Auditory Processing Disorder

Auditory Processing Disorder

Auditory Processing

I was wondering if anyone has heard of this disorder?

I was doing some reading the weekend when I came across Auditory Processing Disorder and everything was sounding eerily familiar (no pun intended ).

I tend to isolate myself from my community by choice, but that is because I have great difficulty hearing people. People don't tend to want to converse with you if you only seem to say "What?" every two seconds. lol
Carrying on a conversation becomes tiring as I strain to be able to understand the person who is trying to talk to me. The worst part is that my hearing is "fine". Every time I get a hearing test I always test within the acceptable range, but then again I am in a sound proof room. As soon as there is any other noise, all I hear is Charlie Brown's parents. lol. Waa Waa Waa Waa Waaaaa. So I have basically given up meeting new people, and only interact with those I am required to, out of frustration.

It seems like I literally hear half of what is going on, and my mind fills in the blanks with its best guess as to what is being said. It is almost like texting someone with predictive spelling turned on (xt9 I think it is called). It can make for some interesting conversations. (some funny examples can be found at : www.facebook.com...)

On time I was working and talking to a coworker when I suddenly stopped, turned to him and said "Blue Octopods?" He just looked at me like I was insane, as most people would do. He knew about my hearing, so he just laughed and informed me he said nothing even remotely like that. But that is how my mind interpreted what I heard. I could swear I heard him say "Blue octopods". It has been a running joke in my family ever since. My brother even gave me a blue octopus for Christmas one year.

Also, when people ask me to do things at work I have to tell them to email it to me. Not only will I mishear what they want me to do, but I have great difficulty recalling what they said even a few minutes later. So now I always tell them, if you want me to get it done, email it to me, otherwise I WILL forget. Nothing like setting the customers expectations correctly, eh?

Anyway, my purpose hear is to see if anyone else has had similar experiences, or if anyone knows more about Auditory Processing Disorder in the hopes that I may be able to finally find out what is wrong with me when it comes to my hearing.

Thank you for your time....

I used to have pretty much the same problem in high school. I seem to have mostly grown out of it since I usually don't have trouble hearing people when speaking face to face anymore. I can hardly use phones though, I feel like everything I hear through one is gibberish.

reply to post by warbird03


I have a very similar problem, but now co-existing with is hearing loss from too much driving with the window down as a youngster. I've found it is useless trying to explain the problem to people. Even when in shorthand form when I tell them that, yes, the ears hear, but bewteen them and the brain, the signals get scrambled. (Actually, it is the brain that is scrambled. The wiring is probably ok.)

Perhaps you also have difficultly spelling words because they don't just come to you, and you may have a lot of problems with the "pre-" and "per" prefixes because you can never exactly hear the right intonations for them. I've given up trying to learn Spanish from my Rosetta program. It is supposedly self-paced, but not if I never advance much as I play the same phrase or word over and over.

Anyway, I know your difficulty, even if your problelm is a bit different.

This is last suggestion is a bit far out, but if you never quite mentioned about your thought processes during those exchanges. If you consider yourself to be something of an empath or intuitive, then that "talent" can may be part of the problem. You mind is receive far more info psychically than the person is delivering by mouth. One solution is to learn to turn off the sensing of the other person's life history. It can be done. I know it sounds crazy, but that problem is not unknown with those that accept such capabilities.

reply to post by Aliensun


That could be part of my problem. I know I'm never quite listening to what someone's actually saying but how they say it, and that doesn't translate well over the phone It drives my boss absolutely insane that he has to actually come downstairs to talk to me. At least he can use the exercise

Originally posted by warbird03
reply to post by Aliensun

 

That could be part of my problem. I know I'm never quite listening to what someone's actually saying but how they say it, and that doesn't translate well over the phone

It drives my boss absolutely insane that he has to actually come downstairs to talk to me. At least he can use the exercise

My professional training was absolutely centered on getting verbal info and putting it into a coherent order. I soon discovered that I was not up to that simple task. Basically, the info is not getting into the proper processing centers of the brain. As I age, it is getting worse due to short-term memory slipping away. You know, we remember our HS graduation, but not where we put our coffee cup. Needless to say, I was not able to follow in my professional training--that is ok, I didn't care for the politiics of it. My solution was to start and do various business and jobs that were more physical, working with my hands in some fashion. It's not like I'm dumb, just deficient in some areas!

Another one of my traits is I don't think on my feet and never can say what I want and am not glib about it when I do. Some of the problem I have learned about from doing some EEG work--which may help the problem--is that both sides of the brain may be trying to work as the same time and that fouls things up. EEG training can help the brain adjust to a normal condition.

Humm...sounds so familiar.

I had always told my husband and my parents that I thought I needed to get a hearing aid because I had so much trouble hearing. It's like if I ain't looking at the person face to face things get muddled...and I am constantly saying huh? or what? so much sometimes that I get embarrassed.

I worked at a factory at one time and we had to have hearing tests. Well they brought in those big Van type buses that do these hearing evaluations for factories. I took the test and returned to work. It was probably a week I guess and my boss came to me on the line and said I had to have the hearing test redone. He told me that they said they had never had anyone score that high ever....I redid the test with the same results. They told me I had the most perfect hearing that they have ever seen. I'm like what??? I thought I was starting to have hearing problems...and they was telling me my hearing was beyond perfect.....
Well I explained to them my hearing problem and they told me that I was actually taking in all the "chatter" around me. I apparently couldn't separate all the noise within the room or area I was in .Which made it difficult to hear what someone was saying if I was not looking straight at them.
I can't hardly hear on a phone. Especially if there is background noise. I get tired of saying huh so much.
Can't say this condition is what my problem is but sounds like a possibility....

reply to post by LiquidCrystalz


Exactly how it is for me. Perfect scores on every hearing test I've had to take, but I feel like I can't hear a thing in a conversation.

This happens to me when the person is boring during conversation, can't speak properly or takes 20mins to tell something that happened in 5mins.



This happens to me a lot at work but I'm good at the "uh huh" and "yes" so they don't really notice.

Originally posted by LiquidCrystalz
Humm...sounds so familiar.

Well I explained to them my hearing problem and they told me that I was actually taking in all the "chatter" around me. I apparently couldn't separate all the noise within the room or area I was in .Which made it difficult to hear what someone was saying if I was not looking straight at them.
I can't hardly hear on a phone. Especially if there is background noise. I get tired of saying huh so much.
Can't say this condition is what my problem is but sounds like a possibility....

Yes, "background chatter, that is a key aspect of it. In fact, I rarely listen to the radio in the house or car, and never have the TV on because all of that noise, if even music interfers in my throught processes. It drives me up the wall to go to my daughter's house where the TV is always on and distracting to me (but not them).

Last summer I spent an incredible amount of money on two hearing aids. I went in with the major complaint that I could understand little in a crowded area. It was found that I do have a major lose in four high-frequency ranges. I was allowed to believe that the aids would solve my problem. Not! I've found that they merely pickup even more of the background noise and make it even more difficult for me to hear female voices at our table. On a one-to-one basis, they may improve my understanding, but not where there is background noise. As I've said, I'm satisfied that my problem is more involved that merely hearing. It is something I've had all of my life and loss of hearing is only making it more noticeable.

I've got this as well, though am not so sure it's a disorder rather a genetic propensity made manifest via environmental triggers. I process everything all at once, whether it be visual or auditory stimuli. It's pretty much beyond me not to process everything, even while being able to focus on just one thing.

For example, I often go to a local pub and play these Megetouch games. I can focus on the screen and do well, but will also be witnessing everything around me, visually and auditory. It's how I've always been and if it's an actual pathology, well let me say with certainty that it's a pathology of superiority in my case overall.

reply to post by unityemissions


My Father was like that. He would watch TV, listen to the radio, listen to the police scanner and decode morse code all at the same time. It used to drive the family nuts because the TV, radio and scanner were in the living room, but the amateur radio set was in the den at the other end of the house.

I have to constantly remind people at work that I can only understand one person talking at a time as everyone tries to tell me their problems at the same time. Or, worse, someone tries to talk to me while I am talking on the phone.

reply to post by BomSquad


Yep, that's pretty much how it is. The thing is when there's too much going on internally and externally we can become overwhelmed, or at least I can.

I have learned to cope and process multiple streams at once; however, if I'm "backed up" with a major issue inside, and yet have several conversations going on at once... I may get quite overwhelmed and no longer be able to make sense of much of anything.

The mall is a perfect example of being overwhelmed. If I'm a-okay inside, I can process hundreds of movements and dozens of conversations all at once, but if there is the slightest bit of "backed up"edness going on,, I will get very overwhelmed and need to "decompress" after words.

Well, I got a response from Mass Eye and Ear and they tell me that they do not do testing for APD. The only place that tests in the New England area, according to the person I spoke with, is the Boston Children's Hospital.
They also tell me that if someone has APD, there is nothing they can do for them anyway.

The story of my life...