Can Aspies multitask?

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So a couple days ago, I was talking to a friend (my only friend, who also know about my Asperger's) on the phone, and I was about to go into a store to buy some stuff I needed, so I just told him that I would call him back afterwards. He became confused and asked why I couldn't continue to talk AND buy my stuff. At first I was not sure how to answer, to be honest I didn't know. But just the thought of doing it seemed uncomfortable, and it made me want to hang up the phone while I was in the store.

I told him that if I tried it would take me a very long time to buy the stuff even though I knew exactly what I needed, because I would be focusing on the conversation and meanwhile wandering aimlessly in the store, and that it would probably be hard to hear him in there anyway. He was still not convinced, and I eventually came to the conclusion that maybe it was because what he was asking me to do was to multitask, which I have a very hard time with. When I said this, however, he was thinking that maybe I was just limiting myself by thinking such things and that I should try it, not understanding how stressed out I can get from it. He was using examples like, "Can you walk and talk?", just simple things like that which I don't consider multitasking. It wasn't the walking part that was the problem, it was that I'd be going in the store, with all the talking and beeping and crying babies, attempting to find items I didn't know the location of, and simultaneously trying to listen, understand, interpret and respond to the things he was saying. I suppose I CAN do it, but not efficiently, and it would stress me out.

Finally the way I managed to get him to understand was to tell him to imagine that everyone's mind is a computer. Most people are able to run maybe 2 or 3 larger applications at once on their computer. They can do this because they have the processing power to do so, AND they can end unnecessary tasks to free up their CPU. For me, however, I can't shut down those unnecessary background tasks. Therefore, if I try to run too many big programs, even in the background, the computer slows down, freezes, and may even need to shut down and restart to start working again.

That is an accurate description of why I can't do it. I typically avoid multitasking with phone calls especially, unless I have nothing I am doing, because for some reason it is really difficult for me to do anything else while talking on the phone. But I was wondering, is this the same for most Aspies? To be honest I don't think there is true multitasking, because that would imply concentrating on two or more things equally, when really it seems to me that some people are just good at being able to do certain things without really thinking about them and can do them subconsciously while focusing on just one other thing. That, and I also believe that their mind is going faster, switching back and forth between tasks so quickly and easily that it seems simultaneous, but it's not.

I could be wrong though. Any thoughts?

Multitasking is not difficult for some things and others need more concentration. A phone is a distraction, that is why people should not drive and talk on a cell phone at the same time. If you already have concentration problems, cell phone use makes them worse. It is difficult to shop one handed, so an ear-bud helps reduce the distraction. I put my grocery list on my phone. That makes it difficult for me to talk and read my list at the same time.

Not everyone can multi-task. I had to practice doing it - but I'm nowhere near the level that my NT wife is. Everyone is different.

I cannot speak for everyone but I am able to multi task only in certain environments. When working I get into my zone and can multitask or when I'm at my radio shack (ham radio operator) I can post here on WP and wait for my turn to check in for an emergency services traffic test net. I think the skill of multitasking is more nature than nurture or even learned skill.

This is just my 2 cents worth.

If eating and watching TV counts, then yes I can . Seriously though, I can only multitask in my dreams.

If I try to multitask, it really stresses me out and the results are more often messed up than not.
To get interrupted or distracted definitely makes things very difficult and this narrow focus is a typical
feature of Aspergers.

Nobody can multitask. You can just switch rapidly between tasks.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/30/weeki ... .html?_r=0

So the problem really lies in the rapid shift of focus? Why is the nervous system too slow in processing
rapidly changing sensory input? Is it because Aspies process these data more thoroughly or in a more complex way
and the hardware just can't keep up with that?

no, not efficiently anyway. takes too long.

I'm horrible at multitasking.

I can normally handle one task quite efficiency. If I have two tasks to do, the total time to do both is considerably longer than the sum of the times it would take me to do both individually. Add more concurrent tasks and I may never finish some of them.

I can eat or watch TV with recall, but not both.

I wouldn't want to go to the store and be talking on the phone. I just don't like having people hear my one sided conversation and it's rude to talk at the register on the phone. Plus you can't drive and talk at the same time. It's illegal here in Oregon and dangerous. Lot of people think they can multitask with this, thus the reason why the law was made.

I can listen to music as I type this. I can do computer and watch TV. So yes I can multitask.

I have some trouble talking to somebody and watching where I'm going.

I know I can't.

I think good training in some cases is by doing, at least in a non-critical area- find an old home organ or drum set, and make your limbs go to town on it, and I think that there will be modest but global improvements in cognitive flexibility which includes increases in multitasking fluency.