Can Aspies multitask?

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I respectfully submit that is mere multithreading you are referring to.

Aren't many of the physical actions of musicians primarily that of programmed actions that were programmed by many repetitions over years of practice. For example, a pianist does not sit there thinking that he needs to sit up straight and hold his wrists up and place his fingers just so to press the keys just right and for the right amount of time.

I don't really think there is that much multitasking involved.

I'm definitely able to multitask but often become overwhelmed if I attempt to do too many things at once.

Yes, I read this too and I cannot switch rapidly between tasks, it's a big effort and then guiding help from outside is needed.

I can only multi-task if the tasks don't require much concentration. If I'm working on something like program code I can't do anything else at the same time as I'm very deeply focussed.

On problem I have is that when I switch tasks, I often forget to switch back to the previous task.

For example, a while ago I was setting up some equipment and while waiting for it to do a reset, I started reading some posts on the computer. The reset would have taken all of about a minute but it didn't even cross my mind to go back and check on it until just now when I checked on this thread again.

When doing anything requiring concentration, switching tasks can be very costly. One employer of quite a few software developers said that something as simple as a two minute telephone call can throw a developer off for a half hour as he gets back up to speed. Consequently, as the boss he sees one of his main tasks as that of reducing or eliminating the vast majority of interruptions for his developers.

Want to drive mathematicians nuts? Go ask them pointless questions while they are trying to concentrate on their math.

I've been at companies where the developers were required to answer the telephone and at other companies where the developers were outright banned from answering the telephone unless it was an interoffice call or the caller buzzed specifically for them.

This is the most pleasent state of being ever existing.

I find cooking to be a good example of multitasking - getting all the different things ready at the same time. Cooking something like chops, chips, vegies and gravy, I get very stressed - four things going at once. I don't really like cooking at all.

I think musicians don't really multitask, it's about practice. I find driving is fine, but I have a real problem if someone wants to talk to me while I'm driving.

you have left out all the musical things that constitute multitasking, such as-
*subjectively artistic timing and application of damper pedals/keyboard split [piano]
*use of second touches to play counterpoint with self [Wurlitzer organ]
*switching of pistons/tabs on the fly [Wurlitzer organ]
*playing main rhythm with main parts [traps] plus counter rhythm/s on special effects instruments

look again at Fats Waller or Dick Hyman playing the piano, or Buddy Rich/Bobby Columby on the traps, and tell me you don't think they are multitasking. I think we differ in our semantics. multitasking is doing mentally separate tasks simultaneously, whereas multithreading merely is switching among different tasks sequentially.

One example of multitasking that I can usually do well is cooking and washing dishes.

One of my first tasks when cooking is to fill the sink with hot, soapy water. While the food is cooking, I wash whatever dishes were in the sink to be washed. Whenever I finish with a cooking utensil as I cook, I wash it then. When I am finished cooking, I plate the food and then wash all remaining dishes and utensils involved in cooking as well as wipe down the stove and countertops before I eat. After I finish eating, the dishes I used in eating are slightly rinsed off and left in the sink until the next meal.

These are tasks that don't require a deep level of thought or attention so it is pretty easy to switch back and forth. Furthermore, by multitasking on these tasks, it takes the same amount of time as whichever of the two takes the longest time by itself, usually the cooking.

In this example, I'm not trying to use my brain to do two things at once, but I am switching back and forth between trivial tasks quite easily.

the definition of multithreading.

Nope. It is the definition of multitasking:

Multithreading would be more like the brain working on multiple tasks simultaneously, each with their own "thread of execution" in the brain. Naturally, the term is not applied to humans.

hate to be an ugly aspie stickler for details, but when you said "..but I am switching back and forth between trivial tasks..." that is NOT simultaneous, but instead sequential [i.e., one thing then another]. now if you were doing those tasks all at the same time, THAT would truly be multitasking. computers [including the one in our noggins] multithread routinely, with variable fluency. but only an genetically elect few [the aforementioned musicians and athletes] can do more than one thing at the exact same time without a hitch. again we differ on semantics.

Are you suggesting that the food stops cooking while I wash a dish?

respectfully, that is multithreading, for the reason being you are doing one kitchen task at a time but moving around to different tasks, none of this simultaneously. now, if you were playing a tetris while at the same time playing another tetris, THAT is multitasking. that is what musicians and athletes routinely do. and I envy the hell out of them for that!

please be aware that I am not disrespecting your brains.