How do you deal with reduced attention span?

Page 2 of 2 [ 29 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2

doofy
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 13 Dec 2012
Gender: Female
Posts: 505
Location: Here

18 Dec 2012, 5:48 pm

azzazinator wrote:
My only solution so far is to ask something, or make a comment to break down the conversation into smaller parts, and buy some time to be able to listen again. I know that it annoys people when I do that.


Yep. I do that. Not sure if it annoys them or not.



MrXxx
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 11 May 2010
Age: 64
Gender: Male
Posts: 5,760
Location: New England

18 Dec 2012, 5:53 pm

I...

Image












crap, what was the question?


_________________
I'm not likely to be around much longer. As before when I first signed up here years ago, I'm finding that after a long hiatus, and after only a few days back on here, I'm spending way too much time here again already. So I'm requesting my account be locked, banned or whatever. It's just time. Until then, well, I dunno...


Ooccoo
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker

User avatar

Joined: 12 Dec 2012
Age: 30
Gender: Male
Posts: 73
Location: South Wales

18 Dec 2012, 6:18 pm

MrXxx wrote:
I...

Image












crap, what was the question?


Image

Seems apt =P


_________________
Kaze o ukete tatsu kewashii gake de wa
Jibun no yowasa bakari ga mieru ne


LizNY
Sea Gull
Sea Gull

User avatar

Joined: 13 Nov 2012
Age: 46
Gender: Female
Posts: 245

18 Dec 2012, 6:51 pm

when i was in college i forced myself to focus and made it into a game of....this time was 8 minutes and next time it will be 10 minutes. and somehow i made it through and was able to focus on the professor for over an hour after a LOT of practice and brute force. honestly, i still don't know how i made it thru. but in conversation? forget it. i'm at a lost and struggle with this every day. while i'm listening i have to remind myself to keep listening and try to maintain eye contact and what's the appropriate facial expression.....and after 4 minutes i'm ready to run for the door. is this just me....?..... ; /



emimeni
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 28 Sep 2012
Age: 35
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,065
Location: In my bed, on my laptop

18 Dec 2012, 7:03 pm

The longer I listen to a multi-person conversation, the more distracted I am by noise. This is particularly true if there's more than one conversation going on at once because of the size of the group. I haven't found a solution. I just never participate in conversations with more than two or three people who know me well. :roll:


_________________
Living with one neurodevelopmental disability which has earned me a few diagnosis'


azzazinator
Raven
Raven

User avatar

Joined: 31 May 2012
Age: 49
Gender: Male
Posts: 110
Location: Denmark

18 Dec 2012, 7:15 pm

emimeni wrote:
The longer I listen to a multi-person conversation, the more distracted I am by noise. This is particularly true if there's more than one conversation going on at once because of the size of the group. I haven't found a solution. I just never participate in conversations with more than two or three people who know me well.


Oh yes. The only good thing about multi-person conversations are, that I can hide it when I loose attention. If more than one conversation is going on at the same time, I can't focus on either of them. Background noise just make the situation even more unbearable. The result is usually, that people have to repeat themself several times before I can understand them. Then I prefer to shut up at just try to listen, nod and laugh at the right times ...

I prefer one-to-one anytime.


_________________
Your Aspie score: 168 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 30 of 200
You are very likely an Aspie
Diagnosed
AQ=44, IQ=136


emimeni
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 28 Sep 2012
Age: 35
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,065
Location: In my bed, on my laptop

18 Dec 2012, 7:19 pm

azzazinator wrote:
Oh yes. The only good thing about multi-person conversations are, that I can hide it when I loose attention. If more than one conversation is going on at the same time, I can't focus on either of them. Background noise just make the situation even more unbearable. The result is usually, that people have to repeat themself several times before I can understand them. Then I prefer to shut up at just try to listen, nod and laugh at the right times ...

I prefer one-to-one anytime.


I can totally relate to this entire paragraph, though I often don't even manage to nod and laugh at the right times. In that particular aspect, you are doing better than me.


_________________
Living with one neurodevelopmental disability which has earned me a few diagnosis'


azzazinator
Raven
Raven

User avatar

Joined: 31 May 2012
Age: 49
Gender: Male
Posts: 110
Location: Denmark

18 Dec 2012, 7:24 pm

LizNY wrote:
but in conversation? forget it. i'm at a lost and struggle with this every day. while i'm listening i have to remind myself to keep listening and try to maintain eye contact and what's the appropriate facial expression.....and after 4 minutes i'm ready to run for the door. is this just me....?.....


I remember the problem from high school. In elementary school, I was much smarter than the other kids, so it was never a problem that I had to take attention breaks, and everything was repeated numerous times anyway. I high school I noticed that my attention span was way to short to be able to keep up....

Most of the time I don't have the resources to listen, maintain eye-contact and smile or nod at the same time ...


_________________
Your Aspie score: 168 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 30 of 200
You are very likely an Aspie
Diagnosed
AQ=44, IQ=136


MrXxx
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 11 May 2010
Age: 64
Gender: Male
Posts: 5,760
Location: New England

18 Dec 2012, 7:29 pm

Ooccoo wrote:
MrXxx wrote:
I...

[img]Image%20redacted%20for%20brevity[/img]

crap, what was the question?


[img]Brevity%20again[/img]

Seems apt =P


Exactly! You got the point. :wink:


_________________
I'm not likely to be around much longer. As before when I first signed up here years ago, I'm finding that after a long hiatus, and after only a few days back on here, I'm spending way too much time here again already. So I'm requesting my account be locked, banned or whatever. It's just time. Until then, well, I dunno...


azzazinator
Raven
Raven

User avatar

Joined: 31 May 2012
Age: 49
Gender: Male
Posts: 110
Location: Denmark

18 Dec 2012, 7:31 pm

emimeni wrote:
I can totally relate to this entire paragraph, though I often don't even manage to nod and laugh at the right times. In that particular aspect, you are doing better than me.


Well ... I've had a few more years to practice than you have ... But to be honest, I can't see any improvements anymore as the years go by.


_________________
Your Aspie score: 168 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 30 of 200
You are very likely an Aspie
Diagnosed
AQ=44, IQ=136


knifegill
Raven
Raven

User avatar

Joined: 8 May 2012
Age: 43
Gender: Male
Posts: 109

18 Dec 2012, 8:08 pm

As soon as the other person's words dissolve into meaningless noises, I start repeating them out loud, which quickly turns into/closely imitates me replying. A conversation often goes like this:

Me: (exaggerated friendliness, sarcastic recycled line, greeting, attempt to get straight away from talking, failure)

Them: Well, my dog's aunt's little brother's unimportant skyscraper project was only half done... (I've tuned out by now and only the word skyscraper rings in my head. I cling to it, wait a few leisurely seconds, and simply exclaim out loud with strong eye contact and feigned interest, tall posture and a smile, "SKY SCRAPER?! Wuuut?")

They smile, pleased that I was paying attention and feeling important because I cared enough to ask a stupid question about their meaningless babble. Then they ramble a little longer, already swayed that I'm listening and happy I care, I get busy doing something, and we end the conversation by getting to work. Then we stay friends because I cared for a minute, then started ignoring them, and broke even. And the next time they see me, I'm the person who acted interested in their unimportant skyscraper story, they forget about how the conversation ended. I win.



azzazinator
Raven
Raven

User avatar

Joined: 31 May 2012
Age: 49
Gender: Male
Posts: 110
Location: Denmark

18 Dec 2012, 8:19 pm

knifegrill wrote:
They smile, pleased that I was paying attention and feeling important because I cared enough to ask a stupid question about their meaningless babble. Then they ramble a little longer, already swayed that I'm listening and happy I care, I get busy doing something, and we end the conversation by getting to work. Then we stay friends because I cared for a minute, then started ignoring them, and broke even. And the next time they see me, I'm the person who acted interested in their unimportant skyscraper story, they forget about how the conversation ended. I win.


You really made me smile :)
Your way of telling it really hit the nail on the head. It's so perfectly true. Most NT's just feed on attention.

BUT... There is a downside. Often they become so happy because you show some (fake) interest in their meaningless babble, that they just keep on and on and on, and unfortunately with YOU as the prime traget ... I do not like that.....


_________________
Your Aspie score: 168 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 30 of 200
You are very likely an Aspie
Diagnosed
AQ=44, IQ=136


Kairi96
Velociraptor
Velociraptor

User avatar

Joined: 19 Aug 2012
Gender: Female
Posts: 426

19 Dec 2012, 1:55 pm

roccoslife wrote:
Kairi96 wrote:
My only way to deal with it is to take homeopatic meds. There's no other way.


Ive been thinking about doing that, what sort of stuff do you take? Does it really help?


I take hempseed oil oil; while other products derived from hemp are illegal here in Italy, hempseed oil is legal (you can buy it at the pharmacy), and yes, it does help really much. I'm much less hyperactive when I take it, and I'm also able to concentrare more. Also, it helps me with my social issues.


_________________
Please write in a simple English; I'm Italian, so I might misunderstand the sense of your sentence.
You can talk me in Spanish and Italian, too.