Games for Slow Brains

It can be challenging to work with clients who have very slow brains. The following games may help you enhance your work with such clients, who tend to process information visually rather than with words.

The Naming Game

The naming game works like this:

The player’s job is to name as many things as possible, out loud, that they can see in the area where you are working, in one minute.

The coach counts the number of items and watches the clock.

The concept behind this game is that slow-wave processors don’t use words inside their heads–they use images to process information. Language requires faster brain activity. Naming aloud pushes the brain to block slower activity and produce beta.

I use a stopwatch and an inventory counter (about $15 at Office Depot).

I explain the game to the client and ask her to name something she can see now just to verify that she understands. In some cases you may have to point to an object for her to name it the first time. (When done at home, the cool way to do this is to ask the player to handle the stopwatch and counter while YOU try to name 3 times, one minute each time, trying to beat your record. Then switch roles and let her name.)

I usually start like this:

“OK, now you are going to see how many things you can tell me the name of out loud that you can see in this room. How many do you think you can name?”

(Interesting to see the responses to this question–the more slow wave activity, usually the lower the guess; more combined slow/fast–ADHD pattern–the higher the guess).

I write down the number they give me and say, “all right, let’s see. Ready? Three-two-one, begin.”

Keep track of how many items were named in the first 30 seconds and how many in the second 30 seconds. Most people with attention problems will name half as many in the second half-minute as in the first.

When the minute is finished, show the client the counter and ask how many she got. Then I like to discuss what happened. Did she ever see something and know what it was but not be able to name it? How hard or easy was it? Does she see things now she could have named but did not? Etc.

The ultimate goal of the naming game is to name 140 items in 3 minutes without a break I usually start, after figuring out where the client is starting, by having them try to get 20 names in 20 seconds. To do this I suggest that they name in one place: looking at me and starting at the top, naming every part they see.

Hair, hairline, part, forehead, wrinkles, temples, eyebrows, eyelashes, eyeballs, pupils, eyelids, nose, nostrils, cheeks, upper lip, lower lip, etc. I demonstrate this on them, doing a steady beat of one item per second. Then I tell them to do it on me, and they’re welcome to name the same things on me I named on them.

Slow-brain processors don’t see details, so they may be down to my shoes by the time they’ve named 12 items. They keep practicing, starting at the top, then at the bottom, until they can get 20 in 20 seconds, then 30 in 30 seconds, etc. The rule is that they have to look at the thing they are naming when they name it.

Naming is a great way for the client to see a measurable change in the number of things they can name in a period. It also speeds up the brain and often begins to result in easier awakening, better memory and stopping the bedwetting.

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Keys to the Naming Game

The keys to naming as we developed it in the early days in Attention Development Programs in Atlanta:

Practice for 3 minutes, perhaps starting with as few as 10 seconds in a trial until the client can name 10 things in 10 seconds.

Count and keep track of how many things were named, so you can see progress, and write down (or even better, have the client graph) the number of items.

Continue naming until you can name 140 items in 3 minutes without a break (about 47/minute).

Focus on naming details (I like to start on the body) starting up top and going down (e.g. hair, part, bangs, forehead, eyebrows, eyelashes, eyes, pupils, nose, bridge of the nose, etc.) The client counts and the trainer times.

Repeat the same naming site until the client can name at a 1/second pace or close to it.

There are some rules I always use:

You can’t name from a picture; you must name from a real-world item like a person or items in a room–3-dimensional.

Do NOT point when you name. In working with autistic children or those with very slow brains, sometimes the trainer can point to help them focus, but the goal is for them to focus with their eyes on their own.

The namer must look at the item being named when naming it. This creates and reinforces (as it is repeated in successive trials) a neural network that includes the visual item, the spoken name of the item, the heard name of the item, so language processing (beta), which is the goal, becomes more fluid and the brain is able to sustain it for longer periods (speeding up the naming).

When the client gets good at the complete body/clothing, move to items in the car, items in the kitchen, etc. and repeat those until they are fluid.

Get a stopwatch and an inventory counter (clicker), which the coach uses during naming–and then switch roles. I’ll name and you count, then you name and I’ll count. Not competing with each other but just trying to beat our own records.

The namer has to remain still when naming, especially for fidgeters.

The Naming Walk

There is also the naming walk, which is being combined with naming here but is different. That’s actually something that Fritz Perls taught me. Go out for a walk, ideally in a situation where you can speak out loud without having people around you think you are crazy. Out loud–or even under your breath–maintain a constant monologue in this form: “Now I’m aware of the tree on my right; now I’m aware of how tall it is–maybe 60 feet; now I’m aware of how rough the bark is; now I’m aware of a breeze that just came by; now I’m aware of a collie trotting toward me,” etc. What you will find is that you can do it just fine for 30 seconds or a minute or maybe even more, before you suddenly realize that you aren’t doing it any more. You’re thinking. Stop, turn around and look back to see what was the last thing you were aware of. Then start again. “Now I’m aware I’m getting a cucumber out of the refrigerator, now I’m aware I’m closing the refrigerator door, now I’m looking for a knife to slice the cucumber, etc.” This one is not necessarily time-limited like naming. Naming is 3 minutes. I would often break it up into 1-minute segments, trying to get up to 47 or more things. Then begin putting them together.

If you have a client who has a hard time waking up or getting going in the morning, wake them up and sit on the bed and have them start naming. You’ll be amazed how quickly they wake up.

Reading Aloud

Simply have the client read aloud. Alternate with the client until he/she builds up some stamina.

Stump the Jock

Pick an age-appropriate piece of written material–usually starting with a paragraph. It should have factual information in it (names, dates, places, etc.). Both the trainer and the client read it at the same time (can be aloud first, but then silently).

Take turns:  One asks the other a question that is answered in the paragraph. The other has to answer correctly.  If yes, a point is gained; if no, a point is lost. The person being questioned can challenge the asker to demonstrate that the question is answered in the paragraph if there is any doubt.  If it is, he loses a point; if not, the asker loses a point.

One of the keys in this game is for the client to learn that there are facts in written material, learn to recognize them and remember them.  You can’t ask good questions unless you recognize the facts.

A second key is how to ask open-ended questions.  For example, instead of “how many times does a hummingbird flap its wings in a second”?”, ask “how fast does a hummingbird flap its wings?

I explain to kids that they are learning how to know what questions will be on a test (if there are still tests in school).  All the teacher does is look for facts in the assigned reading or lecture and makes up questions.  If you recognize the facts when you read and know how to turn them into questions, you know what will be on the test.

With practice, you can expand the reading material from a paragraph to a page or more.

The final point I do is to show the client how to read (or take notes) in shorthand:  write down the facts when listening to a set of instructions in your own code. For example, I tell the client, “there are 4 books here on the table” (if there are still books in school). “First I want you to take the biggest book, turn to page 311 and find the 4th word in the 4th row and jot it down on this paper.  Then take the red-covered book, find the 4th page from the end and take the first 3 words in the last sentence and write them on this paper,” etc.

The client might make notes like “biggest 311 4w in 4r; red -4p last s w 1-3”

Note Taking

Note taking is another tool to teach if you get that far.