Auditory Processing Disorder or ADD?

[sbcy]

I often feel like I'm slow to process what someone has said but other times it's instantaneous like a "normal" person. I'll be about to or actually say "what?" and then realize what was said. This happens quite a bit and tends to be worse with new people and thick accents. Other times I don't know what the person said, I can play back the sounds in my head usually but my brain doesn't match up what is said right away if at all. I also have a somewhat similar problem with reading, I'll be reading the words but not process the meaning right away. My parents seem to have a similar issue at times but their excuse is that they're "old" so being a little "slow" doesn't seem abnormal. I also noticed that when I took adderall xr and it actually worked (rarely did) I was able to zone in and understand virtually every word despite a person's accent. This was only in a few instances though so it's hard to judge.

Other times both of these problems are not there and I have never had any problems with my hearing or vision.

What could be going on? How can I improve? This has made me very withdrawn in social situations (usually) because I'm not sure I understand what was said. It got worse and worse growing up as language became more complex.

[silivrentoliel]

I'm not actually sure if this is ADHD related or not... but I have the same issue. Often, I just kinda go w/ it if I can't catch what was said... a lot of times, it's people I am closest to (not distance wise, I mean family or friends)- I swear they mumble or just pretend to say something... I no longer ask "what" 10x before they just tell me to forget it... I just pretend I heard them.

As for improving... apart from asking people to face you when they speak and working on lip reading or something, I don't know.

[LondonCA]

There must be some ADHD connection. My pdoc had me do several auditory tests during my assessment. I wasn’t expecting these kinds of tests and was surprised at how much I struggled to repeat the words (you have headphones on and listen for certain words with background noises and switching between the left and right ear).
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He said that my scores should improve once I am on the stimulant meds. Not sure how the meds affect this, but I’m interested to see if there are changes when I do follow up testing.>>

[CheekyMonkey]

It could be either. Maybe get it checked out by a speech and language pathologist? There are exercises that can be done to help improve auditory processing, but they might not be that helpful if the issue is only ADD based.

[kristo]

Sbcy, I have the exact same issue as you. I can totally relate to what you describe. I haven't been diagnosed with ADD yet, but if you noticed an improvement when taking Adderall, then it's most likely due to the ADD and not CAPD.

[Lisa_Mac]

You have described me exactly. I've also been looking into APD but it's possible that it's a part of the attention & focus problems of ADHD.

Lx

[sbcy]

Originally Posted by Lisa_Mac

You have described me exactly. I've also been looking into APD but it's possible that it's a part of the attention & focus problems of ADHD.

Lx

Please post if you find anything that helps!!

Adderall was very inconsistent for me - most of the time it didn't work but a few times it REALLY did. I wouldn't miss anything, it was amazing. I'm wondering if it has something to do with serotonin because I find I'm a little more able to pay attention when my OCD is less (though I'm still slow). Could it be a balance issue? Then again, lots of people with OCD are able to pay attention...hmm. Maybe my serotonin levels were just higher the days adderall "worked"?

[Lisa_Mac]

Originally Posted by sbcy

Please post if you find anything that helps!!

Adderall was very inconsistent for me - most of the time it didn't work but a few times it REALLY did. I wouldn't miss anything, it was amazing. I'm wondering if it has something to do with serotonin because I find I'm a little more able to pay attention when my OCD is less (though I'm still slow). Could it be a balance issue? Then again, lots of people with OCD are able to pay attention...hmm. Maybe my serotonin levels were just higher the days adderall "worked"?

I've never used Adderall because it's illegal in my country but I find although Concerta was not terribly effective, Ritalin IR works brilliantly, to the point that I've come to the conclusion that my problem is definitely ADHD related rather than CAPD. Not only am I more sociable on ritalin, but I am able to focus on conversations, follow what is being said, and respond intelligently and with humour, without losing track of things. It's quite remarkable. I also don't make stupid mistakes like using the wrong words because my brain and my mouth were moving in different directions.

By the way, although I say Ritalin, I actually take the Generic form, but it's the same active ingredient, so I'm sure it's the same as Ritalin.

My processing speed is much faster and I don't have to ever ask people to repeat themselves. Saw the new marvel Avengers movie this afternoon and had no problem following the plot. Could actually understand what was being said rather than just a lot of words and noise and only understanding half of the plot. By the way I found this article very useful.

http://adultadhdrelationships.blogsp...1_archive.html

Lx

[ginniebean]

comorbidity rates are very high. I have both.

[Drewbacca]

I'm curious. I had speech problems when I was a child and couldn't pronounce a lot of words. Even after speech therapy, and to this day, I can't hear a difference between some words, for example tool/toll or male/mail... is this related to auditory processing disorder or is it something else entirely?

[Nautilus]

I have this too.

Sometimes my reply sounds like "What? It's right on the kitchen table where you left it" (no pause) because by the time I got out the "What," I understood/"heard" what had been said.

I find it embarrassing in social situations where people don't know me well. Sometimes I'm the last to "get" a joke, but it's not that it's over my head - which is the impression I give. I understand jokes just fine and I can even pick up on very subtle ones, extremely quickly if written down, and with a slight delay when spoken.

Other auditory stuff I have are: difficulty hearing/understanding a voice in a crowd/over music, high sensitivity to noise pollution, especially when sleeping, but don't mind "white noise" sounds like fans, good ability to hear quiet noises, difficulty determining the direction of a noise if there's no other clues.

Other sensory stuff I have are: intolerance to poor weather (humidity and cold), first to detect a mild odor. My eyes are just slightly more sensitive to sunlight than most people. Need darkness to sleep.

I *think* these are ADHD-related. They don't cause too much of a problem by themselves, and I see ADHD as the primary issue, and think it involves higher sensitivity (including - especially! to mental events). I don't have stuff like particularly high sensitivity to clothing fabric though, that others have.

Drewbacca, male and mail sound exactly the same! You are not missing anything there. toll and tool are quite different though. Can you hear the difference between droll and drool? foal and fool? goal and ghoul? coal and cool? pole and pool? All of these have the same sound difference as toll and tool does.

Personally I don't have pronunciation problems that I know of (unless I haven't heard how a certain word is supposed to be pronounced very often - but that's a learning, not processing problem), but some people say I have a mild accent (they can't specify what country's accent it sounds like), and I don't speak another language. Other people say I have no accent whatsoever, so take that for what it's worth.

[silivrentoliel]

Originally Posted by Nautilus

Drewbacca, male and mail sound exactly the same! You are not missing anything there. toll and tool are quite different though. Can you hear the difference between droll and drool? foal and fool? goal and ghoul? coal and cool? pole and pool? All of these have the same sound difference as toll and tool does.

Personally I don't have pronunciation problems that I know of (unless I haven't heard how a certain word is supposed to be pronounced very often - but that's a learning, not processing problem), but some people say I have a mild accent (they can't specify what country's accent it sounds like), and I don't speak another language. Other people say I have no accent whatsoever, so take that for what it's worth.

Gah, don't get me started on pronunciations and mishearing or not hearing people at all. I speak (what I call) "true" Southern- from GA/TN area (even though I was raised in FL, my family is from that area) and I now live in AR, which has a very distinct, verrrrrry different sound... so my words aren't understood here, and I don't understand what people around me say well over half the time, unless they don't have accents (like my DH or best friend). Apart from that, I over-pronounce things b/c ... well, I have no idea why. Like PEN and PIN have very different sounds when I say them, but BOIL, OIL, FOIL, etc all pretty much sound the say. Yeah, weird.

[Harrier]

Originally Posted by silivrentoliel

Gah, don't get me started on pronunciations and mishearing or not hearing people at all. I speak (what I call) "true" Southern- from GA/TN area (even though I was raised in FL, my family is from that area) and I now live in AR, which has a very distinct, verrrrrry different sound... so my words aren't understood here, and I don't understand what people around me say well over half the time, unless they don't have accents (like my DH or best friend). Apart from that, I over-pronounce things b/c ... well, I have no idea why. Like PEN and PIN have very different sounds when I say them, but BOIL, OIL, FOIL, etc all pretty much sound the say. Yeah, weird.

I have trouble with most changes in accents or language. Spanish and Indian really throw me. I have trouble with some registers for English, but do very well with Australians. New Zealanders are hard for me to understand.

I am seeing a SLP, but she is pretty sure is not language related. I am older, so finding anything normed for me is hard. The tests use proper language, not accents and less than perfect grammar. They also give short sentences and let me read them. Conversations are different. Conversations with people I don't trust who exhibit lots of emotion are very different.

[Lisa_Mac]

I used to have to speak to a customer who spoke with a scottish accent. It was absolute torture for me, and really embarrassing, as I kept having to say "excuse me". I just couldn't decipher what he was saying.

If I'm watching tv and someone is speaking on the phone in the same room, I literally cannot understand a word that is being said on the tv.

Lx

[shimmm]

I've been looking into APD and I saw online that it was split up into three problem zones:

1. Telling apart important sounds from non-important sounds (such as noticing when someone is calling your name)
2. Making sense out of the sound that is heard
3. Ability to memorize and recall what was heard (hence the ADD/ADHD relevancy)

Initially I thought that I maybe hard-of-hearing and just never knew it (especially when I started to experience discomfort in my ears), but my sound tests came out within the normal range. I ignored the problem for a few more months before finally reading around online to see if this was anything serious, and stumbled on aphasia, and then APD. I've yet to find someone to evaluate me (my insurance is so picky about which professionals I'm allowed to see) but the way I have to ask people to repeat every other sentence if there is any competing noises or if it's a conversation on the phone makes me wonder if I don't have a processing problem:

There are definitely times where I hear the person quite clearly, but the abstract meaning of the sounds I heard are lost, or I'm not able to remember the sounds that were said long enough to make them out (only heard the last couple syllables of the whole sentence), or I decode it completely wrong ("Do you want a spoon" decoded as "Ooooh hoop").

What worries me though is that sometimes I will even say sentences wrong, such as my favorite: Let me put on some feet on my socks. I've said a dozen other odd sentences like:
It's coat outside so wear a cold.
Do you want me to open the bans? (cans with beans inside)
Where the gone bowl? (Where did my bowl go?)

...and names of objects are at the tip of my tongue a couple times a day.. "The uhhh ssssuhhh... (making squeezy motions with my hand)" (Scissors)


Here's what I've been doing to improve my chances of understanding somebody.
1. Look directly at their face/mouth
2. review conversation material ahead of time if possible to refresh vocab
3. request to meet to talk or to e-mail or IM instead of a phone call (I only understand about half of what I hear on the phone)
4. sit as close as possible to speaker so there is less sound competition
5. arrive early and control the environment (blast air conditioners before meeting so they can be turned down during meeting, close windows, sit in best seat available.. etc)
6. know some ASL. Instead of spending 10 seconds going puhhh fawwww I can just sign "fork" in a second.