Can't Express Complex Thoughts

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This just happened and frustrated the heck out of me.

The doctor's office called about my father's appointment and how much he'll owe. They were saying that insurance covers 80% and he has to cover 20%. They said insurance covers $1500 and so he'll owe 20% of that which is $300. That's what they said.

My mom heard the message and I'm trying to explain to her that the math is not correct. I knew in my head that something wasn't right, but I could not articulate it to her. It ended up taking 5 minutes and me repeatedly listening to the message before I was able to get out what I was thinking.

I was trying to say that if insurance pays 80%, which is $1500 according to the message, then my father should owe $375, not $300. As the total cost would be $1875 and 20% of that is $375. The receptionist said my father has to pay 20% of the cost, and she said 20% of $1500 is $300. True, but she also said that the insurance pays 80% and that insurance pays $1500. So clearly the math is wrong. So my father could end up paying $375 or possibly more since someone over there does bad math. I probably didn't explain that as well as I could've but at least my mom understood it and is calling her insurance company.

But this kind of thing is a common problem for me and it only gets worse as I get older. Although, I don't think it's a problem of my brain deteriorating as I age. I think it's that life and life's problems get more complex and become more difficult to explain. Things in my life were a lot more simple 20 years ago.

But why is it so difficult for me to articulate my thoughts? I'm not sure, but I think I saw this insurance issue as a picture in my head. I didn't see it in words or didn't think of it in words, if that makes sense. So it's as if I was trying to translate it from a picture/video in my brain to words that come out of my mouth. Things were getting lost in the translation. Why does that happen? I'd really like to try to fix this. I usually get frustrated when I know I can't explain something and end up saying "I don't know" when I actually do. I think some people think I'm really stupid, and sometimes I feel that way. I can pick up on certain complex things that make no sense, I just can't explain to people why they don't.

I have trouble explaining things too, even though I think in words as well as pictures. That's why I get frustrated here when I really want to explain why I think something is so but I just can't put the right words together unless I write a really long ongoing post that probably nobody will bother to read. Sometimes words come rushing into my mind and I can type away a rather pedantic post, but usually my vocabulary isn't as good as a lot of people's here so I very seldom 'win' in anything. Some logical or complicated things are just like trying to explain the colour blue. It does get frustrating.

I don't know about your other examples but this example with the percentages suggest that maybe this isn't always your fault.

Sometimes people make mistakes that are so basic, it's difficult to explain what the mistake is. It's like trying to explain why 1+1=2. If you understand intuitively why 1+1=2, you've never had to put it into words, and you've probably never heard anyone explain it in words, you might have trouble putting it into words yourself. It's the kind of concept that is simple, most people have no experience explaining it because they've never needed to explain it. Some concepts (like math) are rarely expressed in words, so people don't have good vocabulary for discussing them.

It is when you have thoughts but your thoughts are like an empty bubble with no words in them,and you need to make the thoughts turn into words... Yes.

Pictures can help.
In this percentage example, drawing a bar and dividing it 4:1 could make the situation much clearer for some people.

^
Except that the receptionist said the insurance company pays 1800, not 1200.

Maybe the receptionist did the Math right but made a mistake when explaining it to you - saying "insurance covers" in place where she should say "the full sum is"?

I highly recommend you log into the insurance account and take look at the Explanation of Benefits.