Another Lesson from Brain Training

One of the most challenging areas of cognition to improve is processing speed. Processing speed is how fast you are able to do something. It affects everything you do and can seriously impact your academic and functioning abilities.


The other day, we had a staff meeting and received additional training on how to improve a student's processing speed. My boss showed us a technique using one of our procedures. She took the Speed Numbers worksheet- kinda like this but bigger:


 1    4    7    6    9    2    6
 2    9    3    5    1    8    3
 7    2    9    1    6    3    9
 6    2    6    2    9    6    4
 1    6    3    5    9    4    2


and had a mock student come up and told her to circle all of the 5s and cross out all of the 2s as fast as she could. To get through one grid, it took her 22 seconds. Then our boss told the student that she needed to do it faster. She told the student "I want you to do the same thing, but in 10 seconds." 


So the student tried again. She failed. My boss said: "I want you to get to the bottom of the page in 10 seconds. Do it!" Again she failed. Again she tried. However, soon, the student successfully completed the task. 


Although the student was able to double her processing speed pretty quickly, her accuracy decreased. And she said that the whole time she was trying to go faster and faster, she was getting frustrated that she was missing numbers. But accuracy wasn't the goal. Increasing her speed was. Had my boss continued to work with her "student," she would have worked on increasing the accuracy next, but accuracy was not the goal for the moment. She gave her student a ridiculously difficult task to accomplish (double your processing speed in 3 minutes) and it forced her to do things a new way. And that is what changed her.


My boss actually mentioned that she has used this method to improve her business throughout the years. She said that she will set ridiculous goals for her staff and it forces them to work in a new way.

I think that the Lord sometimes gives us ridiculously difficult tasks. They are called trials. Don't our trials seem ironic? I swear, how many times do we say "ANYthing but this!!!" "Give me the trial of X! Give me the trial of Y. But NOT this!"


- I want to be the best mom that I can be. HOW on earth can I do that with this illness?
- I have the righteous desire to provide for my family. Why did I my job get taken away?
- I could do so much if only I weren't alone. All I want is to be with someone. Is that wrong?
- I never, ever expected that my child would be taken from me. Give me anything but this.


And for me personally:
- I know I could be a good mom. I know that JD would be a good dad. It's all I've wanted. Why am I being denied this duty and this blessing? Isn't this what women were divinely called to do? Am I not divine enough?


But God gives us things that He knows we can't deal with on our own. And while we tend to focus on our inadequacies (our accuracy in circling the numbers) God has a different goal for us. All we need to do is try and trust.


What would happen if the student ignored the trainer's instructions to get to the bottom of the page in 10 seconds? What if the student felt that the goal of accuracy was really more important than speed? Or what if the student didn't think she could succeed and didn't attempt it at all? It's easier to decide our way is more important. It's easier to give into the fear of failure and not try at all. But when we try and trust, the Lord will change us. That's what His trials do. They are designed to help us become more- more like Him.


Isn't it amazing? This Gospel is simply amazing.