r/AudiProcDisorder

I really want to get help because I think I actually have severe APD and it effects my daily life. Backstory, I was tested as a child and they said I was within the normal range but on the high end of it. I do have a learning disabilities and have my entire childhood and still do.

In the 90s/early 2000s, they decided it was best to give me a speaker to place on my desk because they thought I couldn't hear the teacher. It didn't last long because for me it's not a hearing issue, it's a auditory processing where it just took me longer to understand. Also bullies were rough. I was in special education classes because I couldn't focus on the words on the page unless it was completely silent in the room. I needed more time on the tests because it also took me longer to understand what was being asked. I was in special education classes for as long as I can remember into college. I was also in Kumon for reading and math. I ended up always doing really well in school (in regular classes) and college but only because in order to do well I had to study 5x longer and I was willing to do this. Side note, having a brilliant sibling who was literally sent to a gifted school because he was so smart and got one question wrong on the SATs was difficult because I constantly compared myself. But I was thankful to have parents who got me the help I needed. They did a good job. My parents worked really hard to get me into the best public school system in the state I was in and the teachers were amazing; I think I succeeded because of the assistance and school. It was just difficult to be surrounded by mostly gifted people. The majority of the students were gifted but they still knew how to help kids who were in special education.

As an adult in my early 30s, I sometimes forget easy words. I know what it is i'm trying to say but I literally cannot grab the word. It's embarrassing. I'm scared to start going off on a story because 'what if I forget a word and embarrass myself'. I have a job where I need to explain things to people and I stumble over my words. It makes sense in my head and i'm good at what I do but I can't explain it. My partner thinks i'm not listening and makes comments that we live in a 'different reality'. At first I thought it was ADD or ADHD because I think I have both potentially as well; pretty certain I have both. Recently I thought I offered my partner peppers as a snack but he said I said 'onions'. I often find myself saying the opposite word that i'm thinking; using dog when I mean cat. I get overstimulated veryyyy quickly. Sometimes when the dogs bark I yell at them because everything feels like too much. I am a terrible storyteller. I'm very bullheaded and I love routine; not sure if this is APD. I cannot work at my job with music that has any words. I have trouble driving with people in the car if I have to hold a conversation with them. My partner gets upset when people are trying to explain something but there's too much noise so I literally can't. I'm afraid this will effect me when we have kids. I had to get used to sleeping with a fan because I preferred silence but my partner likes a fan; we go back and forth. We're in therapy for communication issues and she just made the connection to my APD and how that probably effects our relationship. Some arguments are because a trigger is thinking someone is calling me stupid (which I realize is my trauma from childhood) when they're asking me a question because I have APD and he wants to make sure I understand; then I get upset and I don't know how to take a step back before I start crying. I literally think it effects me more than I realize.

I thought it was all ADD or ADHD or perhaps autism; or maybe a combination of a bunch of things. I'm definitely neurodivergent and I just considered these things quirks of my personality but it does bother me.

What do you do to help yourself? How do you get your partner to understand the struggle? What do you suggest?

I have auditory processing disorder (APD). For me, it means that in noisy environments (on the street, in a café, or anywhere with background noise_ I can hear the person speaking to me, but I can’t understand the speech. It’s like all the sounds blend together into a confusing mess, and the words just get lost in the noise.

I’ve been thinking about trying earplugs that could help reduce the overwhelming background noise while still allowing me to catch speech more clearly. If you have a similar experience or sensory issues, what earplugs do you personally use? I would be very grateful for any recommendations (whether it’s a specific brand, model, or just a type that works best for you).

Thank you so much in advance!

I've always had trouble processing words, but this is a new one. When I'm not fully locked in on listening, like when I'm not expecting to listen to someone, sometimes I just don't even hear them speaking even if they scream to get my attention apparently (it usually happens when I'm watching youtube but I never wear both earpods since I'm so nervous of missing something that's being said, I only put it on half the volume and it has never gotten in the way of registering speech before). Obviously it's causing some not so fun issues and is annoying for everyone now. I thought it only impacted hearing people talk but I've missed a couple of warning sirens outside recently when it was dead quiet at night.

My best friend is now convinced that I must have some other things too, possibly even hearing loss, but I'm very certain I don't since none of my relatives have had hearing loss before their sixties and also nothing else has changed about my hearing, I just miss things way more often to everyone's annoyance. Right now it just feels like my apd is getting worse with age despite what would be logical. Have you experienced this? Is it possible for apd to affect stuff like that or should I possibly really go and get checked out for hearing loss? Is there anything that helped you, or might help me, deal with it? Thank you in advance!!

recently went to a work conference and it was a disaster, ended up having to go to a side room to work by myself because I could barely hear my colleagues talk at all over all the noise. made me realise I really need an actual solution to my apd

I've got loops but they're honestly not super helpful. better than nothing but I can still barely hear the person next to me in a busy room. I heard that the new airpods have a "conversation boosting" mode that helps reduce background noise and isolate whoever's talking to you which sounds incredibly helpful

just wondering if anyone's tried them and had any luck? or any other earphones that have similar functions?

EDIT: I did figure out what the program was (ForWord), although I've read reviews that say it's not as effective for folks who also have dyslexia and it's pretty dang expensive, so we're trying some other things first.

Thank you to everyone who recommended other apps! We will be trying them.

ORIGINAL POST: A while back, I found a YouTube video that recommended a paid app that you needed to see an audiologist to get that was a long-term program to teach kids with auditory processing disorder and/or dyslexia to read better. It's specifically for learning to read with ADP.

But I've looked through my history and can't find that video, and if I wrote down the program name, I can't find it now.

Does anyone know of any programs like that? I want to ask my son's audiologist about it at his next visit.

I am hearing, but I have Auditory Processing Disorder. I work at a Deaf school and yesterday with some coworkers, I end up talking about how I requested interpreting services for classes, since I am going back to college. Apparently, everyone is talking about "why would a hearing person request interpreters?"

Excuse me, but they do not know my story and my struggles. There are some days where it feels like everyone is speaking a made up language of gibberish! Other days, I get by, but it is exhausting. Sometimes if someone is trying to get my attention, yelling my name and stomping on the ground, I don't hear anything. Ten seconds later all the sound comes and hits me like a brick...

Since starting to work at a deaf school, communication is so awesome. I can communicate with ease and I can listen with my eyes, rather than trying to rely on my faulty ears and brain.

Just yesterday, I was reading song lyrics along to a song and I read "you make me feel alive" which controducted the entire song and since I have difficulty understanding speech, I accepted that was the real song lyrics. I spent the next 10 minutes trying to understand why the artist would put that lyric there when the whole rest of the song is the opposite sentiment... I then look at lyrics on another site and see that it says "you make me feel ah ah". I was livid... The lyrics on Spotify were wrong and I wasted my time trying to understand the poetic meaning behind that one word that was wrong.

Little things like that every single day. I have a lot of disabilities and a lot of accomodations requirements. One of them is related to communication. I NEED interpreters. I NEED subtitles. I NEED quiet environments if I am required to communicate orally (I work at a swimming pool too, so you can imagine how hard that is). If I am learning someone's name, I need them to say it a few times loud and clear or I will not get it.

End of rant. I am functionally hard of hearing without being hard of hearing and for some reason people don't accept my struggles or understand it. My audiologist says I am 'hard of processing'.

Honestly it is not anyone's business, but I am autistic and everything just comes out. I somehow end up telling my life story to everyone! I gotta learn to stop or I will continue to be judged over things people have no business judging over. It's ridiculous how people like to talk without having any empathy. It's not so bad at this job, but I've had other jobs where people were so mean!

Edit: thanks for the comments. I appreciate everyone's perspective and advice.

Has anyone had luck with speech to text apps for use conversationally?

Obviously the other person would be aware and consenting of use? Would these kind of apps even work in a conversational context?

I saw there is a cheap translating device that people use to communicate and I thought wouldn’t that be such a cheap way around APD without spending thousands? I would learn how to read lips but that takes so much effort.

I feel like I’m listening to my children through thick fog. Constantly asking everyone to repeat themselves multiple times even. It’s just so exhausting.

What helps you cope from the mental load?

I’ve been diagnosed with both VPD and APD (along with ADHD) but I’ve never met anyone else with VPD and even on Reddit it isn’t talked about much. APD seems to be more common. VPD I think is similar though, and honestly it kind of affects me more than APD (but I think my APD is more mild compared to a lot of the stories I’ve read here) like for me I have a really hard time seeing where people are pointing, I’m terrible with directions, and I’m always bumping into things. Also I tried learning sign language once and I found it to be even more difficult to learn than an auditory language, but everyone else I’ve talked to has said the opposite.

Yeah I'm a bit weird

I have reduced and absent oae with mild to moderate hearing loss,so my cochlear doesn't process sound correctly

I also have apd,either due to auditory deprivation or just random (So functionally I'm moderate across the board)

I don't hear of many people with hearing inpariment and apd so I want to ask for some advice

Particularly this:

They keep recommending low gain devices as it's apd protocol but they are useless,how are they ment to help if I can't HEAR

I cannot get them to understand for the life of me adding 1db worth of gain isn't going to do much of anything,it's like farting in space

"Thanks... Now I'm 44db down instead of 45 that's really helpful.."