Do your ears work?

Post Reply New Topic

Much better than average, unless there is any distraction (then I process poorly).

I often have the same problem. What I do to compensate, is to write down almost everything that I need to retain from what I am being told. I keep a Palm Pilot with me at all times so I can do this. I used to write on paper, but I would lose track of the pieces of paper. I can also check that I understood what was said by comparing what I write vs. what I heard. This may look odd, but it is preferable to the problems caused by not absorbing the spoken message, especially at work.

It's difficult often. CAPT is a big problem for me.

My ears work very, very well.
The part of my brain that makes sense out of human speech- that doesn't work so well. Things come in scrambled, and it's very, very difficult to concentrate on someone talking.

I'm the same way. My hearing is fantastic, but I can't tell where a sound is coming from, or what people are saying when they talk to me. My auditory processing skills are miserable. When I'm talking to somebody I have to face them so that I can read their lips or else I don't know what they're saying. (Which means I'm lost during phone conversations because there are no lips to read.) People who mumble are the worst ever, and people with accents. They're so much harder to understand. I wish everyone would just email me.

I swear that whenever I'm in a public place like a restaurant, or especially when I'm on the phone I can never hear whatever people are saying to me and i ask and ask and by the third time i give up and move on because i really don't want to have to continue asking.

It's the concentrating that's hard for me..
my brain stops on one thing, but the person keeps talking. D: I don't even notice, so it's really hard to catch it.
And sometimes the words just hit a wall and never even make it into my head, even if I'm trying to listen. XD;;

I'm pretty good with accents though. It takes a few seconds, but processing weird sounding words is not as hard as processing sentences with complicated meaning.

And someone mentioned fire alarms...
XD;;
I don't mind them, really. The problem is that it takes me forever to notice them (like, realize that the disruption is a sound) and figure out what they are. It depends on what they sound like, because they all sound different and it has different effects, but usually they just confuse the hell out of me.

I write notes in business meetings which can help to slow down the person who is speaking IF they are paying attention to me.

I don't make written notes in 'social' settings as that would seem weird even to ME.............

I'm n ot sure really. When I was younger school folk used to say I did better with auditory input than with tactiel input (ie. braille, I'm blind). Now that may be cause of my very slow braille reading at the time, so that my auditory processing may've been jsut a little weak but still better than my braille reading. Or maybe my auditory understanding is just a little worse.

Now I do have difficulty understanding speech sometiems when there is backgorund noise. My boyfriend (who has a soft voice) jokes that we should learn tactile sign language in case I'm going deaf.

Edit: note that difficulty understanding sounds/speech doesn't always mean auditory processing deficits. Auditory processing is what the brain does when the ears have received the message fine. If you are actuallyhaving hearing loss, it may also look liek you're having difficulty with AP.

Hmmm... I'm a "NT". I had a neuropsych eval after multiple auto wrecks that reported I have no neurological issues or "mental health" issues, my "IQ" is above average, and my auditory processing is 17th percentile (I've learned ways to self-accommodate). I have earplugs for sleeping and sometimes ask others to repeat. I am athletic and am excellent with finances. I was extremely sensitive to light and sound for years until I tried EMDR for the auto wrecks and found a noticeable improvement (certain high pitched female voices and sounds would "irritate" my nerves; EMDR alleviated that). EMDR also eliminated my debilitating fear of heights even though there was no connected 'trauma'.

I'd like to encourage those reading this to be a bit easier on yourself...

Life is a struggle for almost every human on earth in many different ways...

Each human is important and deserving of kindness and respect...

LOL I came here to post "they work too well" also. I can hear every sound. I usually sleep with soft silicone earplugs. They are actually a Speedo-made swimming accessory. But I desperately needed ear plugs one night when neighbors were being loud and those were the only ones I had. They turned out to be perfect for sleeping!

Where in WA are you located?