Sorry? Can you repeat that? What did you say?
These questions dominate my social life. Its not that I have poor hearing; I've had the beepy test.
I have poor processing. When a person is talking, our brains decode the sounds into legible, understandable words. For me, this decoding process is delayed. Its called:
'Auditory Processing Delay'
So I first hear 'wahh wahhh wahhh' of Charlie Brown fame (see video below), foreign language or a mixture of differently comprehended words before my brain triggers understanding.
Of course being delayed is difficult and very inconvenient in the hub-bub of conversation when you are unable to answer back immediately. Therefore in conversation I will often go with the first processed sounds. I end up saying something off-topic, looking at you weirdly thinking 'did you just say that?!', or unable to come back with an answer to your question having not absorbed the key words and getting you to annoyingly repeat it again and again and again until you.... are.... sounding.... like.... a...robotic....i-di-ot.
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I can also find difficulty in processing my own thoughts. I will be talking and 'lose the thread', forgetting my point. The inside of my head is like a shaken up filing cabinet. Finding the right word takes a lot of time: like a knotted ball of wool I have to tease the words out one at a time so a lot of conversation back-tracking has to take place by which time the person has glazed over or has spotted something more interesting to look at.
A party can be an awkward nightmare- If I can't get close to a person without looking like I'm about to kiss them or impinge on their personal space I won't be able to take part fully in the conversation. I end up as the quiet 'listener', bursting into laughter at a sad story or looking serious during a joke. People start saying 'you ok?'... 'you look ill'...I just want to turn round and shout 'yes I'm fine but can just about hear f*** all your saying! Speak up! Come closer!' Being tall is also quite disabling as the conversation is often at my boob height...
Ways to manage APD:
>I am a big scribe! You will always see me making reams of notes in meetings/ seminars/ lectures/ training sessions (ie dancing and school insets).
>Talking on the phone is difficult so I often write out a script to use so I get to the point, remember everything to say and write down everything they say.
> Childhood Speech and Language Therapy.
> To keep calm and take some deep breaths especially in a busy, noisy situation.
> To visualize everything in my head whether its an abstract associated colour or picture relating to the word. I often see everything said to me or that I read as a film in my head which helps to retain and remember information.
More Information available here
It's Rare Chromosome Disorder Awareness Week
I've been writing themed posts for this week:
Blog Post #1: Intro
Blog Post #2: Open Letter to 10 Year Old B
Donate to Unique the Chromosome Disorder Support Group: here
Rare Chromosome Disorder Awareness Week.
Read more about the week here
What are Chromosomal Disorders? Find out here
Blog Post #2 here
Donate here
- See more at: http://justyouandb.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/day-66-the100dayproject.html#sthash.Pw0ru2eg.dpuf
Rare Chromosome Disorder Awareness Week.
Read more about the week here
What are Chromosomal Disorders? Find out here
Blog Post #2 here
Donate here
- See more at: http://justyouandb.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/day-66-the100dayproject.html#sthash.Pw0ru2eg.dpuf
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