A slight learning disability? Related to being an aspie?

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I recently watched an episode of Close to Home, and there was this teenager who was said to have auditory processing problems. Basically, he was asked to recite the beginning steps of a recipe, and he couldn't recall it afterwards. The strange thing was that I could relate to what was going on, not as bad as this kid but I could relate. I never thought of it as a learning disability, and I don't recall anyone ever telling me it was any sort of problem.

A recent example. I was recently in the clinic where my mother is being treated for diabetic problems. She asked me to wash a few clothes. I wasn't keen on knowing how to use the washer, so I asked her what I should do. I don't really know why I asked, because I usually figure things out on my own anyhow. Anyways, after she told me, I was like trying to replay it in my mind, and I was at a loss. I couldn't remember the steps. By night arrived, I was completely oblivious to the steps. I did it by figuring it out anyhow.

The strange thing is that I have been in these situations before, but I never even acknowledged that it was a problem. I thought that people's perception were different, that some were better and others were not as good. I thought of myself as the type that just didn't learn good by auditory processing. I remember being in a college class during the start of my college education. It was a class given to special-needs students to help them better their lives through college. They talked about auditory versus visual learners. I recalled, though I can't give exact details, that I didn't see myself fitting fully into either one, but I fit much easier into the visual learning criteria. Since I didn't consider myself an auditory learner, I just thought that this inability to fully understand sequences when spoken was just because I was more a visual learner.

Now I find out that it may actually be a learning disability? I have always compensated for this problem, usually by doing things on my own or reading instructions, though that is sometimes hard as well. I remember not grasping some things professors said, so I used the book material much more than I did listening in class.

- Ray M -

Is it memory?

Recalling lists of numbers, like that?

That would be CAPD (Central Auditory Processing Disorder).

Now, this is where it gets quite unusual. If I fully concentrate on what was being said, like tuning everything else out, then I think I may be able to recite the steps. I don't know, cause I've never tried that. I can, however, recall long sets of numbers in this manner, as was done on some sort of IQ test years ago. I even was able to recall a lot of numbers backwards in order, which was something the tester thought was unusual.

It may be that I would have to tune everything out around me, but who does that? Who really puts themselves into a trance-like state, which I can by fixating my vision on a particular object while listening very carefully, when given instructions? If I don't do that, I get very confused, as if the instructions are garbled in my mind.

- Ray M -

I also have very good auditory memory for conversations and parts of speech but I cannot follow instructional sequences very well. I think these unusual strengths and weaknesses are all part of the "uneven" development that people with AS experience.

"I recently watched an episode of Close to Home, and there was this teenager who was said to have auditory processing problems"

This would probably be Auditory Processing Disorder (Or Central Auditory Processing Disorder).

I have this. It is a pain in the arse. I can't follow long conversations, mis-hear things constantly, have very poor organisational skills inn general (though I can be very ordered, to the point of obsessive, about specific things) can't remember verbal information, have poor short term memory, have very poor directional abilities (I have read this is linked to APD), find it very hard to learn foreign languages, find following films and plays tricky...the list goes on and on.

"I also have very good auditory memory for conversations and parts of speech"

I can't quote people, or remember what I said on the phone, or remember specifics about conversations. My world of auditory information is entirely paraphrased and surmised.

There is very little awareness about APD. In the UK it doesn't yet have any specific guide for diagnosis even!

Hi Aeturnus, I have Auditory processing disorder. It is a hidden disorder and I have lived with the guilt and shame all my life of never being normal, always trying to at least appear normal, fit in and try to cope amid the chaos. Life with undiagnosed APD is very hard. Read the following and get go and do the central hearing test. Having confirmation makes it easier and the sooner you can start implementing coping strategies and creating awareness among your relatives and friends, the better. Best wishes.

http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/ea ... itory.html
http://www.longislandpress.com/index.ph ... &a_id=6284
http://www.crisiscounseling.com/Articles/CAPD.htm
http://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthT ... 06&id=2330
http://home.iprimus.com.au/rboon/CAPD.htm
http://www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/proc ... rking.html
http://www.infolinks.apduk.org/adult_page.htm

PS: I am going to be tested for inattentive ADD next week. Should be interesting since APD and ADD often coexist or mask one another.

I have Non Verbal Learning Disability NVLD or NLD www.nldline.com

I have difficulty watching people doing things and then remembering it in the right order. My Verbal IQ is higher than my Performance IQ.

http://www.as-if.org.uk/experience.htm

This details other problems people experience.

That’s I have some sort of central auditory processing problem. There was one time I got in to an argument with my ex-girlfriend she tried to put my down saying how can I make it as a programmer if I cannot write down the phone numbers said to me.

I don’t want to avoid situations that need good audio processing. I want to fix the problem. I think if I use a typing dictation machine, and practice typing out what has been said, that should help me a little.

[quote="emc"] My Verbal IQ is higher than my Performance IQ.[quote]

Oh yeah, me too, lots higher. I also, according to a formal evaluation, have "a severe deficit in the visual-spatial-motor areas". Basically I'm uncoordinated, have difficulty judging distances, height, speed etc. and cannot draw to save my life.