Digit spans or similar to improve memory?

[one l michele]

Any recommended resources or favorite activities for this?

I have tried dictation, but it's clear we need another approach.

[KarenAnne]

As I learned, somewhat to my dismay, when my daughter had a multi-day full neuropsychological evaluation done a few years ago, there are so many different sub-types of memory. It is really confusing to try to tease out which ones your child is having trouble with and what to do to improve them, even with the report (all twenty-eight single-spaced pages) in front of you.

One of the most interesting things my daughter and I did came from reading an article in Muse magazine (I'd have to look up the exact back issue on line) about the World Memory Championships in Germany. There are people who can be presented with a shuffled deck of 52 cards, study it for a few minutes, and be able to remember the exact position of every card. It seems absolutely incredible. Then we read about HOW they memorize. Most of them do something along the line of a story they make up, or they physically position the cards in imaginary rooms as they plot out a walk through an imaginary house. There were some memory games and exercises at the end of the article. One was a list of about twenty random items. My daughter and I tried flat-out, straightforward memorizing and failed abysmally. Then we tried to story-making using those items in sentences. Both of us remembered it ALL.

If anyone is interested I'll look up the issue info and pass it on. You can order single back issues.

[LisaTheresa]

As I learned, somewhat to my dismay, when my daughter had a multi-day full neuropsychological evaluation done a few years ago, there are so many different sub-types of memory. It is really confusing to try to tease out which ones your child is having trouble with and what to do to improve them, even with the report (all twenty-eight single-spaced pages) in front of you.

.

I agree with this. When my son was 5 or 6, I spent a lot of time working with him on digit spans and he just was not able to progress much. I used a software program called Brainbuilder, I think. You can probably find more information on digit spans if you google Glenn Domain (sp?)

Honestly, my son actually has a great memory in some ways and easily memorized all the CC memory work and is working his way through the IEW Poetry Memorization program without any trouble. He cannot hold a dictation sentence in his head to save his life, though. Whether increasing digit spans would help wth that, I don't know, but it's probably not going to be something we will revisit. Here's some info from the Little Giant Steps website http://www.littlegiantsteps.com/xcart/product.php?productid=10&cat=0&bestseller=Y.

Lisa

[Laurie4b]

Improve memory for what?
Generally, you want to work directly (not indirectly) on memory. What type of thing does your child have difficulty remembering?

[OhElizabeth]

I think she is referring to the connection Little Giant Steps makes between digit spans and auditory and visual processing. So the dc's digit span regurgitation after auditory or visual input would reflect how he processes those inputs. (In theory? Hmmm, as I think about it I could quibble with that, but whatever.)

So I've had some question in my mind of whether the dc's functional digit span processing, either auditorily or visually, could improve with practice. It seems like it might, and definitely that's the theory of the people who hold to brain plasticity. However I suppose you could also reach a limit of where that person is meant to be for that age?? That's why I asked if there were charts or some way to tell what typical scores were for typical IQ's at particular ages. I'm sure that info is out there. I just don't have it. :)

So if you knew your dc's digit span score for his age didn't match up with his probable IQ, then you'd have something to work on, eh?

As for how to work on it, Little Giant Steps has a nice little booklet where they suggest mixing things up. You could play games with touch sequences (you call the sequence and they touch, increasing each time), pointing sequences, etc. It's really just the sky as the limit once you get the idea. Any sequence of ANYTHING would work. Colors, food, body parts, anything.

Now whether you can actually increase your digit spans, that I don't know. I do know this VT place I'm pursuing taking dd does digit spans as part of the therapy. Apparently some of that stuff improves as the eyes see better. Kinda makes sense when you think about it. If the eyes are too busy sorting out fuzz (like my dd's), they don't have a lot left to worry about the letters in that spelling word or some number sequence.

[Laurie4b]

I think she is referring to the connection Little Giant Steps makes between digit spans and auditory and visual processing. So the dc's digit span regurgitation after auditory or visual input would reflect how he processes those inputs. (In theory? Hmmm, as I think about it I could quibble with that, but whatever.)

.

Yes, this is essentially why I was asking. In general, research supports the notion that one can improve memory for a specific task by practicing that task, or one can improve memory in general by learning and using specific memory techniques. I do, frankly, question whether working on digit span will affect anything other than memory for digit span, which is why I asked what the OP's kiddo actually needs memory improvement for. IOW, the time spent on digit span memory might actually be wasted whereas the time spent on other methods might benefit.

[wapiti]

Just to confuse things further, one of my kids recently got a very high score on the digit span subtest of the WISC, but he very clearly has some sort of auditory processing issue. We're starting therapy for language processing. (Also he's still in speech therapy at 7 y.o.) On the other hand, his vision processing is excellent, at least according to the Beery-something test of visual-motor integration (though the motor portion, not so much! big disparity there.)

ETA: apparently at least part of the digit span subtest involves auditory short-term memory. There are two components, digit span forward and digit span backward. My report says that forward involves rote learning and memory, attention encoding and auditory processing. Backward involves working memory, transformation of informatin, mental manipulation and visuospatial thinking. Anyone want to place a bet on which one my ds did better at? Unfortunately I don't have that detail in my report.:tongue_smilie:

[OhElizabeth]

Yeah, when I told the people in the Little Giant Steps booth my dd's digit spans (which aren't shocking or anything, just not terribly low), they looked at me funny like there can't be anything wrong. But interestingly, the way she jumbled the numbers at that point and the sounds she made were the same as when she tries to sound out a long word (which of course she doesn't do, just guesses using the beginning, the end, and jumbling the middle). So there's some kind of connection there, and I don't even know what it is. And I figured, just in my little pea brain, that digit spans and whatnot are relative, ie. if you can't process at the level that fits what you want to do and are trying to do, then it's still not adequate, irrespective of what the actual score is. At least that's my theory.

So hmm, tell me about this backward thing. They do it in IQ testing? Nifty.

[OhElizabeth]

LGS wanted you to practice with all kinds of modes and methods, not just digits. So you could play touch, point, repeat the word, etc. etc., and use sequences of ANYTHING (body parts, objects on a table, colors, foods, etc.). You could play Simon, the little handheld light/buzzer game. You're supposed to diversify. But like you say, I have no clue if that actually does anything. Seems to me brain skills are one of those things you improve with focus and effort and then lose as you let them slide. We all know that from our own experiences.

[lisabees]

As I learned, somewhat to my dismay, when my daughter had a multi-day full neuropsychological evaluation done a few years ago, there are so many different sub-types of memory. It is really confusing to try to tease out which ones your child is having trouble with and what to do to improve them, even with the report (all twenty-eight single-spaced pages) in front of you.

One of the most interesting things my daughter and I did came from reading an article in Muse magazine (I'd have to look up the exact back issue on line) about the World Memory Championships in Germany. There are people who can be presented with a shuffled deck of 52 cards, study it for a few minutes, and be able to remember the exact position of every card. It seems absolutely incredible. Then we read about HOW they memorize. Most of them do something along the line of a story they make up, or they physically position the cards in imaginary rooms as they plot out a walk through an imaginary house. There were some memory games and exercises at the end of the article. One was a list of about twenty random items. My daughter and I tried flat-out, straightforward memorizing and failed abysmally. Then we tried to story-making using those items in sentences. Both of us remembered it ALL.

If anyone is interested I'll look up the issue info and pass it on. You can order single back issues.

I would love it if you could pass along this information. Thanks! ;)

[KarenAnne]

Lisa, I have been looking the revamped Muse magazine website and they say I need to know the issue date -- before, there were cover photographs and contents listed for back issues. So I will have to scout around a bit now before I can get the specific info. Be back in a day or so.

[lisabees]

No pressure. If you happen to find it, let us know. :001_smile:

[KarenAnne]

I found the Muse magazine issue on memory: It's March 2009, and can be back ordered at the website www.cricketmag.com