The best laid plans ...

At his meeting with his employment consultant yesterday, A-One reported on the job ads he had found interesting over the last fortnight, even if just a little.

A-One: There was one that required some packaging of orders, with some reception and admin work.  But they wanted someone who could 'work under pressure', and 'answer phone calls at reception'.

Consultant: Let me stop you right there.  How do you know if your idea of pressure is the same as their idea of pressure? You don't really know until you try.  When you think maybe you can't do it, I want you to put those thoughts away, and give it a go.  It's a good to be in the habit of applying, and good practice if you get an interview.  And when they say they want experience? Remember, you say you are willing to learn.

A-One: Yes.

Consultant: As you say, you might not find cleaning jobs really interesting, but you need to start somewhere, and from there you can work on to other jobs that you like better.

Mum: Yes, over the last fortnight, I heard A-One say for the first time ever 'working my way up'!

Consultant: Yes, that's how it can work. Will you get to your 8 employer contacts for our next meeting?

A-One: Yes, I'll do that.

On the way home, the plan had been to go via the shopping centre so that A-One could drop in his resume at his targeted shops (electronic gaming), as well as be on the look out for those looking for staff.

Mum: We'll just stop by home first so that you can swap the thongs for some shoes.

A-One: So, we're going home first now?  ... I really need a haircut too.

Mum: We could do that right now if you like.

A-One: OK.   Now, (consulting his iPod notes) how do I pay for this with my card again? Do I press credit or savings?

The haircut and payment duly executed, we headed for the 'quick' stop at home. He headed for the toilet.

Thirty minutes later:

Mum: A-One, how long will you be?  We'll run out of time!

A-One: We won't do it this afternoon.

After he emerged, he sat at his computer:

Mum: So when do you want to go down to the shopping centre?

A-One: I don't know.

Mum: If you need my help to get there, or to help you practice what to say before you talk to employers, you need to give me a time.  But if you go there on the bus, or walk, then it's up to you.

A-One: I don't know!  I need to think about it.

Mum: OK. How long do you think you'll need to think about it?

A-One: I don't know!

I moved on to something else.  Another day, another try ...

Job Hunting?

A-One and I had an appointment with his employment consultant again yesterday.  He had been given 'homework' - to have 8 employer contacts (submitted his resume) in the preceding fortnight.

Since the last appointment I had been reminding him about looking up the job sites in the way his consultant had shown him, or heading down to the local shopping centre to hand in his resume.  Despite his insistence to the contrary, as far as I could tell not much had been happening because he usually asks me questions when he's perusing jobs.

I woke him at 11:30am for a 1pm appointment.  At 12:30pm, he stepped dressed from the shower:

A-One: We should go down to the shopping centre before our meeting.

Mum: We don't have time for that now.  We have to leave here by 12:45pm at the latest to make it to the appointment by 1pm.

A-One: Yes, we'll have time.  I can't really go with nothing to show.

Mum: I'm glad to see you realise your obligations, but it needs more time than we have right now.  We simply won't make it by 1pm if we go down to the shopping centre now.

A-One: How do you know that? All I have to do is eat my breakfast and clean my teeth and then we can go to the shopping centre.

I left it as a rhetorical question until he had finished his food and cleaned his teeth.  By that time it was 1:45pm.

Mum: Are you ready to go now?

A-One: Yes.

Mum: You realise we're only just going to make it to the meeting?

A-One: Okay Mum.  You don't have to keep going on about it.

I went out to the car with A-One following me. He then rushed upstairs saying he'd forgotten something.  By the time we were backing out the driveway, it was 4 minutes to 1pm.

A-One: What will I say?

Mum: What do you think you might say?

A-One: I don't know.  That's why I'm asking you.

Mum: You'll have to call (consultant) to let him know we will be late.  (This happens for just about every meeting.)

A-One (on his mobile): Just calling to let you know we'll be a bit late.  We're on our way ... No, I didn't get around to that ... yes, we can talk about it soon.

A-One (off the phone): So, what should I say?

Mum: Well, what have you done in the last fortnight?

A-One: I've been looking, but I don't see jobs I'm interested in or think I could do.  (Pause)  ... I could tell him what I've done. And we could go down to the shopping centre on the way home after the meeting.  So I can tell him what I plan to do too.

Mum: Sounds good to me.  Still, it's better to be able to tell what you've done than what you plan to do.

CogniFit

I've just had a good look at CogniFit.  And it's fun. I saw it referenced in a Friends of SharpBrains LinkedIn discussion.

It's also in SharpBrains list of vendors to watch in 2013/14 and is based on peer reviewed research, although mainly for aging adults. It includes some very interesting features:

• You can register for free and get some free 'neurons' which is like a currency
• You can do an assessment first up to get your profile of cognitive strengths and weaknesses as well as how you compare with others in your age range
• Cognitive abilities are described at quite a granular level e.g. not just Memory, but working memory, short-term memory, contextual memory
• You can earn more 'neurons' by training and 'unlock' new games by spending your neurons, or you can purchase more neurons (with real money) to play more
• You can bet your neurons to win more
• You can challenge other players
• The training is tailored based on your assessment
• It's fun

I hadn't investigated this site in depth before because it's pitched to keeping your mind agile as you age, but I think it would be really good for A-One - especially if we can get some other players for him to play with.  It seems to have incorporated the appeal of online multiplayer games e.g. like WOW and the chance of notching up your 'neurons' to play more.

I'm pretty excited about it as it seems to include a number of features that I've been looking for in relation to A-One, in particular the assessments which can be done at any time, the increased granularity of cognitive abilities including planning, the ability to choose specific games for these, and the ability to play with and challenge others.

I've done several training sessions today and have not had to pay any real money. 

(I started using my mouse left-handed several years ago, mainly to ease some tension that had been developing on the right side of my neck from a highly stressful job.  But for these games today I quickly switched to my right hand because the speed challenge sucked me right in!)

Now the hard part is gaining A-One's willingness to try it.

It takes time to be handsome

With no WiFi at present, A-One has connected his laptop into the last spare cable internet connection in the study.  As I have been working at my laptop too, we have been spending more time in each other's company.  In fact, I spent several days engrossed in some work of my own, and A-One beat me to bed one night! Or more accurately, one morning.  I well understand the draw of some kinds of work, just to see it completed - as A-One finds with campaigns in WOW.  These days I usually avoid activities that hook me in this way because there are many other things that also need my attention.  So for me, I'm glad my work of last week is over and that I've returned to the land of the living.

A-One played his brain training exercises Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. On several days he played in his pyjamas at the eleventh hour, knowing now that if he waits until after midnight, it doesn't count for that day.

• His best score for Speed was on Tuesday, achieving his highest yet, coming in at 56.2nd percentile.  Since then he's been steady at 54.4th percentile, with a slight drop on Friday to 54.1st percentile.

• He has also been steady on Memory at 47.8th percentile with working memory played most days, rising to 48.8th percentile on Friday.

• Very few Attention games were offered this last week, so A-One has been steady there too at 33.4th percentile.

• Of late his program seems to have been exercising mainly his Flexibility, particularly brain shift, which has seen a good improvement last week, rising to 28.2nd percentile. I'm hoping these exercises will help him with his rigidity - in helping formulate options when considering courses of action.

• No change in problem solving (only a couple of games last week), at 9.1st percentile.

• His overall percentile is now 31.2nd percentile - still his highest yet.

A-One and I reviewed his results each day, and if information processing and working memory were not offered, I suggested additional games.  However with my own busy-ness I did not push it, and A-One did not play any additional games last week.

Nevertheless on Friday I felt like celebrating, so on Friday morning I raised the idea of going out for a low key dinner that night.  A-One seemed open to the idea.  I reminded him that he'd need to be ready by 6:30pm so that we could pick up his sister from work on the way.

I was very pleased to see him stop playing WOW at 5pm, with no prompting, to have a shower. At about 5:30pm he came downstairs wrapped in a towel to check with me again about the leaving time.  I told him that he needed to be ready by 6:30pm in case his sister rang for an early pickup, as she sometimes does, but that if she doesn't ring, we'd be leaving at 6:45pm. He then went back upstairs.

At 6:45pm he was still in the bathroom.

Mum: We have to leave now A-One.  Your sister has just called too.

A-One: I'll only be a couple of minutes.

Mum: But we have to leave now - as I told you this morning.  You've had all that notice!

A-One: I won't be long.

At 6:53pm:

Mum: A-One, we have to leave!

A-One: Okay. I'll only be a couple of minutes.

Mum: We have to go!

At 6:55pm, he came out of the bathroom looking very smart - he had shaved and put on nice clothes. I was pleased that he had taken care with his appearance, but I was also very conscious that his (younger) sister was waiting on a city street. At night. On her own.

Mum: I was really looking forward to being able to tell you what a great job you did being ready on time.  You stopped playing WOW at 5 o'clock which was great, but then you were still almost half an hour late!

A-One: If you must know, I was cutting my nails.  I've only done one hand.

(A-One's beard and nails get quite long when he plays WOW for weeks on end.)

Mum: Well, that's great too that you want to spruce up for going out - you look very handsome - but if you need more time to do that, then you need to start earlier.  You might say sorry to your sister for being late.

He didn't say sorry when we picked up his sister, but we did have a lovely meal.  With a little encouragement he tried something new to eat - and he finished it all before the rest of us, saying that's what he'll have every time he comes here!

That sounds like a plan

Today was a good day.

After I woke A-One this morning I asked him about his plan for the day, to which he answered 'I don't know.'

Mum: Did you do your additional information processing and working memory games yesterday?

A-One: Yes.

Mum: Fabulous!

I gave him a gee up about getting on to today's games, then they'd be out of the way, and left it at that. 

Later on in the day, he came downstairs and told me there were three things he had to do today and proceeded to enumerate them.

A-One: I'll eat first, then I'll fix the DVDs folder, then Lumosity, then I'll report my income for Centrelink (which I should have done yesterday).

Mum: That sounds like a plan - well done!

This afternoon I asked him how it all went.

A-One: I've done them all.

Mum: That's great. Really well done.

It gets better.

He's now in the 25.3rd percentile for his overall BPI. He was presented with both an information processing and a working memory game today (so no extra ones to do), but it was his problem solving percentile which had shot up!  He's now in the 8.5th percentile! When he first started he was somewhere between <1st and 2.5th. We checked out which games he had been served: both a quantitative reasoning and a word sort game.  He performed significantly better with the word game, but even the maths one had risen slightly too.

I could see that he was pleased at my reaction to his problem solving result. Howzat!