So, my boyfriend and I have really been struggling. I feel like crying. I am so frustrated with myself.

My bf understands that is not my fault. I understand that it's not my fault, but my relationship is taking strain. Especially when we have serious conversations and I have to ask him to repeat himself several times.

I can see that he's trying so hard to be patient, but it's really getting to him.

I don't know what to do. I don't know how to improve this. Does anyone else struggle with this in their relationship? Any advice is welcome

I can’t afford the testing this requires for a diagnosis. The people I called said it can be anywhere from 260-660 for the test. Anyone have any ideas? They don’t take payment plans and I don’t have insurance.

https://preview.redd.it/u1yxcykwstfe1.jpg?width=2550&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=67c24f96e8bf8b484b90807369bdd552952ccae0

This study aims to identify challenges, management strategies, and support that adults with APD experience at their place of employment. Determining whether the timeline of diagnosis and intervention affect the challenges and strategies used by this group. In addition, to gathering information regarding whether this population is aware and utilizes the accommodations they are entitled to under the ADA 1990 law. The responses will be collected and analyzed to see if there are any patterns and then published.

Looking for self-employment and/or working alone adults with (C)APD- also known as APD- with none of the following diagnosis: Autism, Learning Disability that is non-APD, ADHD, Dyslexia. Any type of employment acceptable. Any questions/comments/concerns/etc. please private message or email (email in flier) me.

Link to survey: https://forms.gle/zSnwdvNTHKRcTzFj7

Thank you for participating!

Just wondering what anyone thinks of ‘8D Audio’, where the sound moves around or sounds like you are really in the environment.

I have ADHD, and supposedly a lot of neurodivergent people find it relaxing/calming. However, my reaction to it is anywhere from feeling uncomfortable and disliking it up to ripping my headphones off out of extreme anxiety (I don’t have any anxiety normally).

Curious what anyone with an actual APD diagnosis thinks of this 8D audio thing.

I am not diagnosed (will be tested in about a month, iffy on what the results will be).

Edit: Here is an example. You might need to jump around the song to hear the different effects- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRrvRtnlqvM

I'm not sure if I was necessarily born with it or if it is more that I developed it as a coping mechanism for the war zone environment of my childhood caused by my dysfunctional family. I suspect I tuned out the noise around me so that I wouldn't react to the dysfunction outwardly and be punished. Anyways, I hate being read to. I hate listening to audio books. I hate documentaries that narrate a story instead of allowing me to watch the story unfold in front of me. I don't find that I have trouble watching TV. Don't have difficulty following verbal instructions. I don't find that I'm overstimulated by sound. Loud noises are fine. Repetitive noises, while obnoxious, don't cause a meltdown. Basically I just hate audio books and if someone is reading something to me I prefer to actually read it myself. I want to see the words myself.

Anyways, I say all that to illustrate my experience and ask if anyone else experiences anything similar?

How’s folks in this community? Not to make it political but the social climate is crazy, and I’m only in the U.S. worldwide 🤦 !

I just wish we didn’t have to suffer as humans and that humans didn’t have to make it worse on other humans! APD is already a Struggle but surviving on top of that and normal day to day (huaman-ing: verb- the act of being a human) is wild.

Please no hate, I’m really just trying to spread love and community support cause damn do I need some too! ( hatred is also so hard not to be sucked into when there’s a large group of people who hate you for just existing, idk just venting now.)

Edit:

also I heard this quote today in regards to community care and must share - “everybody doesn’t have to do everything but everybody has to do something” J.Gylleharam

https://preview.redd.it/mxak8iiviwde1.jpg?width=2550&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=55c9e1d8be70037df018fbdf53da179f243abae0

Link to survey: https://forms.gle/zSnwdvNTHKRcTzFj7

Looking for self-employment and/or working alone adults with CAPD. Not just those who work with others or for an employer. TLDR: any type of employment acceptable.

Thank you for participating!

Hello fellow APD people!

I am an audiology graduate student who is trying to gather participants for a survey research study regarding how adults with APD are affected in the workforce- my university approved it. I am wondering if I would be allowed to post my flier on this subreddit for anyone interested in participating?

Any questions the moderators have regarding the specifics of the study please feel free to private message me.

If not, I respect that. Would anyone know any subreddits where I could ask for participants?
Thanks!

Edit: if you would like to hear more about the study or participate: https://www.reddit.com/r/AudiProcDisorder/comments/1i4t4mr/recruiting_participants_for_apd_study/

Do folks consider themselves hard of hearing or is there another term you use? I'm learning ASL and don't want to claim a label that's not mine. Is there maybe a hard of hearing subreddit that I could ask as well?

Either one-time or permanently removed from the pool?

I (M40) got diagnosed ADHD a few months ago through an online telehealth service after learning more about ADHD.

When reading the assessment from the psychologist, she mentions at the end that I quote "reported experiencing symptoms related to a possible sensory, auditory, and nonverbal processing disorder. It is recommended that he follow-ups with his PCP to receive further evaluation in this area to facilitate differential diagnosis and inform treatment planning and intervention. Processing difficulties can also impact one’s attention, focus, and emotion regulation abilities."

At first I didn't know what that was referring to, but the assessment has a section where you check off different noises/sounds that bother you. Perhaps I checked off enough/the right ones that she put that in there, I'm not sure.

In the meantime, I have read and watched videos about APD. I definitely do not have a strong or moderate version (if I even do). However, I have enough of a resonance with some symptoms that it makes me wonder. I do have a hard time understanding speech at times in a loud/busy environment (when others seem to not be bothered), saying 'what' or asking people to repeat themselves even in normal environments (not constantly, but a couple times a day at least), have always had some difficulty understanding lyrics in music, am bothered by certain noises (dripping faucets, things jiggling around in the car, etc), my wife is always saying that I misunderstood what she said or claiming that what I understood was the opposite (again, not all the time, but often enough), and she also always says and finds it odd that I have a delayed reaction to jokes (never noticed this until she pointed it out).

I am not confident that I have APD. I know that ADHD and APD can go together, but that they also overlap in symptoms. I also love podcasts, audio books, etc, and these sort of things make me doubt that I could even have it. I tend to be pretty self aware, and am not typically a 'hypochondriac' about these things.

My main question, and what I am looking for thoughts on, is basically the title of the post. Is there really any value in pursuing this possibility? If I did find out I have some mild APD, would there even be anything I could do to improve the symptoms? Is it worth the work of going through my PCP and an audiologist to figure it out? What is everyone's thoughts?

Perhaps others have had similar experiences? I would really appreciate the input.

tldr; Note in ADHD diagnosis said to check out APD, looked up symptoms, if I have them they are mild, is it even worth pursuing other than for self knowledge?

Edit: (I have had multiple hearing tests in recent years for unrelated reasons, my hearing is fine.)

Hello, Reddit

I am a Master of Social Work student finishing my last year. I am conducting a study that explores how neurodivergent individuals experience negative/differential treatment (exclusions). I would appreciate if you could take a few moments to complete my 10-minute anonymous online survey.

*Please noted I am self identity as neurodivergent individual myself.

To be eligible for the survey, you must meet the following requirements:

• Be over the age of 18.

• Must be a neurodivergent Individual. Neurodivergent is a non-medical umbrella term that describes people with variation in their mental functions relative to what is considered typical. Examples of conditions associated with neurodivergence include but are not limited to, Anxiety, PTSD, Autism, ADHD, BPD, etc.

• Must have faced the following experiences because of your Neurodivergent background: having Neurodivergent needs overlooked, differential treatments, rejection, invalidation, or other forms of exclusion.

• Must speak and understand English

U.S. and out of the U.S. countries welcomed please.

To participate in the study, click the survey link below:

https://csun.sjc1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_ear1hZh1zcynBnE

Please share it with anyone else you may know, that may qualify.

Hello! I hope all is well! I hope this isn't out of line at all but I am curious as to if I might have some sort of auditory processing disorder? I say this because it's been coming up much more recently. here are my main points that are bugging me:

- when in even loud-ish environments, I'm constantly asking people to repeat themselves

- I can't watch TV without subtitles anymore

- I work in a hospital and am constantly asking patients to repeat themselves (this is starting to really bug me and make me question more what the hell is going on. my coworkers will often step in and be like "oh, they said this.." and I'm like huh? how did you get that?)

- sometimes, even talking directly to a person, my brain just won't comprehend what is being said or the question

- I often find myself getting louder as I talk in group settings. when I sit in the living room with my roommates, if we're having a conversation I am asked to usually tone it down a little ways in

- however, sometimes I am asked to speak up?

- I have a really hard time following classroom lectures, even in the front

- I need everything to be silent to comfortably have a conversation with someone. even something like a vent fan throws me off. same with watching TV, but even then, I can't follow without subtitles very well.

The thing is, I usually pass hearing tests and by no means do I think I am particularly hard of hearing. the best way I know how to describe it is I have a hard time hearing and distinguishing voices. I used to also notice it when playing music, I just have a hard time distinguishing certain sounds. Things mesh together really weirdly--voices, beats in music (I used to compete playing the piano)--and two similar sounds will sound the same. Given I feel like I have relatively good hearing and a somewhat well trained ear, I've dropped the whole idea and chalked it up to me just being me, but now at work it's becoming a slight problem and it's starting to bug me more. it gets so frustrating when dealing with patients and not being able to hear them or understand and then having coworkers step in. my friends also point it out, and I am constantly being asked to both repeat myself, as well as me asking others to repeat themselves. it's really weird, and I fully realize that this is an off question, but is it even worth looking into? how do you go about it? I am really nervous as I have other complex health conditions, and so I don't want to waste anyone's time.

I don't know if this means anything also but I have a tendency for my speech to kind of mesh together as well. almost like the way I hear things I say things, or like I'm not hearing myself right. I used to be in speech therapy as a kid to slow down how I talk and annunciate better. so I do notice it goes both ways. sound meshes in my head on the input, and I tend to mesh words together as a result if that makes sense.

Please don't hesitate to call me out if this is a stretch. I have no idea at all and am only just starting to look into everything, I figured this might be a good place to ask and was directed in this direction by a friend as I also have ADHD and apparently the two can be connected?

Thank you so much in advance!! I appreciate any and all input :) have a beautiful day today!

I have been struggling with my hearing for months. I am a high school student in Australia and come home from school absolutely exhausted and frustrated from struggling to hear all day. I rarely have problems with hearing teachers in class but have major issues hearing my friends at lunch, doing groupwork and at music/dance rehearsals. I feel like I am asking them to repeat themselves constantly and can tell they get frustrated with me sometimes. I don't blame them, we're only teenagers and I haven't had any explanation to give them other than my audiologist thinks I have APD. So, that's the assumption we have all been operating under.

Back in early December I had a regular hearing test and after it came back fine I got referred for an APD assessment and was told that it was most likely what was causing my issues. About 4 days ago I was finally tested for APD and it turns out I don't actually have it after all. The audiologist told my mom and I that most areas of testing were within normal range. The only thing she detected was a "deficit in processing sound when background noise present." The only strategies she was able to give me were to make others aware of my problem and to try and move away from the noise. As a high school student and someone who works in a gym that plays loud music and also has very loud fans, the second option is not very helpful for me.

Because of this I am mostly trying to stick to the first strategy. Since the audiologist couldn't diagnose me with anything and I forgot to ask her what I should tell people, I currently have no idea how to categorize my hearing issues? Should I just call it hearing issues? I'm worried if I do that people won't take it seriously. Can I say that I have and auditory processing deficit, or is it a hearing impairment? I would hate to offend someone with an actual diagnosis so any advice is much appreciated. Thanks in advance :)

fter a very unhelpful and disappointing ent appointment telling me my ears are perfect and hearing is fine….Ive been lead here. The ent briefly mentioned that my hearing loss cause be neurological and a processing problem so I started researching and it all makes sense now. I struggle hearing words: movies, videos, etc I have to watch multiple times to grasp. I struggle when people are talking to me, especially if I can’t see their mouths move. It’s a million times worse when there are other noises going on. This is increasing getting harder for me as a mom of 4. I feel like I am CONSTANTLY saying “huh?” “What did you say bud?” And just trying to figure out what’s being said to me. Everything sounds muffled. I recently had a zoom meeting where i was asked questions, and it was the most embarrassing moments of my life. I could not figure out what was being asked, and then trying to compute the question and come up with an answer literally brought me to tears. I thought I was losing my mind. It’s gotten significantly worse over the past few months and I feel like I am constantly overstimulated and frustrated because i can not hear or process anything I am hearing. I tried listening to an audiobook and for the life of me I can’t tell you a single going that book said.

I just want to cry because of how much this is negatively impacting my life, therefore my mood, therefore my family and my babies.

I am at my wits end, and feel so stupid not being able to take any knowledge in and compute it and I truly don’t know what to do.

Please, give me any advice on how I can fix this. I want my hearing back, I want my brain to not feel like a fog. I want to be able to focus, or listen to a book, or even just have a normal conversation with my family.

Earphones? Hearing aids? Any suggestions? Thank you for reading this far.

I often ask people to repeat themselves. I almost always do it in noisy places. I have told people many times that my hearing is fine (I have checked it), I just have a processing problems. Still, I often hear indignations and silly questions like "why are you asking me to repeat myself? Sometimes people literally ignore me or shut their mouths, look at me, blink and don't repeat (even when I asked or explained my condition). My marks (sometimes) are always worse because ("oh, you're always asking to repeat!"). My writing works are always the best.

Because of this, I developed severe social anxiety. I am a sociable and active person by nature, but I started avoiding people and intimate conversations. I'm terrified of the idea of looking for a job (I'm getting my master's degree, now I'm working as a tutor. Still.), because at all the interviews everyone definitely notices my "issue". How can I cope with anxiety and guilt? :( I really want people to not think I'm a problem. I want a good job, a nice partner, supportive friends. But everyone makes me feel like I'm stupid.

Hello there! As the title says I need help! I have severe apd (audiologists words not mine) and I just started my second semester of college. I have 3 professors with very thick accents. 2 of which are Eastern European, one of which is non-descript. I cannot understand them at. All. One of them, my statistics professor, is an older man who talks quietly, has a heavy accent, and has a feebly voice. I cannot understand a singular word he says, and rely solely on lip reading to figure out what’s going on- meaning I can’t look down to take notes, or look at the textbook, or anything. No clue what’s happening. And I am very bad at math, so I need to hear him.

So what do I do? I don’t know if I can be provided with any additional accommodations beyond my note taking app (can’t pick up his voice though), which was all they provided me on the basis of APD. But I am seriously going to fail at least his class, if not my other professors classes if I can’t do anything.

So what can I do? What has worked for you all?

TLDR: I have professors this semester with reallllllly heavy accents that I cannot understand without lip reading, which isn’t sustainable. I have a few accommodations but they aren’t helping. What can I do?

Want some Advice(meant to be the caption)

Hiya this might be a long shot but you dont know till you give it a go right?

Im in my final year in college and my project is creating video/videos on APD. For it to be a helpful tool and for it to help others who have APD know that they arent alone. But im just one person with only knowing my own experinces with it. i wanted to be able to talk to others with it to see waht theyd like to see in a video, what there own experinces are some POVs if you will that i might be able to use for my project. So reaching out in hopes of some helpful folks.

Hey everyone, for a long time I've always experienced weird hearing related troubles. I had thought for a long time that I had some sort of auditory processing issues (before knowing APD was a real thing) and I finally decided to look into it. Found this sub and it is kind of relieving to find there is a potential diagnosis in my future (will be talking with my general practice about it next time I'm in for a visit).

I was curious though if anyone knows about APD and it's effect on recognizing differences in tones in peoples' speech. I get myself into situations where it's difficult for me to pick up on tone when people are joking or being serious. This could be related to some other mental health issues or just my overthinking, but I often default to someone having an annoyed tone and it causes me issues in my life and relationships.

Can anyone speak to this?

Thanks!

I might have an APD but my parents are skeptical and don't want to spend the money on hearing aids, but we might test some out. The audiologist says I have technically perfect hearing but he doesn't specialize in APD so he doesn't know shit about it but there's nobody in my town that can help with APD. So the only option i have is to try otc, and I think I have only one shot with my parents. The max I can spend is probably $500 unfortunately but there are some I'm looking into that are cheaper. My question is how would I program a hearing aid for specifically speech? And what would be the best option? I'm considering using these but 🤷🏻 I

https://arptur.com/product/best-arptur-otc-hearing-aids/

https://vivtone.com/products/vivtone-xpure-c-bluetooth-hearing-aids?variant=46114777039012&country=US&currency=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&com_cvv=8fb3d522dc163aeadb66e08cd7450cbbdddc64c6cf2e8891f6d48747c6d56d2c

https://www.amazon.com/Rechargeable-Bluetooth-Hearing-Control-Counter/dp/B0D1VC6YXL?gQT=1

Edit: idek why I'm trying atp just 🦔

As a geriatric Millennial with CAPD, I felt liberated by AIM and the chat in Gmail.

All of the sudden, I too could ‘hear’ everything and respond with normal wit, by dint of being able to read and type replies.

Hi! so basically, I have fairly normal hearing in many daily situations, however I struggle greatly in noisy environments or in situations where there are multiple speakers. pretty much any time I go to a restaurant or am trying to socialize with my friends, I will end up missing around 1/4th of what's being said which often leaves me confused and unable to participate in conversation, which of course feels very isolating. the issue is, I have had my hearing tested, it came back perfect, I was referred to be tested for APD, and that came back saying I did not meet the threshold for APD (although just barely, I think the threshold was like 17 and I scored 16) and I was told there wasn't really anything they could do for me. I have a few issues with the testing they did though, for starters it was always a man talking in the recordings, and I always find it much easier to understand men than women. also, the speaker always spoke slowly and clearly and annunciated very well, which is not really a realistic way that people talk in social situations. and when they did the speach in noise portion, which is my main problem, the background noise level never seemed to get loud enough to replicate say, a busy restaurant. so like, great you have confirmed I can hear fine in ideal conditions, but that is not where I have a problem? it's enough of a problem to be noticable to other people and my partner and I have been learning ASL to help with communication, so I don't know how all testing has come back "normal" when it obviously isn't compared to other people. I feel like the test I was given was flawed. my only other suspicion is that maybe they where not testing for the correct thing? I was diagnosed with a learning disability as a child, which probably developed due to lack of oxygen to my brain because I was born with a heart issue that needed surgery as a baby. I suspect maybe it's not so much APD but more to do with a language processing disorder? but I'm not sure and testing is expensive. I don't know, mostly venting but has anyone else had a similar experience? I have become fairly active in my Deaf community, mostly because it is easier for me to take part in the conversation, but I can't help but feel a sense of imposter syndrome when all my doctors tell me I should have no trouble hearing and participating sigh

Hi everyone. I made a post way back in October about getting diagnosed and looking for hearing aids and life has certainly been interesting since then. Never knew how niche APD is in India until I started looking for audiologists who can deal with fitting hearing aids for it.

I've been ghosted by 3 different hospitals, who on their websites, proudly talk about how they've dealt with APD and when I email them, they just stop responding to me after I send my reports. I went as far as emailing a professor who had done research about APD back in the days but 0 response from their side. So many audiologists here tried to lease out ill fitted hearing aids to me just to get some thousand dollars as payment. One of them talked about how they received a patient like me a year or two back and they basically bullied him into accepting that he has no issues. It's sad how exploited and abused people with my condition are in my country. Recently I visited Amplifon for hearing aids and at first I thought we were finally reaching some sort of conclusion and I fear they've ghosted me too. No reply from their side for over a month.

I'm just tired with dealing with all this and somehow my stress makes my APD worse. I basically stop hearing any coherent sentences when my stress peaks and I start feeling like I'm an overstimulated mess. No one in my family has made any efforts to adjust to my needs. Hyperacusis makes everything worse and I have no headphones or earphones to fall back on to save myself the misery of the assault.

Sorry if it got long. Just wanted to vent :(

I suspect that I have APD and I listen to audiobooks at .8 while I listen to podcasts at normal speed.

When someone is talking I find it hard to understand what they are saying. It sounds like they are speaking made up words or I just don’t hear it. I looked it up and found out about auditory processing issues but I do have some other problems and I don’t know if they are related to this or not so I’m going to ask here. When I talk to people I pause really often and the pauses last about ten seconds or more because my brain goes blank and I can’t think or process anything. I have to speak really slowly and the pauses happen after a word or two and I often stutter. It makes me feel stressed and embarrassed. I also struggle to process words and numbers and when I read words they sometimes make no sense to me and they look wrong and I don’t understand them. Sometimes my brain just goes blank randomly and I can’t understand or process things. I am 16 and have autism but I don’t know if autism is the cause of these things or not, I’m wondering if this could be auditory processing issues or if it’s something different.

I get all my medical through the VA. My speech therapist thinks that the LACE program would be beneficial to me but the company that provides it hasn't renewed there government contract. She has offered in person sessions but I would have to travel almost an hour to the Medical center and take time off work.

My actual question is has anyone seen significant benefits from the program? Would it be worth my while to pay for it myself? Maybe I should just suck it up and try the in person sessions?

Basically what the title says.

At the moment, I'm working freelance gig work, so I haven't sat down with anyone to talk about this. Mostly it hasn't been a problem but I'm pretty sure one of the employers thinks I'm slow. My APD is something I've never gotten accommodations for before (in school) as such I've always found it difficult to talk about.

When is the best time to tell the people you work with? How do you start the conversation? Do [American] employers often/ever require proof from a doctor? What accommodations have you found helpful?

Thank you.

I want to get diagnosed. Is beltone good, or should I go somewhere else?

Hey friends!

I recently got a new job as an EMT in a fairly busy city in the US, and I am having trouble adapting to the demands of my new surroundings. I love my job, and have done rural EMT work before, but in my new urban environment I am struggling to process what people are saying.

I can recognize different people's voices and can generally understand where a voice is coming from, but when people speak quickly, or with a thick accent, or many people are speaking at once, I have trouble understanding the content of what's being said, if that makes any sense.

I am 22F, and was diagnosed with PDD-NOS at age 2, and had my diagnosis adjusted to ASD Level 2 in 2022. I do not have a diagnosis of auditory processing disorder, but suspect that's what is happening based on my symptoms. I have had these issues in the past, but have been able to eliminate barriers via accommodations (using subtitles, moving to a quieter room, etc.) until now. Obviously my job makes it hard to request accommodations, as emergency situations require a certain amount of immediate action, but I love what I do and would be heartbroken if I had to leave my profession.

Anyone with APD have any advice? What has worked for you, and what tips do you have for someone like me with limited resources at work?

Thanks in advance, I appreciate your advice!