Can multi-tasking be taught?

chaiz

Sun, Mar 27 2016, 11:53 am

amother wrote:

OP here. I just had a thought that perhaps learning to play a musical instrument will help his brain multi-task better. What do you guys think?

Learning to play a musical instrument can be great for many things. But why are you so focused on helping him learn to be able to multi-task? There are no benefits to multi-tasking. All the research I am seeing is about the negatives so why would you push him to do something that has no real benefit and is unnatural to him?

5*Mom

Sun, Mar 27 2016, 12:23 pm

chaiz wrote:

Exactly this.

amother

Aqua

Sun, Mar 27 2016, 12:32 pm

OP here. I'm guessing he has ADD-inattentive.

Why am I set on getting him to multi-task? Simple. At the moment his life is very effected by his inability to multi-task and I am very concerned that it will have a significant negative impact on his ability to be a productive and responsible adult. Being chronically delayed and forgetting what you were doing because you were having a conversation is not very conducive to a successful life.

On the contrary though, if anyone has any better ideas PLEASE share them, I'd love to hear!

I don't believe in turning a blind eye to difficulties as IMO they only grow with time. Children are more adaptable and can more easily change behaviour patterns when they're young.

AinOdMilvado

Mon, Mar 28 2016, 1:56 am

OP - my daughter is like this, not sure about forgetting to eat but always exploding with so much she HAS to tell me, never ending details, another story, etc - so much so that the other 5 kids can barely get a word in...

She was recently diagnosed with ADHD and I was surprised when I mentioned this in passing (as the doc was filling her 1st prescription) and he said that's totally symptomatic of ADD/ADHD...

chaiz

Mon, Mar 28 2016, 2:03 am

amother wrote:

Okay, so forget multi-tasking. Can playing a musical instrument increase flexibility? Are there other activities that increase flexibility?

Hopefully 5*Mom will add her wisdom. It seems that something about his way of functioning is causing problems. The questions are is it his functioning or it is his environment that is the problem or both, and what aspect of his functioning is causing problems. I would start with a developmental pediatrician to start an evaluation. I would definitely not seek out someone who treats ADD. You need someone who won't be looking to fit everything into potential diagnosis. There a number of issues that can come across as AD/HD but in reality that is not the issue. Actually, to my untrained mind, reading some of your posts it seemed like your son might have Asperger's. And I was just reading yesterday an article about people who were diagnosed with autism as adults. One of them originally thought the issue was ADD but it was not. This was an anecdotal article and there isn't much to extrapolate from it. My point is that you need to start with someone who is trained in child development and is open to any and all the possibilities. Once you have a better idea of what is going on with your son then you can start looking for solutions.

amother

Aqua

Mon, Mar 28 2016, 2:28 am

Thanks chaiz, I do have some knowledge in special needs and he doesn't seem to fit the Asperger's label at all. Personally I think he would do great with the Explosive Child method but we haven't made much progress on our own. Anyone know where I can get help and advice with the approach? Is there a mentor of sorts dealing with it?

5*Mom

Mon, Mar 28 2016, 3:41 pm

amother wrote:

Okay, so forget multi-tasking. Can playing a musical instrument increase flexibility? Are there other activities that increase flexibility?

Is this an issue in other areas of his life? How is he in school? How is he with transitioning from one activity or school subject to another? If he's in the middle of reading or playing or putting away his laundry and you call him for supper or an urgent trip to the grocery store, can he leave what he's doing in the middle or does he get stuck and freak out?

amother

Aqua

Tue, Mar 29 2016, 8:04 am

5*Mom wrote:

OP here. School haven't reported any issues whatsoever but he's like this at home all the time. I think he *can* but with difficulty hence he puts in the effort at school but let's go at home.

Getting him to do anything is difficult, he's always in the middle of something...

There's no such thing as urgent by him, if I tell him to rush it actually seems like he shuts down. He often leaves school-papers behind, forgets things etc. He'll say he's ready to leave in the morning and just when my husband is ready to leave he'll suddenly be scrambling through the house for this, that and the other.

He does seem to manage if it's something he really wants though. If we were to make an impromptu trip to the ice cream store I'm 99% sure he'd come around.

I have worked with him on a plan and we've been mostly successful with it but we really need to stick to it otherwise nothing gets done. That's why I feel a mentor would be helpful. If he's not motivated to stick to it then getting him to dress in the morning takes an eternity, getting him to eat, another eternity... same thing after school with supper, bath and bedtime.

Bedtime is a series of I didn't know, you didn't tell me, I didn't see the time etc. even though I've already reminded him at intervals (as per our plan) and given him ample advance warning.

5*Mom

Tue, Mar 29 2016, 9:37 am

So it doesn't seem to be limited only to when he's talking. I know an excellent speech therapist in New Jersey who works with kids with executive function challenges, like transitions, organization, cognitive flexibility, things like that. She often uses a Ross Greene model (but not exclusively). On the off chance that you're in that area feel free to PM me for her info. Even if not, she miiiiiight be able to refer you to someone in your area.

amother

Aqua

Tue, Mar 29 2016, 9:48 am

5*Mom wrote:

I would love to have someone like that but I'm in the UK. Would she work via skype or provide phone consultations?

chaiz

Tue, Mar 29 2016, 10:17 am

5*Mom wrote:

Curious. How would this be part of a speech therapist's field of expertise? This type of thing seems to fall under an occupational therapist's field

5*Mom

Tue, Mar 29 2016, 1:40 pm

chaiz wrote:

Curious. How would this be part of a speech therapist's field of expertise? This type of thing seems to fall under an occupational therapist's field

There's a good explanation here: http://graymattertherapy.com/s.....tion/

Executive Functions is a broad category but fundamentally it involves language and communication - with the self.

This particular SLP has specialized training in executive functions (and additional training in Ross Greene's method) in addition to her standard SLP training.

chaiz

Tue, Mar 29 2016, 2:55 pm

5*Mom wrote:

Fascinating. I am going to try to read into this further in the summer when I do not need to focus. Interesting topics, such as this, can be such an obstacle to my focus challenged brain.