Auditory processing disorder and Aspies?
I often have problems understanding what people are talking about, even though I can hear the words and understand the meaning of the words. I just can't connect them up to make sense. I’m particularly bad at listening to abstract talks. The problem becomes worse in a noisy environment where I’m not able to hear the words properly because I can’t filter out the background noise.
I’ve difficulty in remembering names, though frustratingly, I often remember a part of the name such as the first or last letter or some vowels sounds. I often verbally get words mixed up such as Safeways and Sainsburys.
I have a diagnosis for dyslexia and I tend to see these problems as expressions of this condition though I suspect there could be some crossover with other neurological conditions such autism and CAPD.
Irlen lens can be very helpful to some people with these problems. I've got a pair with green tints but I only wear them if I really stressed out.
We suspect my wife (NT) has APD, but there's no one in the area that will test adults on our insurance, and the test costs a LOT.
In her research, she's found that while there is therapy, there is no cure.
I often have to repeat what I say because she doesn't get it right the first time. I find that she'll often mis-hear me when talking with my back to her, or in another room. If I face her it's rarely a problem.
This has been my biggest frustration ; auditory processing.
I often have to think conciously about what words are being spoken, where most people don't have to think about them. I follow subtitles on TV shows and movies *even* when the audio is in my native language and the subtitles are in a 2nd language ; I find it easier to follow the foriegn-language subtitles than my native language spoken words.
I once was in a relationshop with a "quiet talker" (like the girl in an old Sienfield episode). She would whisper in the kitchen while I am out in the garden, and wonder why I'm "not paying attention to what she's saying". It was worse in shopping malls or streets where there were noisy roadworks, people would not speak up to compensate for the noise, so I had to lip-read and often got it wrong.
The way I dealt with this was
- mime words back at them without making any sound at all. It didn't do any good for me, but it would really really annoy them. So the 'annoyance' balance was restored.
- take video clips of them talking with my mobile phone. Devices like these typically do not filter into speech over background noise, so those devices, like myself, would hear the real unfiltered World. When I play the video clip back to them, I say, "now *you* try and hear yourself speaking!"
- exaggerate my facial expressions to suggest I'm particularly annoyed with the background noise and trying to focus on what the person is saying, like putting my hand behind my ear and moving my ear forward towards their face. Most neuro-rational people would interpret this as a sign that they had better get closer or speak up a bit. But most neuro-typical are oblivious to such signals. At least I can satisfy myself that at least I've *tried* to listen to them.
Yes! This happens to me all the time. I keep mishearing what people say despite having good hearing.
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Although, the misheard sentences can be amusing sometimes.
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