Hearing everything all at once?

A place to talk about your experience of living with Dyspraxia

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Captain_Ludd
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Hearing everything all at once?

Post by Captain_Ludd »

Hi all,

I was just reading through rodge's new Blog and I found something very interesting apparently us dyspraxics can have problems with processing auditory stimulus.
I didn't know this and it got me to thinking, I've always disliked crowds and large groups and part of the reason was I thought because they were to noisy.
Bu thinking on that's not the case because I can go to a rock concert and enjoy it, but when I'm in a room full of people talking I feel somehow over powered if that makes sense.
Sometimes I could swear that if I walk into a crowed room I can here every conversation all at once and I find myself thinking "too much" I then have to spend half my time trying to block it out.
I'd never really associated it with dyspraxia before and just grown used to it. Does any body else have any thing similar?
I find the same effect with people who talk to fast,( especially women) who seem to talk at you, the only way I can describe it is as a "Wall of input" that I just cant process so I tend to just back off. Sound familiar to anyone?
Creative
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Re: Hearing everything all at once?

Post by Creative »

Yes sounds very familiar to me. I'm exactly the same. Exept I wouldn't cope with the noise at a rock concert.
Jim
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Re: Hearing everything all at once?

Post by Jim »

The symptom you describe makes a great deal of sense to me and it something I have always associated with my dyspraxia.

Noise and crowd is not something I do well with, I hold no fear of it but it does make me feel extremely uncomfortable. The easiest way to relate it to a person with no knowledge nor insights of dyspraxia would be to liken it to claustrophobia.

If I'm in a area with lots of people, with lots of noise then I do kind of hear "everything at once" yet also "nothing at all" at the same time. To analogise it would be a bit like flicking the channel on the old analogue tv and getting a screen full of static. In that signals are being received but nothing decoded.

So for me if I happen to be in a place with lots of people talking at once all I can hear is excruciating garbled noise. You could be standing next to me talking to me but I will taking very little of what you're saying to me in because my brain simply can not process the information and shut out the background noise.

This makes many social activities extremely uncomfortable for me, pubs, clubs, restaurants, parties even simply shopping. And of-course it's not just the noise aspect but physical aspect of everyone being in everyone's way which I abhor.

It also makes work harder than it should be, in a meeting people tend to speak over each other and inevitably lots of people end up speaking at once and so I lose the thread of the conversation. If I'm talking to someone in a one to one situation (or on the phone) and someone else interrupts me whilst we're in full flow then I can longer make out what the other person is saying, nor the person who's interrupted or even what I myself am saying. I also have to get people to slow down, especially if I'm trying to take notes.

As ridiculous as it sounds I can't concentrate nor hear what I'm saying when other people are speaking, it makes it incredibly difficult to get a word in edgeways and I more often not simply end forgetting what I wanted to say whilst waiting for everyone else to shut the **** up.

And yet.. Similar to what captain Ludd said despite all this I have no problem going to a enjoying a live motor race like F1 or Le Mans. I guess this could because I adore racing cars and that often their noise will often drown out the voices of everyone else. Bliss.
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Captain_Ludd
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Re: Hearing everything all at once?

Post by Captain_Ludd »

Jim wrote:To analogise it would be a bit like flicking the channel on the old analogue tv and getting a screen full of static. In that signals are being received but nothing decoded.
That's exactly it, like trying to flick through as many channels as you can as quickly as possible taking everything in all at the same time but only catching bits of it till it all just becomes a kind of "static".
It's not the level of noise per say but the number of inputs, I'm so used to it now I hadn't even noticed it for ages, nice to know its not just me though.
Shadwell
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Re: Hearing everything all at once?

Post by Shadwell »

when I was young then I had real problems like loud noises like my fathers music, or things like fireworks, both about the same loudness!! but still to the day still find it hard going, especially trying to concerntrate on one person speaking in a crowded room, or if something is drowning out their voice like a fan or something.

but no problems with going out with some friends as a group like going to play pool or something, but that is because all of us are out for a laugh, and not to talk over each other. so then it isn't so bad.
minniemoo
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Re: Hearing everything all at once?

Post by minniemoo »

agree - many people (and yes, I must admit it is usually women) speak way too fast and I have to really concentrate on every word to understand what they are saying. I have to say though that I've learnt to use the hearing everything to my advantage and over many, many, years have taught myself how to listen to many conversations at once and be able to tune in and out of them. isn't easy and can't always be done...but is a useful skill when it works! :)
Willr0490
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Re: Hearing everything all at once?

Post by Willr0490 »

I certainly have problems with this. It meant that this time last year, whilst studying an NCTJ journalism diploma, I had problems doing dictation because I couldn't listen AND write at the same time.
Captain_Ludd
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Re: Hearing everything all at once?

Post by Captain_Ludd »

minniemoo wrote:I have to say though that I've learnt to use the hearing everything to my advantage and over many, many, years have taught myself how to listen to many conversations at once and be able to tune in and out of them.
Awsome :) how'd you do that ? It would be so useful.
LGC2108
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Re: Hearing everything all at once?

Post by LGC2108 »

I've often had difficulty with this, good to know I'm not the only one.
minniemoo
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Re: Hearing everything all at once?

Post by minniemoo »

Captain_Ludd wrote:
minniemoo wrote:I have to say though that I've learnt to use the hearing everything to my advantage and over many, many, years have taught myself how to listen to many conversations at once and be able to tune in and out of them.
Awsome :) how'd you do that ? It would be so useful.
Not sure if I can explain Captain Ludd :) I'll try. So you are in a room full of people and hearing a few conversations going on. You can somehow tune in and out of each. How? Eek. I guess I kind of shift focus. I can choose to block sounds out temporarily (like sirens) if they are only for a short while, so I guess I kind of block out the other conversations and focus on one at a time. I find it helps to look at where the conversation is coming from to tune in. It really does just take practice. Listening to all the conversations is I think easier, but I know it can freak out non-dyspraxics as I can seem to be fully engrossed in another thing/conversation and then answer some query from the other one. They don't seem to be able to see how it is possible. But we do hear everything at once and I think the real trick is to not be overwhelmed by it. Like when I look at a page of writing I can be overwhelmed by that by the letters, the words, the paragraphs etc and they can start dancing before my eyes or I can choose to take a step back and not panic, but pull it apart. You can do the same with conversations. I spend most of my life observing people and wondering about how they function/work, so I've practised it a lot. Sorry, not really explained it very well, but really think it mainly comes down to not panicking or letting myself be stressed by it - kind of letting it wash over me. :D I think as dyspraxics we have some gifts that others don't have and if we can somehow learn to harness them we can do things that nondyspraxics can't :D
minniemoo
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Re: Hearing everything all at once?

Post by minniemoo »

Just had a thought - it is really the same as I think you do at the rock concert but don't realize you are doing it. To enjoy it you must have learnt (probably from practice and love of rock :D) to block out the other people. It's pretty much the same thing :D I too am freaked out by large numbers of people - too much thinking, too much too much... but it's just taking that step back I think.
Catwoman42
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Re: Hearing everything all at once?

Post by Catwoman42 »

I hate it if too many conversations are going on at once and if someone is talking to me during this I struggle to hear the. If I am in a noisy room and no one is particularly talking to me I tend to zone out. At work today a printer was working next to me and there was a conversation going on in front of me, then someone shouted over a question. Sensory overload!
Sugar Kitten
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Re: Hearing everything all at once?

Post by Sugar Kitten »

Hehe this is really interesting! Definitely can relate to this. Even if the TV is on I can barely focus on anything or listen to anyone so that can be a pain when a 10 minute thing turns into 40 minutes. However if its turned off I'm fine and I can breathe so that is great. Another thing is when I go to the supermarket or into large crowds of people its almost like there aren't enough tracks to keep track of each human at once and every time I see another person its like a part of my ability to think clearly diminishes and I'm halfway up an aisle just now thinking why I decided to go there... however if I put on my mp3 player and go around its like I am just a drop of water skimming around no trouble in about five minutes.

Having fun looking at shelves in tesco instead of feeling like I'm loosing my mind. I think because the music links both hemispheres in temporary harmony.
Andrea
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Re: Hearing everything all at once?

Post by Andrea »

Ive always wondered how people can listen to more than one person! You try to and then you have lost everything and spend the rest of the time trying to look like you understand. I even went for a hearing test cos I missed so much of what people were saying. Lol.
Teamee
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Re: Hearing everything all at once?

Post by Teamee »

Wow, this is exactly what I feel like,it's nice to know I'm not the only one! I find it incredibly hard to hold a conversation if I'm in group of 4+ and there's more than one conversation being held at the same table etc. where I'm sitting. I keep having to ask whoever I'm chatting with to repeat themselves and often start listening to what else is being discussed more than the person I'm talking to... it probably looks pretty rude and it's quite embarrassing :/
I was also really bothered by fireworks growing up, also planes flying overhead and other really loud noises. I find myself covering my ears if the fire-alarm goes off at work or a fire engine drives past with its sirens on, which sometimes gets me strange looks! I do love going to gigs though, I think that this might be as if the music's really loud, it's harder to get distracted.
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