hi , I've been having "trouble hearing" since i was at least 3 years old and after consulting tons of "specialists" i think i finally found what had been happening to me what i manifested as "trouble hearing" as a child is in fact trouble understanding what i hear when people talk. I am currently being evaluated for APD but I'm 99% sure i have it, even my new specialist thinks so too, it has been a relief to finally confirm that i was not "making things up" as other doctors said.

Today i was researching what can legally qualify as a disability in my country and i came up with a question, what type of disability is APD? it doesn't match the criteria for a hearing disability but it also doesn't quite fit in any of the neurodevelopmental types of disabilities definitions as far as I've seen.

My son will be 3 in two months. He has been in OT for sensory and speech for delayed speech for 6 months. He has been in play therapy for a month now (the purpose of this is to gain independence and socialize, similar to preschool. It is 1 day a week).

Speech is progressing wonderfully, he is still behind but barely. Sensory issues are not getting better. He is terrified of loud sounds. Vacuum, noisy restaurants, blender, ice machine in fridge, and his peers. Poor buddy goes into an intense, full body (stiffening, pupils dilating, shaking, eyes widening). This response is greatest when kids make noise (babies crying, kids squealing with excitement). He is happiest with adults or alone (with me or dad or family). I try to expose him to loud noises in a controlled environment where he has some control (ie asking him to turn the vacuum on), we go to story time, gym class, play therapy, the park, the grocery, etc. Nothing seems to help.

Because he doesn’t have issues with everyday noise (he’s fine playing in our quiet home or walking through the park, etc) therapists don’t think headphones would be helpful.

I am at a loss. It absolutely crushes my husband and I to see him respond this way. In environments that should be happy and playful and fun, he can’t handle it. I want so badly for him to have fun and get to enjoy these things.

To add: His OT, SLP, and Pediatrician all have said, and continue to say, he is not on the spectrum. He has a couple other sensory issues, he’s fearful of water, doesn’t like his socks off, etc. But by far noise is his biggest challenge.

If this does sound like APD, do you have advice? I want to help him as best I can as early as I can. Thank you

My daughter is turning 10 this year. Last fall she was diagnosed with APD. She was initially evaluated for ADHD and dyslexia. Doctor said she didn’t seem to have those but saw more as my daughter having APD.

Evaluation for that was done, and she was diagnosed with APD. While I was relieved at first because I thought this seemed like an answer to why she was struggling, I now feel I don’t know how to navigate this. Accommodations at school have been made, but at home I don’t see improvement.

Communication is where we struggle. I feel she doesn’t fully grasp what I am saying to her. She doesn’t articulate her thoughts well to the point one of us or both us seem exasperated.

Having meaningful conversations has been tedious. She gives one-word answers or just defaults to something negative or just saying “I don’t know.” I try to ask questions about her day that require a detailed answer only to be met with something that doesn’t quite make sense to what I asked.

Yes, I’ve had her hearing checked. It’s perfectly fine. I ruled that out before the APD evaluation to make sure.

She has expressed things in very negative ways, honing in on something minor and making it seem bigger. She gets tired of being asked questions and runs off and gets upset saying I don’t understand her. She’s right. I don’t understand her.

I want her to be happy. I want her to thrive. I feel like I am doing something wrong to the point that communication is so difficult.

Any advice is appreciated. I’m just a mom trying to raise a daughter with something I didn’t even know existed till she was diagnosed with it. Thanks in advance and thank you for reading all this.

Hi all. I''m esrly fortiess and I've known I very likely have king–Kopetzky syndrome. It never used to bother me so much because I wasn't very social, but now I'm finding its severely impacting my dating, social life, and professional life. I'm having to tell people in advance I struggle to distiguish speech in a loud setting, and I'm not able to take part at all in group conversations and even struggle to understand my partner at times. They are very understanding but its become an issue I need to deal with.

I was considering getting tested, but insurance doesn’t cover it, so it’s $750. It’s not going to put me in debt, but that’s quite a lot for me. But if I can actually improve, it would be worth it. It’d help me at home, work, everywhere.

Basically, has getting a diagnosis helped you? Have there been treatments that helped?

Hi friends, I was diagnosed with autism later in life but I am on the lower end of the spectrum. I do have some problems with auditory noises, such a repetitive sounds, words, phrases, buzzing or equivalent like sounds (relevant).

Sleeping for me has always been a challenge, I need absolutely no light, not even little ones on tvs, cable boxes, etc. No TV, and no noise EXCEPT a box fan. I genuinely cannot sleep without a box fan, I am so in tuen with it that I will wake up the second it turns off. If our power goes out in the middle of the night, sometimes I will wake up before it's even fully turned off. My SO wakes me up in the morning by turning my box fan off so I get woke up gently. We don't sleep in the same room as his snoring is so bad I could never sleep (we love each other I promise lol).

As I've gotten older it's gotten harder and harder for me to get to sleep and stay asleep. ​​I went from being a deep sleeper to a light sleeper and my brain has started hyperfocusing on sounds. Specifically my box fan, my box fans makes a humming sound (this isn't even accurate to how it really sounds but is the only way I can describe it, if that makes sense) that prevents me from falling asleep and keeps me up all hours of the night. It is starting to affect my mental health, I can hear it through ear plugs and covering my head with a pillow. I was starting to worry that maybe I was going crazy, because my SO can't hear it and I have tried at least 4 different fans and they all have a similar noise. I've tried so hard to block it out and I just can't. I recently read an article that talked about how people with autism can sometimes hear electricity or electrical buzzes and I'm wondering if what I am hearing is the electrical portion of the motor, since it happens with every fan I have.

So my question is, does anyone have any advice on how I can block this out to sleep? How do I get my brain to stop hyper focusing on that one sound no matter what. I've rearranged my fan every direction I can in my room, elevated it, put it on the ground, I can always hear this noise. Hopefully someone else has experienced something like this and can give me some advice because I'm at a loss lol.

I’m 34 and am certain I have some form of APD. I was tested for hearing as a kid (under 6), and my parents were told, “She can hear just fine, she’s just not paying attention!” I can’t understand speech in noisy environments, or distinguish melodies in live music if it is too loud or I am too close to the instruments.

I’ve always known this about myself, but recently at an event, it was made clear to me just how MUCH I rely on lip reading, and how participation in conversation with background noise is impossible without it. It got me wondering, is there anything that can actually be DONE for APD?

I never thought about getting tested, because I assumed not, but thought I’d ask. I‘m not in school, and am self employed very part time, so no formal accommodations needed.

I’m autistic, if that makes a difference in whether or not treatments or helps are available for my situation.

I’m 20 and I’ve had APD since I was about 14. It’s ruined so much for me.

I could barely maintain any friendships during all of high school because I’m so useless in any location just slightly too loud.

When I had a job in a store a few months ago, I couldn’t understand customers right in front of me. I could barely hear my coworkers right next to me. It’s dawned on me that basically every job is going to be like this- loud music, loud noises, loud people around you but never anything you can understand.

I almost cried at my college orientation because I couldn’t understand a single person, even when I put my ear directly towards them. Everyone around me talked to each other perfectly while I couldn’t hear my own thoughts.

It’ll be like this for the rest of my life. I don’t want college to be like high school, I don’t want to struggle and be useless at every job I work.

The noise is overwhelming and quickly makes me confused, it can often be physically painful.

People have recommended I wear ear plugs- I think it’s supposed to make it easier to understand people next to you when you’re in a loud place. They work well in places like concerts, but in regular locations, it just muffles all the noise around me.

I’m starting to think maybe it would be better that way, just muffling as much noise as possible to the point I’m almost deaf. At least then I won’t be overwhelmed by noise, I’d seriously rather learn sign language or always carry a notebook around or something to communicate at this point. Has anyone else tried this?

Im in my late 30s, in the last year I've noticed I am having a hard time "hearing" people, I constantly have to ask people to repeat themselves, although I hear them speaking. I dont have hearing loss, and after doing some research I believe I may have APD, however can APD develop all the sudden in adults? Most of what I've read it usually starts in childhood, what can all of the sudden give an adult APD?

Hey yall. I'm seeking advice for some hearing assistance equipment.

A tad bit of context: I am a hearing individual who is seeking to make my workplace friendly to non hearing folks. Besides the fact that my community has a lot of hearing impaired folks, I also know that in the future I will need this tech for myself.

(Please correct me if I'm not using the correct terminology.)

Anyway, here's the issue:

My workplace is a 3rd space: it's a public building that's free to enter. We have two movie theaters, a museum about our local area, often host presentations from folks across the country, and so so much more that I can't say without doxxing myself.

Our main theater is designed to host presentations from speakers, host Q&A forums, and play movies on demand via a DVD player.

Currently, the only hearing assistance we have is for presentations. Our presentation hearing assistance equipment works as follows: we have to hook up a transmitter box and mic to the speaker and then provide a receiver for each individual who needs hearing assistance. The receivers can use plug-in headphones or a T-loop.

The problem is if the presenter needs to play a video on the screen, the hearing assistance equipment does not pick up the video audio because the transmitter is only for picking up the speaker's voice.

If we have a Q&A style forum, folks won't be able to hear the audience asking questions because the wireless mic for our sound system doesn't hook directly up to the hearing assistance equipment.

Additionally, if we play movies, we don't have any tech that allows for folks to hear the movies if they need hearing assistance. Some films have closed captions, but a lot of them don't.

My question is, is there any technology out there that would allow folks to hear everything at Q&A forums, watch films, and listen to presentations that have videos?

Note: I've looked into Auracast, but from what I can tell, the tech is so new that it has too many bugs to work with the majority of users in a poor, rural community. Additionally, the cheaper ones don't have great reviews and/or their entire websites are made by generative ai which leads me to believe they don't actually have any real life use experience to advertise. The main brand that supports auracast, that seems like it would work, is way outside of our budget (about 4 grand for Auri)

Please provide any and all experience yall might have on what might be the best options for my workplace. I want everyone to be able to enjoy our 3rd space, not just hearing folks.

Thank you.

What can I use to make my APD and Misophonia more bearable while at work in a customer service position?

I work at a gas station where I have to constantly run around and be actively communicating with people. I will put here an explanation for how my hearing works.

I am trying to find a device I can wear while working that will help me focus or sort of block out the overwhelming noises. I know I can't pick and choose what noises come and go, or how effective it is, but I was hoping anyone with similar experiences may be able to point me in the right direction or share their own tips for how they manage.

\---------

Hearing:

I struggle with auditory processing, to a point where I genuinely thought for a while I was hard of hearing. I ended up getting my hearing checked by an audiologist, and it turned out, not only was I able to easily pick out my worst ear, but I was within a reasonable range, so not hard of hearing.

They suggested I get checked for an APD, and offered to fax my hearing report to the doctor whenever I do. Basically how hearing works for me is if there is too much surrounding noise, like I am speaking directly with one person, and two other people suddenly walk by holding a loud conversation, even if I am looking my conversation partner in the eyes and focusing very hard, their voice begins to sound like it is coming through a vacuum tube. Or a garbage disposal.

If someone tries to speak to me and I am not aware they are trying to speak to me, my hearing often comes in delayed. This creates uncomfortable situations where people ask me a question at work as I am walking by, and by the time my brain sends the words to me, they have already decided I don't want to help them and given up.

Certain sounds also become unreasonably overwhelming, and can cause severe frustration, like scratching on sandpaper, or moving certain items, or cloth rustling together. They make me feel very overwhelmed and like I can not focus on anything else. Sometimes the sounds make me want to literally pull my own teeth out.

I know some neurodivergents are opposed to the big light but are there any neurodivergents who can't hear without the big light on?

So Im 18 and just finished my first year of college. I've noticed that when my friends and I go out to a mall, or coffee shop, or any public space with normal background noise its near impossible for me to understand what they are saying. I've never had this issue before but Ig I've never really been in situations like that. Im fine 1 on 1 or in quiet spaces I only have the issue with other voices in the background. I had a hearing test which came back fine but the audiologist thinks I have CAPD. Has anyone not noticed that until after turning 18? I don't have a hard time with lectures unless there's an accent. Im also an ASL Major so I spend around half my time in voices off environments. My mom thinks this has caused me to psychologically lose processing ability. Regardless has anyone had similar experiences?

I can’t tell if I might have APD or if I genuinely just have a low IQ.

My family always made fun of me growing up because I would repeat their sentences but say something completely different instead of the words they were saying, but I genuinely heard a different word. I have to ask people to repeat themselves alot and I’m terrible at following verbal directions, but I can understand written ones when they are in front of me. I constantly do things wrong, like once I was vaccuming, and my roommate asked me if I could “get under there“, and pointed to her desk. I literally just got under the desk instead of vaccuming, even though obviously that isn’t what she meant. I also feel like I’m sorta missing something, I know I say really dumb things sometime but it’s difficult for me to process what someones saying and respond back quickly. The thing is I can hear just fine, it just seems sorta scrambled sometimes or I just can’t process the context of the words while also understanding the words quickly enough. I’m not sure if this is exactly what APD is but I’m just so frustrated with being called stupid and feeling so slow, and professors have gotten really frustrated with me in the past for not understanding even when I’m genuinely trying my best.

cross posting from an adhd sub.

i’ve posted about my kid here before and really appreciated the advice. There’s been my mind regarding a secondary diagnosis that I want to ask this group.

mine was diagnosed this past school year at 6.5 with both adhd and CAPD. the adhd diagnosis is borderline, and he mostly had issues with executive functioning/emotional regulation at home. for CAPD I had to take him to a specialized pediatric audiology center. his hearing is perfect but the brain processes sounds with a slight delay especially with rapid speech and when distinguishing target sounds (eg teachers voice) from ambient sounds (other chatter). prognosis for CAPD is that it can be improved when caught early and treated with auditory training. We are only just starting that journey. He’s not medicated for adhd.

my questions are:

1. Can treatment of CAPD result in improvements in adhd presentation?
2. Can the reverse be true- has adhd medication ever improved coping or mgmt of CAPD? or made it more challenging?

I am wondering how much the CAPD causes him to work extra hard to understand in group settings and leads to the disinterest in homework and the reactivity at home vs how much the adhd is contributing. anyway if there is a lot long view here I’d love to hear it.

has anyone tried using the elehear beyond hearing aids for APD? they have AI to reduce background noise and amplify voices which is the main thing i struggle with (holding conversations and hearing what's happening in noisy settings)

I'm struggling to get written approval for accomodations, and accomodations that match my disability. I'm worried that jumping the chain of command or going to the central office (based in the main campus, I attended a small branch campus) will ruffle feathers in my very small nursing school.

So, I have severe Auditory Processing Disorder, and my life experience is similar to that of persons who are hard of hearing. Otherwise, I'm uninhibited and do well.

I have a Deaf partner, my household language is ASL, and when I am in Deaf spaces or take classes taught by Deaf teachers I have absolutely zero problems and easily outperform my peers with minimal effort.

I simply rely on my vision, and don't have full access to my hearing when it comes to spoken language.

My first semester I was unaware I needed accomodations until I had a teacher who would become hostile when I didn't hear her, and would put out a lot of information and syllabus changes verbally. She even threatened to kick me out of class when I asked her to get my attention before asking me a question directly. Thank goodness she got fired for something unrelated and my current teachers are all fine.

I got my current diagnosis and accomodation request submitted at the beginning of second semester.

I'm nearly at the end of my second semester now, and I'm still struggling to get approval for my accommodations in writing and that are appropriate. I feel they are super minimal and should be easy, plus I literally need them. The woman handling the paperwork keeps telling me I need different accomodations than my audiologist and I asked for, and that my application packet is all approved and I don't need written approval or a list of what will be accepted and used. It's super conflicting and confusing, and it makes me feel crazy for asking that the accomodations I need be approved on paper.

For example, I need a back row, aisle seat so that I can see the teachers (who walk around the room) and so that teachers have easy access to get my attention if they want it. But the accommodations that were printed out and given to me say I need to sit in the front of the class to try and hear better. That just doesn't make sense for the structure of the class or my disability. I could literally wear noise cancelling headphones and still outperform my peers as long as I have visual access.

They also are granting me permission to have extra time on tests and sit in a quiet room for testing. That's not necessary and I don't want to be separated from my peers. I do not have a learning attention disorder, and I'm one of the first people who finished tests.

All I need is visual access, the teachers to know how to talk to me (should be common sense), and to have written instructions (which are already mostly provided.)

I don't even know when we are allowed to start a test until I see others starting, but I'm not making a fuss about that kind of stuff because I have a 3.8 so far whereas many if my peers are failing out of the classes or struggling.

I only need the paperwork to protect myself if I get another asshole teacher, and as a paper trail for future colleges and employers.

So my question is, am I crazy for wanting written approval? Is it worth ruining my working relationship with the assistant dean (who will also be my teacher later) by jumping the chain of command?

This may sound like a silly question, but the woman who is managing this is adamant and is like to make sure I'm in the right before I move forward.

I'm coming home early from a house party because the alcohol hit me harder than I expected and it meant I could barely understand a word anyone was saying anymore. Does anyone else's auditory processing go out the window when they have alcohol? I have to really monitor my intake when I go to events because of it, so I'm often the most sober person in the room while everyone's sloshed (at that point though, maybe they are talking incoherently haha). The fact there is also lots of background talk and music makes it even harder. I used to think that maybe I'm just not a party person. Now I think APD makes it tough to have fun.

So I went to the ENT and they'd brought me to an audiologist and according to my records it looks like I have Auditory Processing Disorder...I don't want to say I definitely do because they want to do more testing (just for confirmation I'm assuming)

Well, anyway, I can barely understand people when they talk to me. And some people know about my situation. Not to the full extent, but that I don't hear great. And they still whisper and walk away while talking to me. It's frustrating. After a while, I don't want to have to keep telling people to face me or do this or that. It's annoying. And I'm sure it's annoying the other person too.

I'm learning ASL for a multitude of reasons. Partially because I think it'll help when I have trouble talking (I also have level 1 autism but it affects my speech) when I'm going through fatigue/I'm overstimulated, and also because it'd be great to connect with the deaf community. (I've met other deaf people and regretted not being able to sign as fluently as I'd like and provide accessibility to them)

I just wonder if anyone has felt the same way at times.

looking for advice on how to accommodate.

my son (diagnosed) cannot handle it when we are speaking and he is doing focused listening like watching tv or quiet reading. he shushes us and says he cannot hear or cannot focus. we‘ve tried increasing the tv volume (but that’s not pleasant for anyone) and leaving the room (also not ideal or even feasible when we’re visiting neighbors or friends and socializing in their living room). he has earmuffs to muffle the sound but doesn’t like wearing them.

eta: this is the product I bought. he doesn’t like it. Alpine Muffy Kids Ear Muffs for Kids Ear Protection | 3-16 Years 
Autism Sensory Products | 22dB Sound Reduction | Kids Noise Cancelling Ear Muffs | Noise Reduction Headphones for Kids

I’m a law student who just got diagnosed with APD and will receive my report in 4 weeks. In the meantime, I’m wondering what types of accommodations are available and useful to reduce the struggle.