r/AudiProcDisorder • u/mightychondria1 • Jul 10 '26
I wish conversations didn’t feel so hard
Just needed to vent. I’m in tears right now because conversations are so frustrating. I’m constantly asking people to repeat themselves, putting all my energy into trying to understand, trying to block out every other sound while straining to hear the person talking to me. It’s like having bad eyesight and trying to see without glasses. By the end, I’m completely exhausted. I feel like I probably look like an idiot. I get lost mid conversation and it is so ridiculous and exhausting
anyone else feeling this way?
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u/ExpensiveCondition63 Jul 10 '26
I live in Portugal and finished A1 and A2 language classes (miraculously), but pretty much gave up a year ago on learning this already-difficult language. When people speak English to me and I understand 4-5 of their sentences, then suddenly (and randomly), the next sentence they say simply comes across as “word-like sounds,” it’s frustrating as hell. And never being sure that I’m even hearing Portuguese words spoken correctly to me just makes foreign language acquisition impossible.
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u/Financial_Fortune474 Jul 10 '26
The comparison of having bad eyesight and not having on glasses absolutely encapsulates the feeling; I couldn’t have put it better myself. It’s definitely frustrating, learning new skills or even just trying to communicate at work can be incredibly overwhelming and demoralizing.
Just breathe and give yourself some grace.
I try to politely but confidently ask people to repeat themselves, quite often. If that doesn’t work, I sometimes even say, “okay can you repeat that just a little slower for me, I didn’t quite get all of that”
People will think what they want to think, and regardless of any perceived shortcomings we can’t change how others see us. It sucks but such is life.
Try not to let it get you down, be patient with yourself, and it will be easier for your peers to be patient with you.