If we take out the auditory processing...

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Bea
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17 Dec 2008, 9:36 am

I recently read that researchers have discovered a link between delayed auditory processing and autism. That if an autie and an NT hear the same sound at the same time, the autie will understand/process it a fraction of a second later than the NT will. And since speech is a series of sounds, by the time a complete sentence is uttered, the autie will be struggling to understand the meaning of the first words of the last sentence while the NT is reaching out for the next sentence. So reaction timing is thrown off. I suspect this finding will also apply to aspies -- helps explain why I find email far superior to telephone calls, and why I can't keep track of a conversation with more than one person at a time, part of why I hate being in a crowd of people. So my question is:

Would an aspie find it actually easier to communicate and make connections if the aspie used earplugs and learned sign language? Would visual processing work better than listening to spoken words? (This is assuming, of course, that everyone else understood and used sign language.) For one thing, the earplugs would filter out the intrusion of elements that don't pertain to the conversation.



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17 Dec 2008, 9:44 am

Interesting point. I can (as an Aspie) relate to that. In fact a kid in school sometimes teased me with the fact, that when I was talking, my response was always slightly delayed, compared to that of other kids.

But I'm not sure, if that's limited to the auditory system of the brain or because thought processing ingeneral is slower. My personal impression was, that the second one is true and my thoughts try to cover a wider area of possibilities, so being slower and leaving less brain resources for the input processing. In that case, changing from one form of communication to another wouldn't help a lot. And the artificial sign language would most likely slow down things even more, since it's a learned thing against the "built in" feature of sound processing.


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17 Dec 2008, 9:48 am

Yes, makes sense.. I had auditory processing problems as a kid and it didn't straighten out until I was around 10. That explains why my speech came in late. I suspect my son has the same issue but there has been improvement over the last year with him as far as that goes.


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17 Dec 2008, 10:03 am

Bea wrote:
Would an aspie find it actually easier to communicate and make connections if the aspie used earplugs and learned sign language?


Yes!



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17 Dec 2008, 10:27 am

I don't know--I'm conscious of a delay with visual processing, too--I think that's part of why it took me so long to be ready to learn to drive, because I had to learn to compensate for delays between "receive visual image" and "understand contents of visual image". The only things that doesn't have a delay for me are written words and maybe tactile information, to which I'm hypersensitive.

I still haven't figured out how words get past the processing delay, because they are obviously visual information; but if I see the word "tree" it is easier to interpret than seeing an actual tree. Maybe words are just simpler--less noise to filter out and less variation in shape.


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17 Dec 2008, 10:39 am

^^I also struggle more with visual processing. for me sign language would probably have been a bit harder to learn because of that.


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lelia
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17 Dec 2008, 11:10 am

I tried to learn sign language for a while, but I see Sign far slower than I hear. On the other hand, I read like lightning.



0031
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17 Dec 2008, 11:29 am

This is a great topic!

Bea wrote

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Would an aspie find it actually easier to communicate and make connections if the aspie used earplugs and learned sign language? Would visual processing work better than listening to spoken words? (This is assuming, of course, that everyone else understood and used sign language.)


I think that once it is learned, sign language would definitely register in the brain sooner.
My daughter might have an auditory processing delay. Her therapist told me that she noticed that if she is offered visual cues along with the spoken word, my daughter processes it quicker. My daughter also processes sound quicker if it's offered with rhythm.

The one problem that my daughter has is that she seems to be unconciously aware that she has this delay. She sometimes seems to hear something and then do what she thinksthat she's been asked. She sunstitutes in her mind what she thinks you've asked, for what you've really asked in order to compensate for the slowness of the processing in her brain. Once she's done this, however, she hasn't "heard' what you've said at all- and it's almost as if she's selectively deaf.



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17 Dec 2008, 12:03 pm

Bea wrote:
I recently read that researchers have discovered a link between delayed auditory processing and autism. That if an autie and an NT hear the same sound at the same time, the autie will understand/process it a fraction of a second later than the NT will. And since speech is a series of sounds, by the time a complete sentence is uttered, the autie will be struggling to understand the meaning of the first words of the last sentence while the NT is reaching out for the next sentence. So reaction timing is thrown off. I suspect this finding will also apply to aspies -- helps explain why I find email far superior to telephone calls, and why I can't keep track of a conversation with more than one person at a time, part of why I hate being in a crowd of people. So my question is:

Would an aspie find it actually easier to communicate and make connections if the aspie used earplugs and learned sign language? Would visual processing work better than listening to spoken words? (This is assuming, of course, that everyone else understood and used sign language.) For one thing, the earplugs would filter out the intrusion of elements that don't pertain to the conversation.


I actually have problems with this at work. I often "run" orders for the guy working the till, so I am making coffees and handing them out. Sometimes they ask me why I don't always respond, and I say something like "I hear you, and I know I've heard you, I just have to figure out what you said" and "I really space out a lot and I don't always notice you've said something to me because I am somewhere else right now." Both things are problems I have, along with when making the drinks, I may acknowledge you, and then 2 seconds later forget what it is you told me and have to ask for clarification. Worst part is when I am taking oreders because so many people are so quiet, that yes I hear there words, but I just can't figure out what they said. And people with heavey accents, I probably offend them a lot, as I often have to turn to a coworker and ask them to try to make out what they said, and they get it right the first time..... I often don't get to what you said right away, so I try to match what I thought I heard you say, to what the sound of what you said sounds like in my vocabulary if that makes sense at all.



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17 Dec 2008, 12:18 pm

Padium wrote:

I actually have problems with this at work. I often "run" orders for the guy working the till, so I am making coffees and handing them out. Sometimes they ask me why I don't always respond, and I say something like "I hear you, and I know I've heard you, I just have to figure out what you said" and "I really space out a lot and I don't always notice you've said something to me because I am somewhere else right now." Both things are problems I have, along with when making the drinks, I may acknowledge you, and then 2 seconds later forget what it is you told me and have to ask for clarification. Worst part is when I am taking oreders because so many people are so quiet, that yes I hear there words, but I just can't figure out what they said. And people with heavey accents, I probably offend them a lot, as I often have to turn to a coworker and ask them to try to make out what they said, and they get it right the first time..... I often don't get to what you said right away, so I try to match what I thought I heard you say, to what the sound of what you said sounds like in my vocabulary if that makes sense at all.


whoa, such a deja vu (I worked in a bar as well).

I used to read peoples lips a lot- I had all the drinks memorised so it was easier to just guess their order that way. then I had to repeat their order like a mantra and if someone distracted me I had to go back to them and ask again.

the worst thing for me was when people were trying to talk to me or said something out of the ordinary which I didn't have a fixed response to.


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17 Dec 2008, 12:38 pm

anna-banana wrote:

whoa, such a deja vu (I worked in a bar as well).

I used to read peoples lips a lot- I had all the drinks memorised so it was easier to just guess their order that way. then I had to repeat their order like a mantra and if someone distracted me I had to go back to them and ask again.

the worst thing for me was when people were trying to talk to me or said something out of the ordinary which I didn't have a fixed response to.


Ii was a coffee shop I work at, but working at a bar would be much harder socialy, just because of the nature of what it is. If I owned a bar, and hired someone under the spectrum, I personally would want them busy with anything but the customers themselves. Too much social awkwardness to keep a really good atmosphere. If you can manage too work around that, that is absolutly amazing, and I congradulate you for being able to do it.



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17 Dec 2008, 12:45 pm

Callista wrote:
I don't know--I'm conscious of a delay with visual processing, too--I think that's part of why it took me so long to be ready to learn to drive, because I had to learn to compensate for delays between "receive visual image" and "understand contents of visual image". The only things that doesn't have a delay for me are written words and maybe tactile information, to which I'm hypersensitive.


Yeah, if 80% of Aspies have NLD, then that means most Aspies have severe problems with visual processing, so I doubt sign language would be easier to learn. For an autie whose visual processing is less impaired than auditory processing though (or an Aspie without NLD), sign language is probably easier (and of course, signs are often taught successfully to nonverbal auties).


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0031
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17 Dec 2008, 12:53 pm

What does NLD stand for?



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17 Dec 2008, 12:57 pm

0031 wrote:
What does NLD stand for?


Nonverbal Learning Disorder

Quick summary:

Strengths: rote memory, vocabulary, auditory processing/memory, verbal skills in general
Weaknesses: visual and spatial processing/memory, motor skills, nonverbal communication, social skills, literal thinking
General pattern of superior verbal skills and impaired nonverbal processing.

Generally required for diagnosis are significant impairments in the areas of visual processing, visual-motor coordination, and social skills, with intact or advanced verbal ability.


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0031
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17 Dec 2008, 1:35 pm

Thank you very much for the information, Lost in space.

With mathamatics, my daughter can learn it, if she doesn't have to understand it. She can rote learn.
My husband said that he learnt that way too, and the understanding seeped in later.

The physiotherapist of the other daughter said that her verbal skills were superior to compensate for her physical dyspraxia; she didn't speak a word till she was 2 years old but caught up quickly.

Both of them are not too good with visual-spatial things (such as puzzles.)

It's really interesting that 80 % of Aspies have it: NLD.

I am still trying to figure out things (to do with my children.) The info helps puts things in perspective for me.



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17 Dec 2008, 2:06 pm

This is a very timely topic for me. I've been thinking about the issue of auditory processing lately.

As lately I've been realizing a lot about myself, and how AS fits into my life, something that came up was this exact issue. I've always had excellent hearing; noticing small sounds that others don't, good perception of direction or distance by hearing, excellent pitch and perception of music, etc. But I've always had a problem with words. I fit into many of the characteristic traits, including having trouble with verbal instructions, needing slow and methodical speech from others if I really want to understand it. Curiously, I seem to learn better by listening in academic settings... perhaps that's because the pace of verbal discourse in a classroom is usually by its nature slower and more measured. Anyways...

I'm starting to think that there's something to this. Many times every day I have to ask people to repeat themselves when they talk to me. I mis-hear people all the time, either by omission or substitution. A good example: last night I come home from the grocery store and set down all the bags on the kitchen counter. I am chatting with my house-mate as I put the stuff away, and as we end the conversation, I thought she said, "you're forgetting groceries!", to which I responded, "oh uh, ok...." and proceeded to reach for the last bag on the counter. Then she gave me the oddest look and just kind of gaped at me. I noticed it and asked what was wrong. She asked if I had even been listening. Apparently she had said, "Thank you for getting groceries!".................. sigh. This kind of stuff happens all the time.

I also have the hardest time discerning song lyrics, unless they are slow and clear. I can't tell you how many times I've sang along with songs, with what I thought the lyrics were, and then sometimes years later finding out that I had them all wrong.

This is really interesting to understand the correlation between APD and AS. I am benefitting from hearing your experiences.



Last edited by Acacia on 17 Dec 2008, 2:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.