Re: [SPAM] Re: Digit Spans

[Guest guest]

I like to refer to this link when describing digit spans and memory for it

describes it much better than I. LEARNING HOW YOU LEARN

Auditory and Visual Digit Spans - What Do They Mean?

http://www.nacd.org/more_information/journal/learninghow.html

One of the keys that I found important is the complexity of memory for prior to

NACD, I thought that memory was just one item.

Now I know completely different and I recognize that we have many, many

different types of memory. There is the sensory motor cortex which store motor

memory; there is auditory memory which is indicative to remembering what we hear

and visual memory which is indicative of what we see.

When we started with NACD Mark could remember detailed and vivid descriptions of

rides he had been on at Disneyland at the tender age of 4 but couldn't remember

the words to our National Anthem. Thus his auditory systems had been damaged

and out of whack for so long that he couldn't remember much of what was said

auditorily. Needless to say, this truly affected every aspect of his life. The

kid was really functioning as though he were deaf but he wasn't..... so people

expected him to hear and understand what he was hearing...... but he was NOT

understanding.... not everything at least. He was getting the 'gyst' of

conversations but not the indepth version!

It is funny how you can look back through the process and completely

'understand' and get it but when I was struggling with an eleven year old with

the auditory processes of a 5 year old, I had completely no idea what was going

on.

I do not know whether I have explained this process adequately or not but I hope

that I did for it is sooooo important and such an essential element in ensuring

that our kids have caught up with their peer group. Each of us needs to learn

how to do digit spans so that we can periodically test our children (if we are

not currently working it daily) and determine where they are at..... so that we

'get' their current skill level and what their current capability is at..... and

then we know better how to talk to our kids, teach our kids and most importantly

'understand' our kids.

Have I made any of this comprehensible? It is a difficult area to understand

yet so beautiful in that the therapy is really quite simple (yet tedious and

tiresome).

Janice

Mother of Mark, 13

[sPAM][ ] Re: Digit Spans

The average adult, without practice has a " digit span " of 7 + or - 2

(so average = 5 to 9 digits). That means that if you state 7

unrelated numbers in a monotone voice with a pause in between each

number, the average person can repeat them back. The higher the

number you can repeat, the higher your digit span is. This is a

reflection of your ability to process things auditorily. A visual

digit span would be measured the same way, only visually. At the

NACD, they say that you don't want either span to be more than one

digit better than the other -- it compounds the problem because you

then overuse your strength, which further weakens the other one.

Also at the NACD, they think that any number less than 7 should be

worked on, despite 5's being in the average range. It seems to

elevate your overall cognitive function and allows you to access your

natural intelligence. Janice will probably explain this much better,

but you get the gist of it, right?

in NJ

>

> ok-- so I've never really needed to ask this before since I've

never really

> been told of my son having issues with this.

> Just what ARE digit spans anyway?

>

>

> becky

>

>

>

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