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Problems Filtering Out Noise When Listening To Someone Talk?

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Aspienoid
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10 Jul 2009, 11:22 am

I can hear a person when they are talking, but I can't process the words. It's okay with other sounds, such as picking out a single instument in a band, but when it comes to picking out and hearing a single voice, forget it. it won't work. I can't understand why it is just voices. Things have to be dead silent for me to hear a person.


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activebutodd
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10 Jul 2009, 11:45 am

I hate the people who bray loud laughter as though they're the only ones in the cafe, while I'm trying to talk about/listen to something.
I'm forever asking my companion 'sorry?' 'repeat that?' and shooting jackasses murderous glances when it happens repeatedly.

It's lucky I can lipread a little, but it's still so very frustrating and it makes me tense when I'm missing parts of a conversation.



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10 Jul 2009, 3:15 pm

Silvervarg wrote:
I usually explain the issue; I can hear that you are talking, but not what you are saying. (Modified translation.)
Sometimes it's not even background noice, I just can't make out what they're saying, it sounds familiar but makes no connection.

I know what you're saying. I hate it when people respond to my puzzled look by repeating, word for word, exactly what they just said. Chances are if I didn't understand what they were saying the first time I'm not going to understand the second time either. There doesn't seem to exist a nonverbal way of communicating "I didn't understand, could you repeat that in slightly different words" verses "I didn't hear you, could you repeat that word for word". If I don't say anything my expression is always interpreted as the latter. :x



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10 Jul 2009, 4:30 pm

Crocodile wrote:
When I was younger it made me wonder whether I had some kind of a hearing problem.


Same here


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10 Jul 2009, 5:13 pm

I have often found that even when there is not enough distracting noise to stop me from making out most of what someone says, I still miss the opening words which are usually crucial to the meaning of the sentence of question. This seems to be a delay in processing followed by a "tuning-in". It's usually the difference between, for example, "WOULD you do this?", "COULD you do this?" and "DID you do this?". Obviously I don't know the answer to the question because I couldn't make out the first word. Requests to repeat the question are, stupidly, met with a repetition of the end of the question, which I heard anyway. When I tried to explain this to medics and psychs years ago (before I had heard of APD), they could only see it in terms of either (a) my hearing, which would turn out fine in tests, or (b) the other person's poor communication, which was usually a half-truth, as other people could understand what was said. They couldn't see the blindingly obvious, namely that APD would make me hypersensitive to the other person's poor communication.



mechanicalgirl39
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10 Jul 2009, 5:19 pm

activebutodd wrote:
I hate the people who bray loud laughter as though they're the only ones in the cafe, while I'm trying to talk about/listen to something.
I'm forever asking my companion 'sorry?' 'repeat that?' and shooting jackasses murderous glances when it happens repeatedly.

It's lucky I can lipread a little, but it's still so very frustrating and it makes me tense when I'm missing parts of a conversation.


I do that all the god damn time. I come across as having bad hearing, but actually it's other noises getting in the way.

I don't really have an adaptation other than asking people to yell louder.


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11 Jul 2009, 10:47 am

OddFinn wrote:
Skilpadde wrote:
OddFinn wrote:
I have learned to filter other sounds and listen to one speaker at a time. I only have problems listening if I should follow many speakers who speak on top of each other.


How did you learn this, OddFinn?
No matter how much I try to distinguish between two people talking at once, or one person talking while the surroundings are noisy, I find myself unable to. The voices or the noise and the voice cancel each other out like waves on the ocean and I don't pick up on what's said at all.


I can not really explain it, but it took a huge amount of concentrating. Then it just kept becoming easier every time through practicing. One of my special interests, namely radios, has helped in this. Listening to a weak station through all the hissing and static and other interfering stations is really good practice.



Thanks for the tip. I will try that.