Spoken directions/information

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Who here has difficulty taking in spoken directions/ information? I find it is quite hard to do so especially if it involves several steps(directions) or pieces of information.
I prefer things written down so I can go over it in my own time.
How much is down to slow processing speed I wouldn't like to say.

I also prefer directions and information written down. If someone just tells me something with a lot of information in it, I forget most of what they said. It must be an Asperger's thing. How someone can remember spoken directions and information is beyond me.

I have the same issue. It's an auditory processing problem: low-capacity auditory memory, probably combined with a lack of wholistic focus (conceptual focus) due to having to over-focus to decode phonemes (basic sound-level focus). By the time people get to the third direction, I will have half-forgotten the first.

As long as the information I am taking in, is not competing with other auditory stimuli, I am quite proficient at processing information, including directions, auditorally (<--not sure if that's an actual word). I visualize each step of the directions in my mind. If the information consists of driving directions, my mind acts as either, a movie camera, or takes multiple, single snapshots of both, the street name and the direction that I will be turning, which becomes stored in my visual memory for future use. If any other sounds are present, including background noise of any kind, all information given to me becomes null and void.

Conversely, I have a visual processing delay, and, I experience something similar to what you have described, but, while processing information, visually. For instance; while reading a medical article, if the researcher's personal information is provided within the body of the article, in order to retain the information I have already read, I have to skip over the researcher's personal info, being that the details are off topic and will, subsequently, deminish, or cancel out the information that I had been processing, prior. Additionally, I am unable to properly process information, visually, if it is accompanied by auditory stimuli of any kind.

Yes, me. I believe it's common amongst autistic people, this problem.

I prefer written directions with a verbal explanation is best if I can choose:).

I learn best by being shown how to complete a task then repeating what I am shown and receiving feedback. Verbal only instructions are almost entirely lost to me. Written only instructions without examples or some visual aids are difficult for me as well to follow.

I have dyslexia & ADD in addition to my Aspergers & I forget information or get it confused when there's a lot at 1ce. I prefer to take things one step at a time.

Wow, I have exactly the same problem as well. Also translating those directions into the action requested without any visual aids is almost impossible. Written directions are key. I also have trouble processing several stimuli at the same time. When I need to perform multiple tasks they become queued and I will do them in the order in which demands my attention. If there are too many I end up dropping them all and failing miserably at whatever task I was doing.

I'm not very good at following orders in any guise. I reckon it's mostly some type of quiet, internal panicking that's the culprit. I had this problem quite a bit back at high school, where I'd usually end up selected by a teacher for my apparent studious quietness to pass on a message, etc... but would need to ask them to explain themselves again, sometimes repeatedly, because I can't seem to help glazing over everything they told me - it's embarrassing. It's almost as though I'm trying too hard to listen to them, if that makes sense.

I have had to stop asking people for directions when I am lost as I know they might as well be talking in a foreign language. If the list of directions is longer than a couple of steps I've got no chance of processing the information , the first few steps go into my brain then I'll go into some sort of autopilot and I'll just nod and pretend that the information I'm getting is useful.

I do much better when instructions are written down.

In action movies, the bad guys are always:
• giving a long list of demands with obscure items,
• or names, addresses, and phone numbers,

• rapidly,
• with no cue that they are about to give important information that you need to remember,
• and they never repeat themselves!
If the good guy asks, "What?", the bad guy says, "You heard me!", and hangs up the phone (fully expecting that the good guy actually heard, remembered, and understood all of his instructions).


If I were the good guy:
• I would need them to give me a shorter list of demands,
• I would need to stop to look up what any obscure items were,
• I would need them to explain some of their instructions,
• uncommon names would have to be spelled out,
• the addresses and phone numbers would have to be broken up into manageable pieces,

• they would need to speak slowly,
• cue me when they are about to give me important information,
• and repeat themselves several times.
But they would probably just hang up and I would have heard, remembered, and understood NONE OF IT. I am going to get all of the hostages killed!