completely disconnected from everything going on around me. I was "off in my own little world" as a lot of teachers put it throughout school.

I have since come to believe that i had mild autism, I can remember "coming to" around the time i started secondary school and realising that i could talk to other people. That probably sounds like i was just shy, but it was more than that.

So i just wanted to share that with everyone. If anyone else had similar experiences let me know. I haven't been on the site for ages cos I work pretty long hours these days but i'm going to make an effort to be here more from now on.

Let me know about your experiences :)

PS I've just realised that this seems like it has nothing to do with daydreaming/fantasising but its all connected in my world, so i want to see if anyone else had/has it too.
Thanks x

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This is SO freaky. I totally do that ALL the time. I plan out future events and do the "he said she said then i said" thing and all of it. And the thing with the TV being on and staring at it, but having no idea what was going on? TOTALLY do that.

I remember when I was ten or eleven my grampy would pick me up from school everyday after school, and he'd turn on the TV. I'd get a book, and I'd have the book in front of me, the TV on, and I'd zone out. But I'd still be "reading" in that I"d be turning pages. But when I'd "snap" out of the little mini movie in my head, I'd have no idea what was happeniing in the book or on the TV.

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I do that! Not so much with books, but sometimes with TV. The big thing though, is tapes. At night I like to listen to books on tape. It gets kind of annoying in the morning to have to rfewind it and find the right spot (why I'm starting to favor books on CD more), but I'll zone out just thinking about stuff or day dreaming. I don't really realize it because the books on tape that I get, i know so well that I never feel like i missed something. But I'll rewind it in the morning and listen while I'm doing my hair and think, "I didn't hear that part last night... but I heaard the part after it... what was I doing?"

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Katie - have you looked into Nonverbal Learning Disorder? I know I'm not autistic and I know I don't have aspergers, but I do have a lot of NLD signs. And ADD and a couple of other things. They all kind of melt into one and overlap, and some I only fit in some parts of, so I have no idea what it could be... And honestly it's more than enough to be dyscalculic right now, so I'm not sure I want to find out just yet.

But I know something else is there, and that I need to understand it before I can do something about my patterns. Bad patterns, like living in my head when I shouldn't be. I'm like you when it comes to living in my own little world - without being shy and all that.

NLD: http://www.nldont...guay_3.htm

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i have done this ever since i can remember. As a man of 34, it makes me feel foolish and immature ... yet it keeps going on. i was in a theater group once, and LOVED it. i felt the thespian inside me finally clawed his way out. i'm an extrovert most of the time, yet when i get home to my family ... i clam up and want to be alone.

i also DREAM every night. EVERY night. i'm talking dreams with PLOTS. i wake up exhausted every morning ... like i slept 15 minutes instead of 7 hours.

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Hi Gooup, welcome to the forum. And thanks for sharing!

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Hi Mette

Thanks, I'll check it out. And don't worry about living in your head, sometimes its kinda nice to check out of reality for a little while. It keeps the stress levels down. :)

Update: checked out the link and no, that's not me at all. Except the low self esteem and anxiety/depression lol! Although thats getting better these days.

Thanks for the info though, it may be useful for others ;)

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I always had an overwhelming imagination (My Barbie's lives resembled that of 90210) but I found that my 'movie' thinking state only works when I'm engaged in some sort of tedious activity; like running or bike-riding. It starts off with tapping a pencil and suddenly it's like I fell through the looking glass (which I wouldn't mind, since I'm a lefty and it would make my life a h-ll lot easier)

I used to be so frustrated, because I couldn't translate the images from my head onto paper, in drawing form. So I started writing instead.

I read somewhere many artists think in a manner similar to this. Perhaps Dyscalculics = artists?

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i've always been a dreamer. i find it useful sometimes, especially in high tension situations.

i don't get on too well with my mum, and usually it gets to the verge of a row, then i leave and go home. but in my head i see in glorious technicolour, the rest of the row, and everything that happens if i'd stayed, and everything that happens once i've left. i feel it so strongly and the emotions run so deep that i feel the pain and the anger, and it makes me cry as if it had actually happened.

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I don't know for certain that I have dyscalulia but i have always made up complex stories in my head. I can remember sitting in my 5th grade class room and having a story playing in my head unaware of whats going on. This continues today. I can see what I'm gonna do next like a movie in my head. When I listen to music on my head phones I make up stories in my head to go along with the music.

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Hello:

i'm completely new here.

This is amazing. I thought it was just me.

My adoptive mother called me Walter Mitty. She used to say What's wrong with you? I have to draw pictures for you.

my son is the same, I think. I'm just beginning to find out what this weird movie is all about.

I daydreamed a lot. Zone out sometimes. I can get lost on a spring day just enjoying the smells and the light and life seems grand.

Anybody feel likethat?

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"I can get lost on a spring day just enjoying the smells and the light and life seems grand.":p
People dont know what they are missing out on!
Geoff:p,

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well, I role play alot, especialy online, and some times in real time. I tend to replay those scenes in my head, and Ive also made up my own little stories, things i would like to write down, but never do, always developing a little each time in my mind, like a film, really.

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I have Daydreamed whole books ;) in the Classroom, on my Bike, at home on the couge, in the car (when where going all the way to the south of France by car.) When I'm out of High school I wanna be a writer :D because I want to write all my stories down, but not yet.

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You know what i am actually really bad at stories i can never make them up. I can't write them down either. I find it so hard to just think of something on the spot. I am so envious of all of you guys i seem to not be able to daydream either. When i am alone there is nothing in my mind at all-weird or what. I just chill out, my mind goes blank and i relax.

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I have 3 complex stories I've worked on for years when I'm bored or driving.
My quess is that dyscalculia accompanies the 'attention debetsit brain' like dyslexia does. I think this type of brain can be great and fun but needs to be understood and worked with to stay on track when it's important. I also think junk food, caffein, sugar, lack of sleep etc. can really mess up brain function. If I need to be sharp and am tired ginko is the best.

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me2 but i don't want to write it down yet :p

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Hi.

I hope everyone is doing ok.

I'm an artist. Career started and stalled who knows how many times. No matter how well I do, it sometimes seems no good.

I keep hearing/ reading about how artists are thriving (famous dyslexics etc). It hasn't been like that at all for me, and I'm wondering whether there are other people (particularly artists) who have managed to overcome this.

Math(s) difficulty was the first thing to rear its head in my life. I was adopted, so there was no family history. I'm glad we have the internet now.

Thanks for your patience in reading through this. Any one seen this already?

http://www.painte...s/aadd.htm

I include it in case it might be of use to anyone else.

I'm keen to know if assessment is ok. I'm apprehensive about being labelled disabled. What do you think, guys?

Kind regards,
(I'm tired of Shadowman already, but it's useful just now)
coming out of the shadows, man

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Do ya know how ive curbed this?...
I draw it all down.
The most comical and innovative artwork ive made begins from dreaming while Im awake.
I think being Dyscalculic makes you a 'vivid' person, because anything that doesnt seem colourful or poetic you lose interest in. Technicalities have boundries, so therefore prevent interest. I think its easier to create your own creative language though this seemingly illogical daydreaming. Be productive. Dyscalculia is a beautiful disability.:)

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since the fourth grade i've lived completely different lives out in my head, complete with my own friends, jobs, and situations, it's better than tv, and no one else I know does it. i definatly retreat inside myself when i'm around other people, and i know that the conversations that i have in my head usually spill out, oh well.
it would be neat to see how common the daydreams are amoung dyscalculic and others.
again i'm just glad i'm not the only one.

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I think we may have found the answer. Thank you Lucy Lou!

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Lewis Carrol wrote in: Alice, through the looking glass:

"He was a part of my dream, of course, but then I was a part of his dream."

Geoff:p,

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I just found this website and forum. Excellent place!

I also tend to "daydream" but mostly when I'm in bed before I go to sleep. I make up stories about all sorts of things and in all sorts of locations. It is often very intricate and long stories with many characters in it and often an action packed plot and a lot of dialoge. The same story can be in my head for weeks, evolving and developing on its own almost. I often think, "hey this is a good story I should write it down", but when I try to the next day it is hard to write about all the things in a good way. It looks so lame on paper. Sometimes, most of the times in fact, I have to end my story-making so I can go to sleep, since the story excites me and thus prevents me from going to sleep. :)

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This is a tremendous thread, and very enlightening!:p

All my life I've had a rich 'inner life', and have played out complete scenarios
in my head, to the extent that I often laughed out loud in public (very embarrassing)
or even got tears in my eyes if the 'plot' was too sad! I live in Holland now, and my daily cycle along the canal to my office is always an imaginative work-in-progress. :D

There've been times that my imaginary dialogues have seemed so real that later when I was actually talking to the people in question I thought I'd already told them specific things, but in fact I hadn't.

Donna

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Me too! To the point that I actually start riding slower, because I get so focused on my mind instead of moving my legs. I guess it's because there's nothing else to concentrate on, and my brain needs something to think about all the time, apparently.

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If I don't have Music on when I'm riding to school I'm getting late :P

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:p With me it's the opposite. The more engrossed I am in my imaginary scenario, the faster I pedal! I've already had a few close calls when I nearly overshot a crossing or had to brake suddenly! :o I have to force myself to just settle down. Luckily, I love meditation. For me, 'going into the silence' is a wonderful way to still or at least quieten the ongoing inner dialogue.

Donna

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um, have to say that I am a non dyscalculic (i'm on the forum cos my son is both dyslexic and dyscalulic) and in answer to some of the queries about daydreaming and its assoc with dyscalculia I am a massive dreamer in exactly the same way described above. I have less time to dream these days (3 chidlren and onother one on the way!) but its been a major part of my life as far back as I can remember. I know my son's symptoms don't come from my side of the family- we are all without exception highly academic and particularly gifted in maths and science so maybe the daydreaming gene is not necessarily a dyscalculia thing! (though of course it may be more common) anyway thought it might be of interest!

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Yeah I'm guilty of this too!! I live in my head.
It's helped me many times when I've got frustrated in maths lessons.

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Thanks everyone for sharing! I am new to the forum and so happy to have found you fellow dyscalculics. This thread is fascinating...I thought making up complete scenarios, characters, and scripts in my head all the time was just part of my quirky nature (like duscalculia). So nice to know there are others just like me out there going through the same experiences. ;)

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Is that dyscalculia? Not really .....I do that ..everyone does. And we all have our stories of triumph when we had the perfect answer to put someone nasty down with. You see, that is because those times are infrequent for most people ,so we remember the perfect occasion when it all fell into place.

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Hi Toenail

Interesting point about fantasising more when you're anxious or feeling nervous. I have noticed that I tend to retreat inside myself more when I'm anxious too. This morning, for example, I was driving to work and my fantasy was all about walking in to the middle of a big university lecture hall and the lecturer saying "oh hey, its katie". "Hi Kate, why don't you tell us all about your dyscalculia". So then I was standing under a spotlight, telling the whole lecture hall about it - including the frustrations - and it felt great. The end of the fantasy was me saying to whole room "I just want to be able to talk about it openly, without feeling ashamed of myself".

I was kind of ranting at the whole world in general (in my head of course) and I think its because i'm going for job interviews at the moment - so my dsycal is at the forefront of my mind.

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I do it too! I daydream like crazy, in fact in school it was a real problem! anytime I am reading, or in the bath relaxing, sometimes even watching television, or in conversation i will automatically drift into a different world, imagining numerous scenerios! endless daydreamer, so hard to keep under control... but I never dream when asleep...

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I daydream a lot too

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I've always had really intense daydreams . I used to get hem a lot in school . I would talk to myself sometimes and act out all the different characters , there feelings and there emotions . I would have some of the longest story lines also . It was very fun ! I even made a soundtrack in my head to the story and would go crazy with it lol ! But people would think I was nuts and they would make fun of me . Which wasn't new for b/c I was different anyway I enjoyed reading and art , and history .I listened to heavy metal not a lot of rap or hip hop and I black in a class full stupid people trying to be popular .

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Hi Toe_nail

I totaly do that too and its sooo embarrasing! Right in an argument or even just a normal coversation with someone I just zone out and start daydreaming and ppl often find it rude, but i really don't mean to be rude, i just can't help it! And then when everything's over I sit down and daydream of things that i could've said if i didn't daydream!!:@
Frustrating? yes. very.

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Hey Toe_N:p, I'm just the same!

But I would suggest that it's the difference between; Knowing and Understanding?
Where as you say, it takes time to Understand!

I might also suggest that we live in a world of Experts that Know!
But what sort of world would it be, if it was a world of Experts that Understood?

Of course I Know that sounds ridiculous, but perhaps you can Understand?

It takes time to really Understand what I Know?
But even then, I can't be certain that I really Understand?

Geoff:p,

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Hi Toe_nail
you maybe onto something there :) I never thought of it that way, that's really kool n logical, but wat makes it so frustrating for me is that it really takes too long to do all that thinking :| my brain just doesnt think ask quickly as others. Another thing, when my mind drifts off when im talking with someone and i finally "snap out" of it, i even forget what it was that I was thinking about, "was it something related to what the person was saying? or something that was on my mind?" bugs me alot...

And eoffg, I Understand wat ur saying (lol):D

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Well I suppose I have to go somewhere when I space off. Sometimes it's a movie, sometimes it's like this buzz that I'm stuck in and I literally can't move until I "snap to". I have come to deal with it by calling these my Zen moments. Seriously though, if you've got live in a movie, you might as well also be the director!

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I remember back in the summer of 95' when I was at summer camp, I discovered that I could form images of places, things and people that were not within my peripheral. Early in the mornings, before camp started, all the kids would gather in twosomes, or groups surrounding the basketball court. I remember walking on these tannish brown dirt mounds, and, although I don't really remember what the images in my mind were, I do remember asking myself how was I able to be in one place in the real world (day camp) and yet be able to picture in my mind a totally different location (a dark, murky stream, overshadowed by luming storm-clouds). From all the overly analytic introspection that I've been doing, trying to figure out my "true wiring" so to speak, I've come to the conclusion that my daydreams, my inner-imaginings stem from more concrete stimuli. When I was in second and third-grade, I hated to read chapter books and yet I
always love to watch Disney movies, despite not having a fully developed theory of mind. I remember watching the Disney Animated Version of Robin Hood and despite my being in first grade with ToM deficits, almost immediately getting a crush on Maid Marian. And from then on, until my next crush came along, I would not stop thinking about there. There would be times where I could have been in the Christiana Mall picking out a toy or a new movie, and in my mind I'd hear Maid Marian say something like "Oh, come on, make up your mind, we don't have all day". Or when I was playing cards with my grandmother, I'd feel like Maid Marian would be sitting right next to me, silently admiring how nerdily cute I was. But the sad thing about it was, I didn't have enough of a dialogue with her. I would just feel and bask joyfully and warmly in her imaginary presence, but I would never, to my rememberance, have any actual imagined conversations with her. When I would pick out a movie at the store, in my mind, she'd just be smiling at me, admiring how cute (I made her) think I was, but she'd never, to my knowledge say things like, oooh, oooh I let's get Roger Rabbit, I've always wanted to see what happens when cartoons enter real life"! Unfortunately, we'd rarely if ever share the same thoughts with one another.

I remember when I was in second-third grade, although I was impaired in my ability to have imaginary conversations with all the girls I had crushes on, and yet I could vividly feel their gentle, colorful external presence inside of me. There would be cloudy, lazy Sunday afternoons where I would be lying on my living room floor while my mother was curled up on the couch, and, this is going to sound creepy, but I promise you I'm not a pervert, I would visualize my current crushes sitting on the same couch or in the love seat right next to where my mother was sitting. And I vividly picture my crush in a marron cashmere sweater, pale black, semi-rumpled stretch pants, and glittery maroon cashmere socks slumped, dazed in the living room love seat, as if my malfunctioning mirror neurons projected X into hers, quietly gesturing for me to sit beside her...and, all I'm going to say is that I'd have these vivid, albiet highly concrete, real world fantasies of "puppy love" (me and my crush watching movies together, running around the playground on a rainy day, flailing our arms, throwing mud at one another, flapping our arms as we jumped in puddles (i.e acting autistic together). What was so, oh, unfortunately, so beautiful about it was that in my mind, me and my crush, at least when she became mentalized by me, had the same level of social intelligence, that of a prematurely birthed "normal" toddler. That meant that in my mind, we were totally on the same wave lenght, and that meant that in my mind, somebody other than my parents saw and felt and believed that there was warmth and love, and relatibiility inside of me. And, despite me, in a real-life social context being totally unlovabe in the eyes of my peers and especially in the eyes of my crush, in the real world, I was still able to feel love by her, even though she'd die before she'd even begin to want to want to develop such a feeling for a then-social pariah like myself.

And unfortunately that imaginative paradox that had going on extended to virtually all facets of my childhood. For example, I would have my GI Joe action figures do all sorts of complex idio-creative martial arts moves. I remember making my action figures fight atop of and inside parakeet cages, and having them dive off of wooden table ridges and jump into my mothers half drunken coffee cups...and yet, it, to me, felt lively and spontaneous. And yet, while this was a demonstration of an (at least partail ) capactiy for spontaneous creativity, it was also a demonstration of barren imagination because I was rarely, if ever, able to give my action figures a reason for fighting one another. I was never able to give them goals, a purpose, personality...

Because I was, in the real world, seemingly blissfully content (as much in the Hare Krishna sense, as in a beatuful, wistful sense), I didn't have much of a need to create elaborate "imagination-based" fantasy worlds. Because I was so enamored with my Disney movies, my premature crushes on girls, my love of rainy and cloudy, and sunny days, my love of hearing my camp counselors reading Goosbump books, my love of my Grandparents putting up with my shanatagans, my love of gathering animal and geography facts, of the programs about miracles, the PBS mysteries that my mother watched that I'd tuned in and out of, my love of swimming, my love of my one and only (autistic friend) Alaric, my love of having intense, vivid, emotionally exuberant and vibrant, and yet empathically impoverished and yet forever beautiful fantasies of companionship with girls my age

I lived in a reality based fantasy world.

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Oh god, I can relate to this so much. I find that if I'm bored with something (ie a lecture) and there's a piece of paper in front of me I'll start to think of stories in my head and then start drawing them. Seriously, my chemistry notebook this year was absolutely filled with crazy drawings. I remember my mother going crazy at me during a car journey when I was young, she was extremely frustrated with the fact that I was "living in a dream world" I don't blame her.

A way you could put these fantasies to use is to write them down and then maybe use them as the basis for a short story or novel :)

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My life with fantasy is like this song: http://www.tomsmi..._lives.htm :)
Dreaming of a better world occurs most frequently, or imagining how cool it would be if I was a shapeshifter and could turn into any other person... I could even get a date that way! Once I sat in the doctor's waiting room, while mom was getting prescriptions for herself, and stared at the neon lights imagining them to be tubes of traffic over the surface of a planet somewhere in the distant future. When DC, AS and sci-fi addiction gets together... :D

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I have fantasies about doing something with my life, I would like to be an engineer, or an architect . Fat chance.

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Life is full of surprises!:p

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Hehe, I daydream and fantasize allot about being favourite game characters.
Sometimes I get so far into daydreams that I assume later on that they actually happened and friends are like "What the?, you never told me that or said that!?" lol =P

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I guess this is why I love this site...I have learned over and over that I am not alone in the "weird" things I do.:)
I have been asked countless times "what are you staring at?" either by the person who was talking to me or someone who thought I was staring at them. The truth is however, I was, what many teachers have accused me of, daydreaming. Weird thoughts with elaborate details, bizarre situations or simply things I found funny or interesting.
I am an artist/photography and many of these thoughts/images become part of my work. Others become short stories. Some just entertain me. Some make me laugh and some make me feel better when I am frustrated with the world. And some, rarely, are dark and depressing.
I think, or guess this is an escape for us...or me anyway. Like a film or book is a good way to forget about life for awhile, except they are with us at work, on the road or any place we might want to escape. (I have had dates where this would be useful:p)

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I do that to I say this they do that my best friend usually asks me who I'm talking to before I realize I'm doing it. I'm really glad I found out at this dyscalculia thing I call it the disko thing since I'm not sure how to pronounce it lol. I'm talking to a counsiler tomorrow (just discovered it tonight) and seeing if they know what to do. My whole life (19 yrs not long but too long to not know why I can't keep information in math) I've seen numbers switched sometimes and my family told me that I couldn't do that unless I was dislexic which I know I'm not, I'm too good at reading and understanding it lol. But I just started college and I'm have to take a zero level class for math and even in therre I don't get it (I flat out cried during class) but I'm glad to know there is such a thing as number dislexia I don't feel stupid any more-just challenged :)

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I too, do this! I've done it for as long as I can remember. The doctors said that my brain was basically over compensating for itself. They told me that due to my dyscalculia and the fact that part of my brain is under stimulated, the overstimulated "creative part" of my brain made these "fantasies" to keep itself occupied.

If this doesn't make sense, I'm sorry. It made more sense when someone over the age of 18 ( I'm 18 exactly ) said it :]

I hope this helps anyone else who wonders why they have these awesome movies going 24-7 in their heads :]

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Hi - just been reading everyones posts and i have always had a vivid imagination. From what my mum has told me when i was a child i was always in a world of my own and did not really speak to anyone but my family. I am 25 now and I talk to everyone and anyone so I must be making up for all the years of not talking much... (it may be NLD I dont know) In lessons at school and even in my job now when I am in meetings my mind drifts or i start daydreaming, I just cant help it.

When I am reading a book or watching a programme my mind drifts - normally what happens is whatever i have just read or watched triggers something in my brain and I just start thinking about that but another part of my brain is still watching the programme or reading and i find myself on the next page but dont remember what I have just read?!

I am glad this subject was brought up cos a lot of dyscalculics seem to have this trait!

:p:p:p

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That's really interesting actually, thanks :)

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You're welcome. I hope I explained it well enough :]

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I do this too! This is so...random. I always thought I was just wierd. I always make up stories in my head, and they get very intense, too - I'm usually the main character. I've gotten some funny looks as well - I'll be walking along, and my hands will start moving or my facial expression will change or I'll mouth words (I don't say it out loud, usually) and people will be like, "What's wrong with you? WHo are you talking to?" I've never heard of anyone confessing this before! This rocks!

My dreams, when I have htem (which isn't often) are also very intense. They scare me or shock me into wakefulness, and for a long time, I had a recurring scary dream. It came back at the same time each month, and I would be afraid to fall asleep during that time because I was terrified of having the dream again. Does anyone experience this?

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Yup, this is me, too. I often can't sleep until the story is finished!

ANd I've been told by my Mama that when I was little, my head was always stuck in the clouds. I would never really be completely in a situation; the creative part of my brain was somewhere else. I would see a bird or something in the middle of a t-ball game and start thinking about the bird and where it is from and watch it, while my entire team screamed at me to run or catch the ball. I just didn't pay attention, I guess. But I stopped talking about what I thought becuase people didn't get it.

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After reading the other posts I remembered that it was my daydreaming in class the got my L.D.s discovered. A teacher was concerned (but first very, very annoyed) and eventually I got tested (lots and lots of testing)

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I do this all the time! I thought I was the only one. I can create loads of characters in my head and then control what happens between them and how they react to each other. It's kinda weird. When I can't concentrate or have nothing to do I sort of retreat into my "inner world" I can stay there for ages, like I'm in a trance it's really weird.
I always get really lost in books too. Maybe we should all write books!

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I sometimes find that when reading books I plan out what I want to happen to the characters and then when what I planned for a certain character doesn't happen I get annoyed!

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Perhaps you should write your own book...your way, it could be even better. :)

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Fantasies like this are the reasons I work in the film industry.

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Yep, lots of daydreaming and very vivid dreams while sleeping. As a kid, I wasn't content with 1 imaginary friend, I had 4 of them. And a weird sense of irony as I named the one I blamed everything I did wrong on "Good Boy". The others were Katarina (she was a ballerina and I wanted her name to rhyme), George & Cathy.

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The parents of my imaginary friends told them not to hang around with me!! :p :o

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lol :D

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Wow that's crazy, i daydream ALL THE TIME, especially in class!
I'll space out into my own little zone and play sceniro's and scences in my head, it's almost like a movie and I'm the main character in it. I'll daydream at the most random times to, whether it's doing simple tasks or doing something really complicated. When i listen to music i zone out even more and depending on what song I'm listening to I'll play a music video in my head to go along with the song as weird as that sounds.

To most people on the outside it just looks like I'm staring at a spot on the wall or at the sky but really I'm just lost in my own little world. I'm aware of my surroundings but i don't pay much attention to them.

So no your definately not alone :)

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I daydreamed in this manner from a very young age and continue to do so to this day. My other half often asks me what I'm staring at, and all I can lamely say is, oh I was thinking about an idea I had - and half the time I'm off in some fantasy world. I have six to eight fairly developed ideas for graphic novels, which is my preferred method of getting these things out into the real world - but sure as shootin' once one comes out, another pops up to take its place!

I once did this in the cinema, a certain scene played out and I got lost in the what-ifs my brain threw up - what-if the weapons didn't work that way, they worked THIS way instead... I have no idea what the film was about now but I came out brimming with these thoughts and talked my dear partner's ear off in the car all the way home; that's about an hour and a half drive. He just looked at me and said "WHERE do these ideas come from." I wish I knew, but things just take on a life of their own inside my head! I quite often make up music videos to go with songs too Numb, and I'm sometimes disappointed when I see the real thing!!

I can't imagine not doing it, in fact if someone took the ability away from me I would feel impoverished. It's a facility which helps me immensely in both my relation and empathy with others (by being readily able to put myself in their place) and provides an easy release for my creative urges. :D

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and I thought it was that I was a dreamy pisces ~ I've got no chance then have I !!!! Pisces and dyscalculia what a combination ! :o

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OH my gosh, I was just reading all this. I have SUCH a vivid imagination. I have a friend who is the same and sometimes we get started on the phone, imagining all sorts of stories. Because we both have crazy humour, there have been so many times I have fallen off my seat with tears down my face, rolling on the floor laughing as our imaginations take our stories into the funniest situations. We both dream heaps too. Sometimes I don't like my imagination because now that I have a family I can worry about them too much because it is easy for me to imagine. My daughter is on her way home right now from a very dangerous country and I had to try really hard not to imagine anything but good things when she was there. I like it best when I can imagine funny stories, and I sometimes find myself talking out loud too, or pulling faces and hope no-one sees me. One day I was driving around a corner pulling a face as I was in a story in my mind. Then I noticed people in a car coming towards me were laughing at me. Cringe. Imagine if we all got together and produced a movie. It would be THE BEST.

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o0o

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Yeah, absolutley, so real too, mine tend to be of what i should have done in responce to something. I have to stop myself from day dreaming or what ever you want to call it, cus its a bummer when you come back into reality and get dissapointed.

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That's a good way to put what I do too. I daydream but it's not vivid or visually fancy or creative. I daydream about conversations.

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To turn off and on is something I do so well...it is a survival thing....I love the things that others say oh thats not real..but what is real when words and numbers elude one. The world is words and numbers where do I fit in...I fit in to fantasy..thats my world..heres a link have fun...what do you think star wars freaks..? lol G "you tube" type in "blossomgoodchild" in the search bar and watch "The Federation of Lights" message to the world. Check out her website as well..we may be more open minded than those who find access to words and numbers easier than us...I'd love to go for a ride would you..hehehehe... ;)

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Not only do I do it, but I can't turn it off.The inside of my head is so noisy and chaotic I have trouble forcing myself to focus sometimes. I catch myself actually on verge of speaking things aloud I dont' mean to.

Glass of wine helps. Obviously, you can't do that in school. Music, the "storyboards" others have mentioned, prose, poetry, misc. creative ideas, etc. I wish I had a nickle for every time I've been chewed out for "daydreaming" in class as a kid.

Well, on the bright side, at least I am NEVER, EVER bored. :D

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Yes, that is true! And just think if we followed through on patents for all of the stuff we daydreamed about. I have serious directional issues, so in addition to my navigator, I call friends/family I'm visiting to review directions. Sometimes they conflict and I'd love to have an online based system where I could program my own directions & feed them to the navigator. I drive on my own a lot so the voice is helpful because it allows me to keep my eyes on the road (instead of looking at instructions). I've named mine Chris after St. Christopher.

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I do that all the time! I never know what to call it, though, so I just classify it under daydreaming. Sometimes the story I'm acting out in my head is so powerful I only see and hear what I'm "daydreaming" about. That often causes problems during class :D

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Man. Since I started writing again, the film in my head is ramped up into high gear. I'm talking hard core, I'd almost forgotten about this.

It's almost overpowering. Details, conversations, plotlines, point of views for scenes, just running like a noisy, out of control chaos in my head.

Last night I drank a bunch of Patron and stayed up till 2am writing. I couldn't stop. I don't think I could have gotten to sleep if I hadn't been slightly inebriated and almost falling down with fatigue.

That happens sometimes. Couple years ago, I built a full scale "gypsy wagon" (confession # 454678. I tell fortunes in "Renn Faire" type settings. ) I couldn't sleep for months, the entire time I was working on it my head was spinning with "How can we attach the lower walls, how can we waterproof the canvas, if I attach the bedrame to the seats, can I fold it up? What color should I paint the walls? How can I make a set of stairs?" Seriously, it was like being buffetted by a pack of small children 24-7.

My muse seems to have a problem where he can't shut up, even for a minute. :D (hey, it's my muse, he can be a dude).

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9/29/08
Dear Dulcy,
I've had tinnitus since 1996. I woke up with it one morning, went to three doctors, and have been living with it ever since. I'm pasting a link here for you to watch an artsy film that a young woman made on having this affliction. The woman is deaf - just warning you, so you'll know why she talks the way she does. Dulcy, I hope that the link opens up the video on tinnitus that I'm trying to paste here. Yesterday, I sent this link to a friend and was mortified to see that the link I had pasted didn't bring up the right video (you get the picture). So, please be sure that it's a deaf woman filming about tinnitus. I don't expect that our dyscalculia films would all be like this. It's just one more 'option' that we could use to reach people.

I'll have to email this video directly to anyone who wants to watch it. Please send me a PM and I'll do this. Sorry.

Okay, well, since it finally 'opened' for Dulcy, I'll put a link back here, on the forum. Click on the link in the paragraph entitled Tinnitus - Film.
http://www.skepti...php?t=2522

I love your posts. Keep them coming for us.
- justfoundout

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Oh, the link doesn't work. :( Showing that vid is no longer available.

Edit: Oops, no, there it is. Huh. I'm gonna go watch it now.

Thanks, I will keep them coming. My muse is not the only one who can't shut up. ;)

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Okay, wow. Yeah, that was intense.

You know, I had a short bout with the ringing after my daughter screamed so loudly into my ear it just about brought me to my knees. Thank God the pain and ringing did go away after about a week. I dont' know how someone copes with that long term.

I have two friends with tinnitus. One of them sleeps with headphones on to help drown out the ringing.

At least my noise (and pictures) are not unpleasant, and can be useful, if a little tiring. I mean, I don't feel like I'm suffering from it. Guess I'm lucky that way.

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10/4/08
I need to put a disclaimer here before I post what I've found. Dulcy, what I'm about to post had nothing whatsoever to do with your postings or the discussion that you and I have been having on this thread about tinnitus. And it may not even have anything to with what anybody else has posted on this Thread. It's just a "for what it's worth" piece of information.

Today I was reading in a book at the Public Library. It's called DSM-IV and it's the book that psychologists use to "diagnose" people. On page 811 is the Glossary of Specific Defense mechanisms and Coping Styles. That's where I happened upon this listing that I think belongs here on this Thread. So for information only, I present this QUOTE:

"autistic fantasy The individual deals with emotional conflict or internal or external stressors by excessive daydreaming as a substitute for human relationships, more effective action, or problem solving."
END QUOTE

That's all folks. - justfoundout

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justfoundout, but this version of fantasy, the DSM-IV autistic fantasy, is still a LONG way from where we are, if we are not diagnosed with autism, aspergers or NLD, and otherwise have pretty normal (whatever that may be) social skills.

I have worked with autistic children, and some live in a fantasy world. One kid had a rich social life, but with people that don't exist, in his own head. He had conversations out loud, got extremely scared from time to time because the people in his head did bad things etc. etc.

It's hard to explain when you haven't seen it in real life. But as a dyscalculic with extreme day dreaming/fantasies, and kids like him to compare with, I can certainly say that it is nothing like an autistic fantasy. Again, if you otherwise relate to people in a pretty normal way and is not diagnosed with any sort of autism.

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I have always played out stories in my head, both fantasies and stories that could be turned into, like, fantasy books, and the autistic thing (to work out problems, get to grips with things, define what I'm thinking and feeling about something, etc.) of which the definition was posted one or two posts or so back.

The earliest I can recall is when I was about 3-4 years old. So I assume I was doing it before then too, but before that I just don't have very clear memories, more like scattered images or sounds or sensations.

The story in my head is something I, for myself, see as the same story and world over and over, but I guess in reflection, it has changed a lot, as I grew. I also now use different settings and characters, but to me it's still more or less the same story, and there are certain key elements that define this.
There are a few places where it's easiest and nicest to jump into my story, like in bed, while in a train or car, and unfortunately, during class :D. But I take any other opportunity too, if I'm not doing something else.

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Hey! Omg! I do that ALL the time! I thought i was the only one who did that!
I usually don't do it on purpose. I'm just thinking about something and the story happens! It's how i deal with stress. I just go into my fantasy world until the stress is gone. I usually have characters from books, movies, Tv shows, Etc. Or my 'alter ego' as the main person. I'm just glad I'm not crazy!
~MonkeyFeathers =]

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this happens to me ALL the time, but i think the inability to turn it off, for me personally, relates more to my manic depression than dyscalculia.

it does help tremendously with writing fics, though. especially when i'm at work, for some reason. i'm a pizza cook, so my job is pretty easy, so my mind just zones out and starts thinking on plots and directions and specific scenes and dialogue...it actually has helped me with nanowrimo tremendously lol.

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I have been doing this my entire life!!!!

when theres a show that i like i "write" myself into the script in very dramatic ways and sometimes i catch myself a bit teary eyed if i just did a rather moving scence or blushin if the leading man has just done some romatic gesture.

ive always thought that i was crazy but i can t help it and i dont know if i want to help it.

do you really think its got something to do with dyscalculia?

btw, shotgunopera, i love that picture of George!

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Exactly why I started a fiction writing blog. It was either that, or have my head explode.

Yeah, I do think it has to do with the dyscalculia. Everything I've read suggests high levels of creativity and "daydreaming" might even actually be one of the symptoms. If I understand it right, excessive daydreaming is a trait of people with ADHD who do NOT have the hyperactivity trait. As noisy as it is inside my head all the time, coupled with the fact that I can phycially sit still for long periods of time (nobody knew I was bouncing off the walls in school...but I was. I was bouncing off the inside of my own skull. Even though I was perfectly behaved.), I can sure believe it. That makes perfect sense to me.


If ADHD accompanies Dyscalculia a of time, and judging for what you all are saying, it seems to, then it all falls into place.

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Dyscalculics are typically strong Verbal Thinkers, and this just reflects a creative use of their natural strength.

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I do it all the time! Whenever I have a spare moment I daydream a story. Sometimes I have a story that I return to each time and develop it further each time. Its usually me doing something awesome!! I have trouble going to sleep so I daydream everynight and it helps me relax and go to sleep. My husband never daydreams, I think it is part of my creative side and I wouldn't do without it!

I also lose myself in books. When I read I feel like I dont see the words anymore I see it in pictures, as if Im actually there. Again I wouldnt do without it.

Having dyscalculia has made me feel stupid many times but Ive come to see some of the benefits to the way my brain works and celebrate my strengths specially creatively.
xx:)

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I'm very creative and is always imagining different story ideas and stuff. I'm a natural born writer and writes alot of short stories

back in elementary school they thought i had ADD since i used to space out alot..but i was simple in my "happy place' hehe

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I do a fair amount of daydreaming and like to write - when I was in elementary and middle school I wrote story after story. I would also draw animals - horses and dogs. One time in gym I got into trouble because I went and started drawing horses when we were supposed to be running around.
I love to read and before I had dogs read constantly.

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I live in my head pretty much 24/7. I reenact events in my life they way I wish they had happened, and events that never took place but I wish had happened. And I do it outloud in my room alone, so I am all the characters and I speak all their parts. I usually tend to space out whereever I am because I let my imagination get the better of me and kind of take over my mind. I sit all day in school and think of new stories to act out when i get home. I feel as though I'm crazy, I dont really think this would have anything to do with my dyscalculia. Just an overactive imagination.

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Hmmm, but now that I think about it, if pretty much ever person who has replied to this post(and since were all dyscalculic), it could have something to do with it. I wanna look into this.

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In case you'd like a non-dyscalculic person's experiences, I do not do this. I daydream, but not vividly. I don't really make up scripts or put myself in them much. If I did so, it would have been when I was younger, but I still don't believe they were the elaborate daydreams that you all, and my daughter, speak of.

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Monkeyfeathersmom -

That is very interesting. Thank you for posting! I was wondering about if people who are not LD daydream like we dyscalculics seem to...Very interesting.

Maybe a severly overactive imagination (too many imaginary friends!) is a sign of an LD?

Just a thought...

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Some of the researchers really should look into this.

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Yeah, it would be helpful to all dyscalculics to know if what they do is normal for a dyscalculic or if there if its just an overactive imagination or a cycological thing.

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I have written an email to an expert, we'll see if he has the time to answer :)

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Dear Ert -

Thanks! I'd love to hear a reply!

AnimalHugger

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Maybe...I think in my case, daydreaming was an escape? I just know I spent a lot of time in school daydreaming...a lot. I even spend much time now day dreaming, just very vividly thinking about anything other than what is happening at the moment. Long drives are wonderful for that reason. (well, when I know where I am going that is)
The reality in my head is far more pleasant than the reality outside my head.
wait...wasn't this on an episode of "Red Dwarf"?

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Oh wow, I thought I was just a chronic daydreamer... maybe this has some link! Very interesting. All of my mathematically-able friends don't understand how I can wander off into a dream-world in a matter of seconds, they say they don't do it.

I often joke that I have two 'lives' - the real world, and the world inside my head (where I am just so much more sassy, brave and taller, lol). No prize for anyone guessing where I'd rather be!

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I'll throw this in there as a non-dyscalculic. I am ADD, I think, so this may be the ADD portion of what you are all saying. I don't do the daydreams, but I do have tons going on in my head at once. Just constant running of stuff in there. It frustrates my husband because sometimes responding to him is not immediate. His words have to reach the front of the "que" in my mind to be processed and responded to. Hope this helps clarify the ADD part and the Dyscalculic part. :)

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Oh wow! I thought I was really wiered for doing that. I even end up doing the expressions and my blips are moving, so its pretty bad when I slip into a day dream when I'm out and about lol... I'm so glad to here other people do it though! I never considered it to be connected to the dyscalculia but maybe it is? I dont think its geerally over common in other people as my councillor thought it was a little strange when I was younger. so it could be that it's becuase we are more creative... I'm doing an Art ad Design degree so I am pretty creative and not too academic, what with the dyscalculia and all. lol

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Well well well, I never even suspected this wasn't 'usual.' I've been calling it my inner poet for many years as apart from the scripts and scenarios it also describes everything around me in 'flowery' language. For example, if I am out walking the dog on the beach my mind will be, when its not running its films, describing the colour and movement of the sea, the texture of the shells etc. If I see something, a goose go over for example, then I won't just think oh, there's a goose. For me it'll be something along the lines of: "Feathers grey as the stormy clouds it skims my life, unaware of it's ripple in my reflection." and it's not just the lovely stuff either, it does it with washing up, cleaning well anything.
As to ADHD it didn't have a name when I was at school but the report from the school psychologist said i had a 'Butterfly intelligence' Rather a pretty way to put it I always thought.

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Lol, i do tht all the time. I call it talking to myself in my head and sometimes its confusing beacuse i think i sayed somthing but i actuly sayed it in my head :P
like little plans like somtimes i say "yeah im gonna go and clean my room and do my homework" and i can imagine myself doing it in like really fast mode which is really weird :P :S :D

Siri x

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Hi Siri,
Welcome! I read your other post on panic attacks. All that you say reminds me of my daughter. She is so overwhelmed in math class and feels that sense of panic. She also does this fantasy daydreaming, too!

Please go to the introduction section and post about yourself! You'll be noticed there, and I'm sure everyone wants to meet you!

You're among friends, here.

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Oh yes I do. I escape inside my mind all the time and it's never a boring trip.
I make up stories and start conversations with imaginary people.
This, by the way, is not a good idea while shopping. I sometimes forget the other people are not really there and instead of thinking my answers, say them out loud..

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Odd,I don't do the whole "movie script" thing but if I'm stressed,had an argument or something similar, I'll run a dialogue through my head.I say something,they reply and I say something in return and so forth.Not sure it's the same but it sounds close-ish.I assumed that everyone did this,don't they?

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I'll be honest, I've always had a fantastic imagination, i was great fun to play with as a kid as me and my friends literally ended up in another world with me leading the way. Our Mums shouting us for our tea was just enough to break the immersion.

I do it all the time, i run conversations in my head. I see someone giving an interview on the TV and i imagine me giving the interview, i give them my answers. I run scenarios all the time, from possible real life ones to just plain ludicrous ones.

I too come up with movies and stories in my head all the time. I think i could have wrote a good book if i had the organisation skills to structure the story and not just loose my way (I've tried it).

i think it all goes hand in hand, imagination, vision etc. and daydreams and fantasy is part of that too.

I have an eye for a good picture too, I'm probably totally missing my vocation now that i come to think of it!

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I have my own little world inside my head.
I am me, the people around me talk in full scripts, and I would assume I spend about two hours each day in my own head going on like a mad man :P.
I have never heard about anyone doing this, so that there are other people out there like me, is a great relief.
I have actually on a couple accations believed that i was going insane:o. When I do it, I can like start saying my "lines" out loud or getting facial expressions that suits my story. A lot of people have noticed this and asked me about it, I of course just say that I "spaced out" to not sound like a mainiac. Since so many people on here have said they do that, it kinda hs to be a sign of dyscalculia.
Or a REALLY BIG coincidence... Which I can`t really say I think it is :P. But when it comes to these fantasies, what do you guys fantasies about?, *blushes*.
I have my own ideal look at the future for example.

Sorry if my english is bad... I`m very norwegian^^.
:)

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omg!
i day dream alot!
i sometimes talk out loud to my rabbits and tell them what happened in school... which turns out in to a dragon sitting on my scholder and killing the teacher. which i act out.
the rabbits stare at me....:P
i also make faces :| :);)B) lol
it seems to be linked...
can people post if they had an imagionary friend? human or not?
i would like to see if it is common as well. saying we daydream.
thanks, elena
;)

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Yes, completely and I treasure it! Some things are just plain weird, others seem like they could could have real depth and background, so they all go in a notebook with cherries on. :D Along with it comes talking out loud, which I've been caught doing at times :P people just really give me a queer look and wonder off.

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I have been reading many of the posts in here and I can totally relate. And, I am glad that i am not alone! I have always created huge, elaborate, ongoing stories in my head for years. I often use this to my advantage to deal with boredom (like being stuck on a plan for hours) or even to help me fall asleep at night.

Whenever I can't fall asleep, I often will add a new chapter onto one of my stories, and I will often fall asleep before the end. I guess it is really comforting me to escape the real world and immerse myself into one of my imaginary worlds.

I also have epic dreams that are like movies and when I wake up I can remember many details. I even surprise myself by the strangeness of them. I started keeping a dream journal recently to try and write some of the dream down so I don't forget them.

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I daydream ALL the time...

The main songwriter for my favorite band admits to doing the same thing, he refers to himself as an 'escapist' which i fully agree with. Makes me wonder if he's a dyscalculic, too...

I've taken to writing down my main day dream in the form of a Nightwish fan-fiction that's well over 130 pages in WordProcessor.

If anyone is interested, just ask and i shall post a link(it's an alternate-reality type of thing, based on something someone had heard...)

Wow, i thought I was the only one, I had just thought that the daydreaming was a fact of life and had noting to do with my math-issues/.

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Oh my god! You guys do it too? :O Ohohoh, i`m so pleased it wasn`t just me XD

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Yep, I do this all the time. My teachers called it "daydreaming". I even got paddled for it in 1st grade, when corporal punishment was cool.

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Goodness this is a long thread, yet again I must confess I did not read every post, there's just too many at 3.57 am when I actually sat down to write.

Gotta say I don't know where to start on a response here... as much I feel niggled into doing so. The writer in me wants to let you all know that I know for a fact that huge amounts of other writers out there do this too.
The writers board I used to visit many yrs ago had a similar thread which also seemed miles long with members exclaiming their relief at not being the only ones.
The Dyscalculic in me feels like so many of you have said that it must be related. Otherwise it is as somebody pointed out quite the coincidence.
On the other hand the psychology buff in me wants to point out that this ability is known to be common among people who: didn't have things too great as a kid.
No offence to any here who are parents of a child with dyscalculia - the mere fact that you come here says a great deal about your caring and conscious parenting styles; also my own daughter shows very strong signs of developing this creative habit. - Still it is a fact that most who do this can put several fingers on parts of their childhoods that in adulthood they realize they felt a distinct need to escape.
Personally I have a list longer than both my arms put together; lets just leave it at I did not have good parents. As for my daughter, well there was the somewhat messy divorce between me and her father, bringing with it strong evidence that she was far from the most important thing in his life and followed a great big move to the states.

No matter who we are or what society tries to portray, childhood is not and never has been a fairy tale. It naturally comes with trauma, imagine having as little say and control over your life now as you did then. I don't know about anyone else but for me that would be a nightmare.
Those of us that can create these fabulous other worlds, whether they be filled with danger and thrills or a retreat where the rich scenery is the epitome of peaceful, what we truly have in common, is that we are blessed.
Yes many of us learn to use it later in life. We express ourselves in various forms of art - I write novels based completely on my own daydreams - that which those who lack this ability can only see to do for money we do because we enjoy the journey and if we can turn that into cash it's a bonus.
As a child my family called me 'dilly daydreams' and my teachers were concerned enough at times to take me aside and question me about the daydreaming and my multitudes of imaginary friends. And yes there have been times when I've thought I was going insane and for the sake of others in my life at the time I have vowed never to retreat into my own mind again.

These days I know better than to worry or bend to the will of others. I've also become aware that without the retreat my clinical depression and my insomnia... increase by leaps and bounds.

So I say why shouldn't we embrace it? As long as we can tell where reality ends and our daydreams begin why shouldn't we love every detail our vast imaginations can conjure up?

if it does go hand in hand with dyscalculia then I feel all the more blessed and you should too.
After all where would our species be without creativity? It's so much more than pretty words and pictures... I mean come on, do we really think the person who came up with the wheel sat there measuring it's circumference and diameter inch by inch to be sure it would work? No way... if they'd done so they may well have given up on the idea for fear it just couldn't work as they hoped. They imagined then they created and every human that's lived ever since owes them a great debt for keeping it simple.

Never be ashamed to dream people, our world is lost without us. Dream and dream and dream some more...


Lace

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Um. Wow. I just. Okay let me get my words here.
I am a little more than flabbergasted that writers would have a discussion like that and be shocked. You can't write without a rich inner world. It's not possible. That's half of writing.

Although it might not be clear, when people imagine these little movies or get lost in conversations in their head it's just imagination. It's hard to be an artist, writer, director, musician, or actor without it.

For that matter it's hard to be a programmer or engineer without it. Being able to generate solutions to a problem with thought is called creative problem solving, and it's the same technique whether plotting out symbols or plotting out a book or movie.

People think creativity means crafting something but that's not exactly correct. That's creating, but not creativity. One needs the ability to create something to express their creative ideas, but a person without creativity can create a thing. You can, for example, be a master violinist and not be creative in the least.

Creativity relies on imagination. It's the ability to make connections in your head. It's creating something new or altering something simply through cognitive process. I.E., imagining a story, practicing a possible conversation, or acting out a movie in your head.

People have different definitions for imagination, too, since the precise definition somewhat depends on the situation. You might be good at imagining stories and creating story worlds, but bad at imagining the best way for you yourself to approach a person you like.

As far as how it relates to a specific deficit, disability, or learning preference, it doesn't exactly. Not directly anyway. It more relates to personality than something like ADD, although personality is a mixture of how your brain is genetically wired and how your experiences have rewired the brain; Things that can be *impacted* by, say, ADD or dyscalculia in different amounts. Everyone has imagination, only expressed in different ways and in different amounts unique to their makeup. We all think through a dominant hemisphere. Being "right brained," however, doesn't necessarily mean you'll be a great artist.

It is also true that if your brain has been damaged or, for some reason, shifts around wiring to depend on one lobe or hemisphere more than another, in certain situations, your thinking must necessarily follow different "paths" than normal. These paths might take you into an area where more of your actions will be more left or right brained, to use an easy and quick example, than others.

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I roleplay too, and I do that!

But I daydream a lot. Vividly. Also, when someone upsets me, or I get into a fight, I do nothing when it happens. It is like I freeze up. Then, later on, I imagine what I would have said, or done, and my mouth moves as I go over what I would have said. My mouth moves a lot when I imagine things.

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Here's to "day dreaming" and "story boarding". I'm new to the site (though i used to troll through prior to officially joining) and i agree that it's both a sign of creativity as well as a form of escapism.

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Welcome nyx :)

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I can see the people I dream of. I take charecters (and places!) from any movie\book\anything, and I can 'see' them. Think a blue Star Wars hologram. I'll act out whole scripts with them, and I can't go more than half a day without them.

Correction--I can actually go without. If I'm REALLY screwed up (i.e. bad bout with depression), they either get mean or desert me. I hate that! I STILL have trouble getting them to be nice to me on bad days!

But I can come up with the most fantastic stories with them, so in the end it's all good. And I can even put myself in the universe they came from! My favorite at the moment is Star Wars, but I like Power Rangers, too. (What can I say? They blow up and have hot actors. ;p) Who else has favorite scenes\charecters?

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All the time; I'm an author! B)

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Still it is a fact that most who do this can put several fingers on parts of their childhoods that in adulthood they realize they felt a distinct need to escape.

Too right! like maybe... MOST OF IT! I was the shy, overweight bookworm that got picked on ALL the way through school. Making up mental scenarios (either my own or offshoots of whatever book I was reading) was pure escapism.

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I do this all the time, I thought I was the only one. I'm so relieved that this is not the case:D.

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hello bubble!
ALL. THE. TIME! and all my friends think im crazy becos i was aparently soposed to "out grow" my imaginary friends a LONG time ago.... but no. there still hear talking with me. and i talk to them to! and when i sit in a room by myself and act out a fantasy or something, they help! its fun :D i dont know if its related to dyscalculia.... mine is probably from my dyslexia and EXTREAMLY active imagination.
~teeco :)

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i do the same thing except sometimes i'll do it with books too!
i'll act out what happened in the book B)

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Hey... I've only just joined this forum and I can't explain the comfort I have got from reading this thread.

I'm currently in my final year at university studying English language and I.T. I have had huge difficulties with maths for as long as I can remember. I struggle with many aspects including; giving correct change, telling the time on analogue clocks, dates of birth (regarding working out a person’s age) and mental arithmetic. Last semester we did a module on computer programming which I found extremely difficult which I feared could have been related to my difficulties regarding math.

There are many more aspects that I struggle with that affect my everyday life though I have never been diagnosed with Dyscalculia simply because I had never heard of it until an interesting programme on BBC Radio 4.

I have always had the 'play-board' sort of scenario since childhood and mainly do this when I'm on my own. I seem to zone out from my ordinary mindset and lose track of time thinking about a certain issue and then suddenly find I am talking it out loud without even realising. It always seems to relate to something that is on my mind at the time and usually involves me discussing things out loud and playing scenarios out. Most of the time I don't even know if I take in what I am actually saying.

It was so interesting to read this thread. I would be interested to know how and where I can be professionally tested for Dyscalculia?

I just want people to recognise that it's not that I am stupid; it's that it is a condition I have no control over.

Josie :)

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hey there, Josie!

check out British Dyscalculia Assocation section on this forum, an idea admin. and others have had to start to provide more support for folks from there; also check out any threads relating to getting diagnosed. Am in U.S. so don't have much info. for you there but I do know that one an get tested at any age, either through an independent testing service or with help of school/university system. I was tested and diagnosed at about 19, in my second year of college <university>, after continually failing remedial college math. Division of Vocational Rehab, which assists w/funds for college, job prep./placement for people with disabilities, paid for it and I went through Disabled Student Services Office at my university.

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11/17/09
Dear josephine,
I was tested by an Educational Psychologist with a Ph D. I'm in the DFW area of TX. If you are near me, I'd love for you to be tested by my doctor. He does a great job on everybody I've met who he has tested.

I'm guessing that you are in the US. I have to leave now for my college classes, but please do tell us at least what state you are in. We'll help you however we can. - jus'

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omg I'm reading everyones reply, and I feel just like every single one of you, haha i remember daydreaming since i was 5. I probably daydream every single day!!!!!!!! This has to be one of the symptoms lol, I cannot be alone before i start, haha I used to daydream when i walked home, or now in my car lol, or before i go to sleep I can't sleep bc I'm to busy dreaming awake!! haha i can't believe there's others like me, I thought I was just weird.

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Well I'm glad I'm not alone...Thanks that really helps. I just joined so pardon all the newbieness. I thought I was a bit of a freak. Now I think I'm in good company.;)

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11/21/09
Dear ragdoll,
If you'd like, go ahead and start your own Thread in the Introductions section. There everyone can find you so that each one can greet you. If you don't mind, tell us your general location. This is an international forum, so we can't tell for sure if you are in the U.S., the U.K., or visiting China for that matter. - jus'

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I do that all the time! I don't know if it is connected to dyscalculia (I haven't even been diagnosed yet..) but I do daydream all the time about different things.
I dont think its unusal for people to imagine scenarios in their minds. I know my friends and I do that just for laughs, and I am fairly certain the majority of them do not have learning disablilities. :)

No fear! You are not alone! ;)

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Me too! I often get lost in daydreaming, especially when I'm doing mundane things, like getting ready for bed. I'll be standing there, washing my face, and I'll realize that I have no idea if I've brushed my teeth or not, so I have to check my toothbrush to see if it's wet.:D

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Everyone does this:-) It's called day dreaming.

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I do that literally constantly, I can't function otherwise.

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I know exactly what your talking about.. *sigh* i'm around family now. ;)

and it is sooo NOT!! DAYDREAMING! I could truly live in my own thoughts... In my own created realities. They're like mini movies that come to life in your head... and you can wacth them or participate in them. ;)
this is not day dreaming.. you have to be bale to do it, to understand.. and i'm so thankful someone made a thread for this.. i tried to stop doing it because i thought it was just daydreaming.. but i seriously have problems functioning without spending a few nights of the week living in my head..

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Whenever I listen to music, I can see like random crazy characters singing the songs of what im listening to.

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Hey all! *Brand New* I just signed up and am happy to be here. I laughed so hard when read this post. It's mostly b/c it's vividly familiar. I do this ALL the time. Often, my brain is heavy with traffic and I feel like I'm going to pop if I don't release my thoughts so, frequently I end up talking to myself aloud and is followed by a colorful arrangement of facial expressions and gestures when I'm alone. I've done this all my life and still do it now at the ripe old age of 25. lol Some times it's fantasy, but often it's things I've experienced and are bothering me. I use to feel crazy and even strange, but after reading this, I feel just fine. I feel like I belong to a secret club of kindred spirits. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. *Hugs self*

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Hi CrimsonStar and welcome to the forum.

Haha. Omg yes I talk to myself too with facial expressions and gestures. Haha. Its rather funny when I am in the middle of talking to myself and someone just looks at me like a freak. xD

There were also times I were "acting" scene's and events, spontaneously when I overly think of it. Happy and sad one that I am really emotionally attached too. For example there was a day when I was home alone, I started acting like I was answering a call from my handphone, and having a conversation with my bestfriend. It was my 2 minutes of pure happiness haha!

Awwww... warm and fuzzy inside :)

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I think what really happens is we have those moments in life where either our brain is too busy with information or something happens that catches us off gaurd. In those moments, we aren't prepared to say what we want or it isn't the proper time. Later on, when we think about those cirrcumstances, they begin to bother us, the thoughts and feelings begin bubble over and we act out the way to wanted to when the moment first arrived. Hope that makes sense or is it just me?

There have been times when I zone completely out while driving, I mean completely! I will be completely unware of anything and everything that's going around me. Interestlingly, I will function perfectly behind the wheel. From the moment I zone out until I'm almost at my destination or somestimes immediately after I pull into the designated parking spot, I'll snap out of it. However, I won't remember anything that happened in between. It's almost as if and my subconscious brain gets control and takes the wheel while my conscious brain takes a vacation and has a nap in the backseat. lol

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Every single song I hear has its own little music video in my head. A friend once jokingly told me I had schizoid personality disorder and I couldn't help but agree (haven't been tested though).

Does anyone else watch the tv show " Scrubs"? I think its a pretty good example of daydreaming. I'm pretty much an obsessed maniac when it comes to how much I love J.D.'s daydreams.

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I practically live that way! I cannot go to sleep unless I let my mind wander and create its own little fantasy. I burst into laughter (or express other emotions) all of the time because of what is going on in my head. My husband has finally learned to cease looking at me like I am crazy. Hehe.

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::insert standard cliché opening remarks, "hi I'm new here," etc.etc.::

I think it's a part of human nature to daydream and fantasize; however, there does seem to be something about how the "dyscalculaic" mind works that produces unusually vivid scenarios. Now, perhaps everyone is responding to this going, "OMG, I do play-by-play stuff in my head all the time!" "Hey, me too!" and thinking it means something because people with dyscalculia have kind of congregated here, and maybe it doesn't, although it would be a really fascinating study to make.

I didn't have time to read every post in here, I skimmed a lot of them, and there does seem to be a difference between doing the "movies in my mind" and just regular daydreaming. Now, just about as long as I can remember, I have done two things--burst into tears at the sight of numbers, and thought about myself in the third person. I narrate like crazy in my head--"She sat at her computer, typing busily, her coffee getting cold, aware of the fact that she needed to finish the next section before her boss got back, but unable to help herself." I've never thought this was normal or something anyone else did, and while I also can visualize my daydreams so vividly, they're nearly real, and I enact conversations with people before I have them, I've never connected it to my inability to function with numbers. As for the fictional characters running rampant in my brain, I blame those on the fact that I've wanted to be a novelist since I was 12. Maybe creative types do this kind of thing and my self-narration isn't as goofy as I think. And maybe there is some kind of, I don't want to call it a "disconnect," but some kind of different wavelength mathematically-challenged people have that makes fantasy so much more vivid. Connection or no connection, it's a fascinating thesis I wish someone would do more on :)

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I don't think it is anything to do with the dyscalculia. I think it is simply day dreaming I do it all the time and i think everyone does so you are not alone.

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Hehe , This sounds just like me . .. Daydreaming(or whatever term appropriate ) has been with me as long as i can remember . I don't need to describe it . It's exactly as ert said above - word by word ;-) But this is a serious problem as i see it coz it just place us in a fantasyland and prevents us from accepting the realities . Very baaad , I've to get out of it ..

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I do that so much I think it's getting in the way of my social life. And I get so into it too! It's awful when you come back and remember that it's not real...:(
By the way, does anyone else sometimes feel like, when they have their hands on a table, that the table and your wholo body, is slowly lifting sideways into the air and sliding down, only to jerk back to reality like hitting the ground and feeling like you had just been falling. And the weirder thing is, you hadn't moved or fallen asleep. I think I'm the only one with this.

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I'm blown away that one small first beginning of thread from Bubble gave rise to 10 pages of fascinating stuff. I don't do it much now but as a child I had an extremely active fantasy life, was an only child and didn't have much company much of the time so I found fantasies a refuge from the pains of life, and because I had such a heightened ability to create my own worlds... based usually on Walt Disney characters, and later on with characters on radio serials (had no TV as a kid) that even now 50 years later I can remember things that my characters did far more than I can remember real things that happened to me. I noticed in the Wikipedia entry on dyscalculia the last symptom mentioned was this:" Low latent inhibition i.e., over-sensitivity to noise, smell, light and the inability to tune out, filtering unwanted information or impressions. Might have a well-developed sense of imagination due to this (possibly as cognitive compensation to mathematical-numeric deficits)."

This low latent inhibition meant that I'd be terrified of " frights" from loud noises coming from unexpected places.BOO. if any other person threateningly blew up a balloon close to my ear I'd get all paralysed with fear at the noise it would make.. and I was always really relieved if the balloon didn't burst. "Over-sensitity to noise..."

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I have scenarios or movies. Like what if neanderthals were living today or what if Captain America met Bush(SLAPPP)? Just crazy stuff like that or i replay things i really enjoy like an episode of True Blood or Being Human

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I do the same thing.

I saw an old episode of Doctor Who (a Brittish sci-fi show) where a bunch of aliens are rounding up the most intelligent humans, and abosorbing thier brains. The aliens planned on using thier new knowledge to take over the world. So, I startd thinking, my I.Q. is above average- the aliens might take me. I imagined heroicaly offering myself to the aliens, and once they had absorbed my brain, The Doctor could defeat them with ... long division! Mwa ha ha ha ha!

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know this thread is rather old but... I believe this is a common thing for those with dyslexia, ADD, ADHD, dyscalculia etc...
All of these so called disorders seem to be related to each other in one big dysfunctional family. For me it is just a different way to role play, work out emotions, express desires,or over come fear. The really spooky thing is that it seems so real when I do it. I must remind myself, on occasion, it is only in my head and not in the physical. In other words keep it in a healthy perspective. Personally I think it is a gift.

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Hi Matt, it looks like this is your first post- welcome!
I agree with you about vivid daydreams being a gift; I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't daydream- though it is hard to keep things in perspective sometimes.

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Yeah I do it all the time, that's probably one reason why I'm happier when I day dream!
Anything can be true in an imaginary world

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I wanna meet Sookie Stackhouse

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Just read through this thread - WOW! I have done this my entire life, too. I am always pretending I'm either a celebrity (actress, or singer) or that I know a celebrity...and I make up conversations in my head, and sort of 'act it out' mine and usually 'his' answers. I won't say who I make up convos with, though, it's so embarrassing. :P

I also like to take a song that I love and pretend that I'm the famous singer who is singing it, and I imagine my music videos.

I can't believe I've admitted this. :P :P :P I thought I was the only one who literally acted out these dreams in my head (and sometimes semi-out-loud, when I'm alone of course!).

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I'm all the time having some fantasy going on in my head. It would be interesting to know if it is in fact related to dyscalculia, but I have always had a "vivid" imagination. Of course, in my fantasies, I'm always the cool one, the heroine, the one that everyone adores... yeah, then you have to go deal with the real world where the athletes are always the cool ones that everyone adores! lol

I also have a rather morbid sense of humor, and I think that some times plays out in my fantasies. It's very strange.

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WOW!!! I thought i was the only one that did that! I do it ALL the time! I act out little stories and stuff. Kind of like a way to escape the troubles of my own life and pretend to be someone else i guess :P

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as a young child and early teen I wrote lots of stories, katee
one of the previous posters on here was someone I think around your age and writes stories...while she is no longer here, once in a great while I think she checks in though so maybe someday you will catch up with her:)

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I'll keep a look out :) I write stories and poems all the timee. I actually got one of them published in a book :D

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I do it too, but I always thought it had more to do with the fact I'm an actress though XD

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Dosen't everybody do this?

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Everybody daydreams, but from the looks of this thread, people with dyscalculia seem to do more than that. It's not daydreaming, it's complete worlds, complete stories, made up people... I don't know how to explain. Read through the vast thread :)

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:oWow!This is B)!

I was beginning to think that I was delusional. :P I day dream all the time,well,except when I'm not, which isn't saying much.:D
I live out scenarios in my head....I zone out and get lost in my thoughts....I have emotional reactions...I make faces ....I talk to myself....in response to what I'm thinking about....It's all very vivid...sometimes I don't even know I'm doing it until I realize that I'm doing it...I hope that I said that right.

I think it might have something to do with Dyscalculia....

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It's kind of ironic.:P I just realized that "one" of the symptoms of Dyscalculia is .....

http://www.medind...mptoms.htm

May be unable to comprehend mechanical processes; Victim may be unable to visualize the larger picture. Portrays deficiency in visualization- may be unable to visualize the location of the numbers on the face of a clock, the geographical locations of states, countries, oceans, and streets. Poor memory for the layout of things with a tendency to get lost or disoriented easily; may have a poor sense of direction, lose things often, and seem absent minded.

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I also just found this about Dyslexia...kind of interesting...

Running daydreams: A process of always rapidly creating in your mind, so you never hear what others really say, or you forget what they say. Therefore, you can't hear or see things around you accurately.


Disorientation: The imagination starts running when something "triggers" you. You become spacey; you "drift" and make mistakes. It can be seen in your eyes and felt inside. Triggers can be written or spoken words, movement, confusion, sounds, people, exhaustion, sensitivities, emotions, hunger, fear, etc. Thus, dyslexia affects your life and the lives of those around you.

http://www.dyslex...erence.htm

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joy, that is very interesting....I have great difficulty with spatial orientation, which causes issues in martial arts, which I enjoy. Even if I see a movement, I often have great difficulty copying it - and I'm VERY much a visual learner. I tend to think in pictures and if you were to tell me that movement in an attempt for me to learn it, I'd be like huh?
My husband, who I think could have non-verbal LD or Asberger's, is VERY technical, VERY detail-oriented, logical and a gifted thinker in terms of that - BUT has no sense of spatial orientation or direction at ALL and gets lost in places he's been in already, all the time - turning the wrong way to get home, losing the exit etc.

-though, I don't agree with the wording "victim"

:)

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:P

It's kind of odd huh?
:) I thought that with all these people,including me,with such a rich imagination and ability to think in pictures and/or the ability to visualize, that there might be a connection to dyslexia that "they're" scientifically missing....even the people with discalculia seem to have a knack for words.

I dream in color and surround sound:) and I guess that's a trait of visual learners.

Do you do that....dream in color?
I hope that's not too much a personal question.

I have trouble learning aerobics steps in classes and group situations like that,even though I'm a visual/kinesthetic learner. . I can definitely understand.:)
Martial arts classes would be fun. B)

I have trouble with spatial orientation as well. I get lost easily and I have no sense of direction. Don't ask me to read and/or remember street signs. :P I have a friend who's dyslexic and he was teasing me because I didn't know what the name of the street I was on,but I could tell him the land marks. He said "I can't even read what the names of the street signs are!" :P

Though my difficulties doen't seem as bad as it used to be.

Your husband sounds like he's got some B) strengths. So, he's left brained and your right brained perhaps and maybe you two balance one another out? :)

My 15 year old step son has high functioning Autism and he's a very linear thinker,but he loves to play with lego's:) and is pretty good on a computer.

He also tends to have an extremely vivid personal fantasy world,but he doesn't try to hide it. He'll be sitting there watching t.v and you would be able to watch him mentally acting out whatever situation he's imagining in his head especially since he talks to himself.:) He also used to jump in front of the t.v and act out the movie scenes because he would get so excited by the movie.

Anyway, I'm rambling.... *blush in embarassment*

I found some information on Spatial intelligence and Visual intelligence. I'll post the full information on here too.

I hope I'm not being a ....what's that called?....thread hyjacker? Or something like that.

Should I open this subject in another area I wonder?


http://www.wisege...igence.htm

http://homeworkti...gstyle.htm

I apologize of this all fragmented. My brain isn't quite working correctly today.

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Visual Learner Characteristics

Visual learners are those who learn through seeing things. Look over the characteristics below to see if they sound familiar. A visual learner:
Is good at spelling but forgets names.

Needs quiet study time.

Has to think awhile before understanding lecture.

Is good at spelling.

Likes colors & fashion.

Dreams in color.

Understands/likes charts.

Is good with sign language.
Learning Suggestions for Visual Learners

Draw a map of events in history or draw scientific process.

Make outlines of everything!

Copy what's on the board.

Ask the teacher to diagram.

Diagram sentences!

Take notes, make lists.

Watch videos.

Color code words, research notes.

Outline reading.

Use flashcards.

Use highlighters, circle words, underline.
Best Test Type for Visual Learners:

Diagramming, reading maps, essays (if you've studied using an outline), showing a process

Worst test type:

Listen and respond tests

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Spatial intelligence is the ability to comprehend three-dimensional images and shapes. It involves interpreting dimensions of space that cannot be seen. Visual spatial intelligence activities include putting together a puzzle or sculpture. This type of intelligence stems from the right side of the brain, and injuries or strokes to this part of the brain may diminish its ability to identify where a person is. Although they can still see the person because vision is usually not impeded, the person's location in space is blurred because of the brain’s blockage of spatial intelligence.

Visual-spatial intelligence is typically studied together with sight, although the determination of spatial ability and visual acuity are very different. For example, a blind person can still identify a shape, despite an inability to see it. Although there is a connection between visual and spatial intelligence, each is an independent component of a person’s intellect.

Spatial intelligences rely largely on people’s abilities to picture the shapes and spaces of objects in their minds; it is the ability to retain the form of something in the mind’s eye. This type of thinking allows somebody to know where he or she is in space and to picture the world. It also comes in handy for navigation, as sailors with compasses must use spatial intelligence to navigate the seas by following the stars and sun.

A person who has an easy time picturing the world from an observer’s viewpoint—who perhaps even does it often without thinking—will have higher spatial intelligence than someone who finds it difficult to think about life this way. The highest visual spatial intelligences result from unique abilities to take up different positions in the mind’s eye, such as a fly on the wall or a person standing behind a curtain. Those who have high spatial intelligences usually do best in arts or science fields. Artists, architects, physicists, navigators, chess players, designers and filmmakers are some careers that those with high spatial intelligences are often drawn to and excel at.

Spatial IntelligenceSpatial Visual IntelligenceGardner IntelligenceSpatial AbilitySpatial AwarenessLinguistic IntelligenceHoward Gardner Intelligence
Those who have high spatial intelligences are likely to enjoy art, navigate and read maps well, imagine things very vividly, use metaphors, talk fast and look at the big picture. These people are often referred to as visual learners, and they often possess photographic memories, retaining images more easily than words. They think in pictures and prefer to have video accompaniment to any verbal instruction. A spatial intelligence test can be taken to determine individual strength in this area. Multiple activities can be performed to strengthen this type of intelligence, including mind-mapping, visualization scenarios, creating and watching videos, using computer graphics, posters, flash cards and symbols, doodling, making diagrams and maps, taking photographs, estimating distances and visualizing structures.

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hi joy - wow, very intriguing :)
yup, I can dream in color; am also a lucid dreamer and have been known to dream in different languages.

I've lived here for 12 years and have no idea of the names of most of the side streets of how to to get to house. I use landmarks and pictures and if someone needs directions they have to talk to my husband, who can talk about "feet" and compass directions easily.

That is good observation about how hubby and I balance each other. We do that in interaction all the time. If we have workers at the house for something, the scheduling is arranged by me, including working around the three dogs - but discussion about figures/estimates/directions is something he takes care of.
If we're together ordering in a restaurant and I ask what size a portion is and am told a number, he shows me. Both of us have hearing loss - he is deaf without HA's<hearing aids - Congenital Rubella Syndrome> and I'm new hard of hearing <sign some> so whoever hears something better tells the other one.

Your step-son seems like a neat person and his description reminds me of my husband:) Hubby is a computer programmer/security/network admin.

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Hubby also does very well with mechanics of things, putting stuff together, engineering, diagrams. I'm horrible at that.
I do well with languages, social sciences, intuition, visual arts, note-taking < much of my passing or "decent" grades in any of the math classes I've managed in was not because I understood anything, but because much of the grade was based on notes and attendance, and I do well there- I can write quickly and take notes that look great but it all means nothing to me>.

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Hi RottieWoman:)

That's really B)

I can't even lucid dream and you dream in different languages to boot...that's truly amazing and unique....unique is good.

Oh,this is kind of funny, I've sang in my sleep a few times:P

I know this is a completely different topic, but you must be psychic too then huh?

That is really nice of you to say. Thank you for telling me that. I don't feel nearly so alone....Knowing that you have the same difficulty with street signs and you use landmarks and pictures too. :)

I'm the same way. My husband has to give people directions too.:)

He also is really good with measurements,feet etc.but he's more balanced mentally, I think, though he hates computers. :P

Thank you again.:) I've met people before who seem to play off one another well, one left one right, so they could meet in the middle. Too me, it seems like a romantic concept.
That's really cool....The way that you two interact with one another....it sounds really, for a lack of a better word, healthy. :)

I feel bad for you both though...with your being hoh and all.
I'm glad that you can help one another with it.


That may be what he becomes one day....he's got the kind of mind for computers.

I hope he does something like that.....

What your hubby does sounds like it would both fun and complex.
That's what my hubby wants to do...auronatical engineering....he's in college for it at the moment.
So that's both interesting and cool. B)

I'm ok as far as taking things apart and putting them back together....when I have the courage....as long as I don't have to perform alot of math, of course, and I'm allowed to play it by ear. but like yourself, I wouldn't be good at engineering and possibly diagrams.

You're really lucky:) I'm terrible with learning languages...I've always wanted to learn....I don't know why....I'm ok with american words....but like yourself I'm good at social sciences, visual arts(going to college for Graphic Design/Art) and I'm fairly intuitive.
I'm not very quick with note taking...for some reason I can't write as quickly as some..... but I don't know short hand either

That's very interesting, we have quite a few things that sinc up. :)

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hi joy!

ahhhh, don't feel bad for me!:) Being hard of hearing is not an illness or a problem. Being hard of hearing - though mild - gives me a different perspective and more ability to access a culture which is Deafness. Deafness is not a disability.

yup, seems like we do share many similarities. The commonalities of visual arts, social sciences, our husbands who assist us....I went to arts specialty high school. It required an audition -in one's art area - to get in. I went for visual art. I've always loved to draw animals and when I was a child, I'd sit for hours and draws horses and dogs, and landscapes. I got in trouble in gym class in middle or high school for drawing horses and refusing to participate in volleyball, which - like most team sports - I was terrible at because I didn't understand the rules, sequence, orientation, was clumsy and always scared because I was bullied.
So I went to arts high school to stay alive. Most of the students went there because they were extremely talented and serious about art, or music, or dance, or theater and they wanted to show in galleries, dance on Broadway, etc. A toned-down version of the 80's show "Fame", if you are familiar.

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areo. engineering - looks like something cool, especially for my husband, who flies RC <radio control>and generally loves to fly full-scale; he's had a chance to "fly" a helicopter through his RC club. Hubby will tell you he probably shoulda been in engineering for college major, but he didn't know about the difference between computer science - which is more technical - and computer info. systems , which is more the admin/.sales side - less "hands-on", building, though also technical. The two were different majors at the university we attended. He went to tech school prior for a couple of years and tested out of most of the courses there.

You seem like very a open-minded and compassionate person and your step-son is lucky to have that in you, as available to him:)

I don't tend to dream in different languages, in color and lucidly all at the same time though-

Thank YOU for all your kindness in your response:)

as far as being psychic, I tend to be; my aunt, my mom and my dad are all that way in varying degrees. But it's not the kind of "obvious" or "full-on" ideal or fantasy you may see in a science fiction program. It's more subtle.
My dad has a story he tells about how before I was born - before they even knew I was coming <they had been told it wasn't possible and they were in their late 30's when they stopped really trying; I was born very prematurely and was in NICU for a few months> - as I was writing, before they even knew I was coming, my dad had a vision of a toddler, a little girl, wearing a red dress which I later had, walking toward him, saying "hi daddy".
My aunt has seen ghosts, she can also see auras.

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I do this all the time...I kind of thought I was a little crazy...but at least its not only me!!:D

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I Lucid dream sometimes, an amazing experience once you do it you can start to control the turnout of a particular dream.:)

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Pretty much everybody in my family has seen ghosts, my great grandfather lived with the ghost of his younger sister that died when she was a child. My nan tells stories about how the girl ghost would roam around the house like a normal child and how they would feed her sugar sometimes :P of course it was only my great grandfather who could see her, so sometimes he would scorn my nan and her sisters for stepping on her toes :P

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It really is quite interesting to see that so many people on this site are really creative!
I'm a writer myself, hoping to get my first book released sometime in the fall. If dyscalculia cut off my practical side, I'm quite thankful because it enabled my creative side to flourish :D

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As of late, I've been dreaming in multiple senses: touch, audio, visual, and smell. It's been kind of interesting, though sometimes, rather annoying, because I react in my dreams and wake up in a bad position, and after being in a neck brace as the result of a car accident last year, I've been rather sore. The dreams are usually pretty pleasant, but I do wish I didn't have the touch part, as I think my neck would do better. :/

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A friend told me i should get into writing just because of this ability... I'm going to try and see if i can articulate my imaginings onto paper.

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Yeah, I do that... I never really thought about why though, I assumed it was just me. I act out situations, not just in my head, but physically act them out. Especially if I've had an argument, for example... I'll act out what i SHOULD have said to the person i was arguing with for hours after the argument has finished.

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Ha! That's how I ended up becoming a writer!

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Loving this thread!! Its really interesting.
I thought everyone acts out stuff in their head all the time, i have always done this and am considered "creative". I paint, draw and write. I have always been good at coming up with ideas and was always in demand in drama classes as altho I CANNOT act at all, I can come up with a scenario and develop it every single time Im asked. I have never, so far, run out of ideas. im always picked for interactive forums at work etc as I'll always come up with suggestions or ideas. I never thought anything of this til I read this thread. My ex was seriously into quantum physics and scientific theories and would put them by me to see what I came up with, I never understood any of the science of the theories but I could still run with them.
Now, this next bit might sound weird but Im not fazed by anything odd. I kind of accept everything for what it is. So if I walked by a fruit stall and an orange started to talk to me, I would talk back to it politely. This happened btw, it was a prank, but I just accepted it as normal. Magic doesnt work on me either, im not amazed by levitation, Im simply curious and happy for the magician able to levitate. I have had people describe me as naive and childlike in this sense, but I dont think I am , I think its to do with having a big imagination.

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omg!! Im 11, and I have the exact same thing, somethimes ill be thinking about having a conversation with someone and I end up ither saying the words or mouthing them. People think I am retarded (literally) I also find that when Im reading a book, I read the same line like 4 or 5 times without realising, so I have to read using my finger, at first I thought I had bad eyesight, but it turns out the its a symptom of dyscalculia, oh, and I struggle reading a book, because I have trouble remember the facts like, Theres a girl named jill, and when the book mentions "jill" im like... uh, whos Jill? Its soooo freakin' anoying!!!! And when I am having a conversation, Ill be doing back-story, like giving people the facts, and I could be doing this for ten minuets or so, and once im done giving the back story... I forget the point that I was trying to make... and also... do you ever run out of words to use, like for exsample " a b c d e f g h i j... um... uh... um............ never mind" as if you speak a forein language?????? :o

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Yeah, I have it where I will be dreaming about eating a burger, and I wake up, and i have been knawing on my hands, it never bleeds, because I wake up after ten seconds of doing so. I used to think I was an insomniac, but apparently, its a symptom of dyscalculia :(

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hi Samantha!
thanks for sharing your dream with us. Does it seem scary or anything when you wake up after that?
more HUGS-

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I think its because we cant do things in our head, like when i am doing math... I use my fingers, I act everything out, mental math is the worst for me, so maybe, what im thinking is that we need to stress realese, vent, and we cant do things in our head, so we act them out without realising, cos I do the EXACT same thing ALL the time ARRHH :)

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omgomgomgomg! I do that exact thing! I mouth the words that I am thinking about, and I also to hand movements as if I am having a conversation!! glad I'm not retarded! :)

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Yeah, sometimes. But sometimes I even wake up crying (i had been crying in my sleep) And when im under alot of stress, I tend to wake up in strange places, Like outside on the driveway (sleepwalking) And my mum, when she was 11 (like me) said that she used to run away from her home in her sleep!! Do you do the same?

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Yeah, I agree, I used to hate being the way I am, but now, I cant think of ANYTHING worse than being like everyone else, and also, Dyscalculiacs are way more creative than anyone, because the math part of our brain is so bad, that Our creative side has to make up for it. dyscalculiac, AND PROUD!! :D

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I'm always living in my imagination. Makes it hard to sleep sometimes, and I find myself going back constantly. I was always told I had a very strong imagination. But it will serve me well in my future career! I figure if I cant stop it, use it to my benefit.

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I think imagination can give us courage and resilience.
The trick is finding balance...it can be difficult

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Great thread. I wanted to chime in here not for any particular fantasy as there are too many to get into in one post ;) but to say that I am now thankful for my vivid imagination. I was not always so thrilled with it though... I grew up as an only child waaaay out in the country - no other kids to play with. As a result I think my imagination kind of developed a little more than maybe it should have, and as i grew into a teenager I was seen as just a little "weird". Now the company I work for has also commented on how "weird" my thinking is, but they really like it because it gets them out of a jam every now and again.

So again, fantastic thread!

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Hi Grey,

also - only child here, too.
as a kid and even going into my early teens, I did a lot of imaginative play with stuffed animals, and plastic animal models, and wrote little stories.
"Thinking outside the box" can be great in a job if the employers are open-minded.

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I loved reading these posts! I have done this my whole life! When I lay in bed at night, or when listening to or watching something boring, or when driving, (oops!) Or really at any given time, my mind will just go on this complete other journey. Its always very detailed, like watching a movie or reading a book. Often I take a favorite movie or book and rewrite it in my head with me as the leading lady! Other times I make up something new, and then af that, it becomes a story that I write. :) And, does anybody else do this, I listen to music on my ipod and incorperate it into my fantasy.

Sometimes though my daydreams are so much more interesting than real life I find myself half expecting them to come true, and being disappointed when they don't. Also, I find that my thoughts, whatever they are, never really turn off. I can push them back and go about my day, but its like I have a running commentary all the time...and I only recently discovered thatnot everyone is like that! But I dont mind it. That's where my imagination comes from. I wouldn't trade any of my imagination for all the math skills in the world!

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Hi,

I just saw this thread, read a few posts and was floored. I've done this all my life, as long as I can remember, I've re-run fantasies/daydreams in my head, changing them incrementally from time to time if I didn't like something (but I'm always the main character). I started thinking about this and had a major realization, this is something that I use daily to almost rehearse situations before they happen to me. Like when I'm waiting to go to my bosses office, I may run through about 5 minutes of daydreaming about possible things that may happen and have to kick myself out of the state. I also used to do it before dates, thinking what I would say...that's really sad, but true :)
One thing is for sure, they're just as vivid as watching a movie and I can confirm, I get physical effects once in a while, i.e. I've had daydreams to real that the hair stands up on the back of my neck and I feel the same adrenaline shock as if I won a sports match or been shocked.
I've always had a very very vivid imagination to the point I feel I can run movies in my head. Just one other thing that may be related to this, whether or not it's because I watched certain movies over and over in my childhood, I can in some cases turn off the sound and word for word say the lines from movies (although I stumble in sequence sometimes). I wonder if my connection with movies has something to do with being able to run movies/fantasies in my head with clarity.

Anyway, food for thought, I'm so happy having met all these other people with dyscalculia. A calm has come over me since I've put a name to this and see that there are those out there who don't say "you're just lazy" or "you just didn't concentrate when they were teaching basic math" or "practice makes perfect".

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OMGGGGGG!! I DO TO!! The longest I have been zoned out living out whole other lives in my head has been 2 FULL DAYS! But it happens so often! Weither I want to or not, it always happens when I can't concentrate like in maths espically it happens automatically then and no matter how hard I try I always walk away not remembering anything that transpired in the whole of class cause I was "off with the fairies" as us Aussies say sometimes :) I wonder if it is connected

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OMG YES I INCORPARATE MUSIC INTO MY DREAMS TOO!! If I do it every time I hear music, an epic battle between life and death, a love sick madien ANYTHING!! That's one reason why I love classical music because it gives u so much more freedom of thought than music with lyrics do, and with our creativity it's the best past time I highly recommend u all give classical music a whirl Beethoven is my FAV try moonlight sonata ok guys!

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so glad im not the only one

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I'm starting to think this is a symstom of dyscalculia.
I make up seneraios in my head where i'm having a conversation with someone. in this seneraio, anything can happen. Any little thing can set it off. A lot of the time, this happens in class, particulary my algebra 2 class. Is it a way of escaping the numbers.

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Wow, oh wow!!! I'm so glad I found this forum, and especially this thread. I've just spent the last 12 hours or so looking at stuff (with breaks for meals, copious mugs of coffee and now wine! ;) ) and I'm totally gobsmacked to find a whole community of like-minded (literally) souls to share with. :D

Yes, oh yes. I've lived in my mind all my life. Sometimes it's an amazingly rich multi-coloured story of derring do, with me as the heroine, and at other times, when I'm feeling low or in a negative frame of mind, it's me having conversations with people who need a talking to.

I've also had vivid dreams for as long as I can remember, many of them lucid where I can manipulate the outcome. From the age of three to twentythree I also had nightmares most nights and was afraid to go back to sleep again because I'd just have nightmare after nightmare. But, I also had serial dreams which continued from the night before. Those were great. :D

As a child I had a host of imaginary friends. The ones I recall the most were a horse named Black Austin and an alsation dog called Alexis.

I'm just starting to realise how great it is to be wired differently. Love it and I wouldn't want to be any other way. :)

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Oh.My.Gosh. YESSSSSSSSSSS! I do that all the time! Whether it's a world of my own, or if I create my own character in another world (Harry Potter & Star Trek for example). I live in my imagination constantly because it helps me figure out answers to problems more so then the outside world. That is where I find my motivation to keep pushing forward and sometimes I will bring my characters to life by thinking to myself (baesed on the personlities and characteristics and beliefs I have given to my characters, what would they do in this situation?) All of my characters are a resemblence of me with their own differences and challenges, strengths and weaknesses. I then apply it to real life and it helps me grow as a person. I drift deep into my mind all the time. People say that it's dangerous and that I shouldn't be dreaming ever so often and snap back to reality. However, dreaming allows me to excell in reality because I am seeing in my head me excelling in my dream worlds. So, if that's true, then what's the harm? I also feel like it's a haven, a safe get away, as to block out the outside world and it's destruction. It's also a place to relax or have fun or vent or find comfort when you can't find it elsewhere. I use it during school, during dance, where ever, whenever. I value my imagination very highly. More then anything else I own. It is a special gift that so many take for granted these days.
When I daydream, I am always able to day dream yet still hear what someone else is saying. I love it when I'm daydreaming and yet I still hear and understand what a teacher is saying. My imagination is like a "Holodeck" in my head. I actually wish all the time that Holodecks were real so I could bring it even more to life. However, I do believe it could be part of our dyscalculia, dyslexia, and whatever else. I don't count these things as "disabilities" but as gifts that very few people actually comprehend. A different way of learning, that's all it is. It's like a gift and a curse. In today's society we are encouraged and discouraged all at the same time when it's talked about using your imagination and that is so sad, I believe. But without my imagination, my haven, getaway, etc, I would have never gotten this far in Highschool. However, that's a whole nother story, entirely.

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I was told by my grand mother to stop living in my head all the time and live in the real world. I would day dream in school as a kid. I love science fiction like star trek and I often am looking a books on star ship design and dreaming about the far future. im sure why I have always done this..in art school I wold do digital art about mysterious places like ancient civilizations and their technology.. my teachers loved them I was doing digital art better than most in the school.

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I did a lot of daydreaming too, and drew tons of pictures of horses and dogs - did that to get out of gym and got yelled at and in trouble.
I wrote little stories on index cards too.
Hubby and I are Star Trek fans:)

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Your answer is matchless... :)

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I prefer to be alone & live in my head. Well, with 6 dogs I am never alone!

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hi again michael, I also live with dogs. I'm sorry if I missed this but what kind or type of dogs do you have?