Trouble with names and multitasking?

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I play a PS4 game on headset. I was playing and thought my friends name was Brandon not Brad (he asked "What did you call me?" He then corrected me no it's Brad not Brandon. Also my other friend Chris was on Skype as I was on headset and Chris knowing I have AS and can't multitask said he was going to go clean his house IMO fine. Then Brad was like WTF you can't multitask?

Uh is it normal to be able to hold conversation with two people? especially one = a headset FPS game the other a Skype call. My mind can't handle multitasking people or social stuff like that it's too jumbled. Can anyone relate with forgetting names and multitasking issues? I tend to recall usernames better since they aren't actual REAL names but sound cute and mean something some PS4 friends are Absent Fall,Highdragon (Yes she gets high). Face puncher etc. all cool names I can relate to geeky stuff so I retain there usernames better.

I have no issue with names, but I am quite bad at multi tasking. I tend to lose concentration easy when doing more than one thing.

Trouble with names? Nope. Trouble with multitasking? Hahahayes. I don't understand why somebody would want to half-ass and juggle something like two conversations in the first place, though. It also bothers me when others do it to me.

I can multitask if it's two things I enjoy otherwise I just can't be bothered with it.

Names on the other hand, I'm terrible at remembering them.

I was very much relieved recently to read that multitasking is impossible for everybody. It's certainly impossible for me. The article that I was reading said that what appears to be multitasking is rapid single-tasking - the brain takes one thing at a time.

Names - I'm terrible with names.

I forget names alot & have problems with mulch-tasking I contribute to my dyslexia & ADD.

I'm terrible at multitasking, almost to the point that I can't do it at all in some situations, and I'm horrible at remembering people's names as well.

In particular, when I'm talking to someone, I can't be talking to someone else at the same time, at least not if they aren't part of the same conversation. I am simply unable to keep up with two different conversations at once.

I am bad with both.

I think it can be if said names are unfamiliar to me....So, yes. The multitasking part....I had that in the past- different conversations at the same time, and things like that are verry stressful...

I can't make a phone call while writing an email to somebody else. If I'm talking with somebody on Skype and there's a problem with my computer, I can't explain why I've gone quiet while I'm trying to fix it.

It seems that multi-tasking is often a waste of time, for exactly the same reasons I've always thought it was:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_mult ... n.27s_role
Because the brain cannot fully focus when multitasking, people take longer to complete tasks and are predisposed to error. When people attempt to complete many tasks at one time, “or [alternate] rapidly between them, errors go way up and it takes far longer—often double the time or more—to get the jobs done than if they were done sequentially,” states Meyer. This is largely because “the brain is compelled to restart and refocus”. A study by Meyer and David Kieras found that in the interim between each exchange, the brain makes no progress whatsoever. Therefore, multitasking people not only perform each task less suitably, but lose time in the process.

Naturally, asking me to rapidly refocus between different ideas is ridiculous. I can either focus on a thing properly or I can ignore it, but I can't partially focus on a thing, I can't do this "speed reading" where I'm supposed to ignore most of the book.

The only time I can do two things at a time is when at least one of them doesn't need my brain's attention, i.e. my routine tasks such as washing dishes. As long as there are no unexpected issues, I can do that and hold a conversation at the same time. I guess that's because routine tasks are mainly run from the stem of the brain, or from the top of the spinal cord, and conscious focus doesn't have much to do with it.

My mother was one of five sisters (and six brothers, but for this example they don't count), and a normal activity for them was sitting around the kitchen table with their cups of coffee, and catching up with what was going on in their own lives, and for that matter, the lives of the rest of the community (aka "gossip" in that sense, though they were never mean about it: they just wanted to know everything that was happening-- they were concerned). My father marveled at this, when it was happening at our house: "Everybody talks all at once, and when they've finished, every one of them knows what all the others have said!" He didn't understand that, and even though I grew up with it, I didn't either. I have no suspicion that any of them was Aspie-- I suspect that my Asperger's came from my father's side, and I do indeed have one diagnosed cousin on his side, while Dad seemed to have some Aspie characteristics, like a limited version of lightning calculation, being able to count cards in a game (I didn't get that), and being happy at home rather than wanting to go out and socialize (though he did all right at work, or when he was "socializing" for good reason.

Anyway, when I'm "multitasking", which I can do to a limited extent, I'm doing as someone else said here, "one thing at a time, and rapidly alternating". I'm not running two tracks parallel in my brain. When I'm operating on a Special Interest, or really concentrating on something, any other task destroys my concentration and I hate it: I'm somewhere else entirely.

I do have trouble with names (and faces, recognizing or reading them--but I'll know "who they are" when reminded--can remember a lot about the person, and near-verbatim conversations from years ago).

I am absolutely horrible with names, there have been people I have known for a long period of time, that I don't know their name. However, I do remember and recognize people, and can usually remember where/when we met, what we talked about, or other details of the encounter.

Multi-tasking.. or single-task switching, I can be very good at, especially if they are time based. For example, if I have say three things to do:

A.) Will take 1 hour from start to finish, but will need attention, every 15 minutes.
B.) Will take 30 minutes be need me to do something every 15
C.) Will take 15 minutes, but need attention every 5..

something like this, I can manage to switch between the tasks, and get everything done in the hour, with little problems.. most people I know will have to do them one at a time, and take 1:45 with more mistakes

However, conversations with multiple people, I can do, if I do not have to respond. I can listen to multiple people talk and grasp it, but if I have to stop and respond to 1 or more, all is lost.

I am terrible with multitasking, remembering names, remembering faces, and remembering how I know a person. If we've met once or twice, and then we bump into one another while out running errands, and you greet me by name, and start a conversation--I will be polite, and fake being friendly, but I don't know your name, or recognize your face, and don't have a clue as to who you are. And yes, this has happened to me a number of times. Sometimes it's people I've met on my own previously, and sometimes it's people I've met at family/friends gatherings at my parent's house, but none of that helps. I also don't recognize relatives that I rarely see. Yes, I am face blind, and being a non social Aspie, I just want the awkward conversation with a friendly stranger to end as quickly, but nicely, as possible. At some of the places I've lived before, I was more familiar with the faces of some of the supermarket checkout clerks than with these stranger acquaintances. COOL!! ! For once I spelled "acquaintances" right the first time! Hey! I'll take what little pleasure I can get in life.

I can't even sign my name and speak to the mail-person who is delivering the package at the same time.

This Chris guy sounds cool!! !

Definitely both and I also know people years without knowing thier name