Spoken vs Written Language

Post Reply New Topic

I have some of the same problems with written language that I have with listening...my mind wanders so I can read/hear the same words over and over several times before it finally sinks in. Sometimes if I try to read a book, I realize I've been staring at one page for 20 minutes while daydreaming.

But in general, I can understand written language much easier than spoken. I have a lot of trouble with auditory processing and it's hard to distinguish the sounds of a person's voice from other sounds, especially other voices. A lot of the time what I hear is like mad libs, there are words I understand clearly but certain words are garbled and I have to figure out what they are. It makes it hard work to listen to people speaking. When I get tired, I space out, so then I miss even more of what is said.

What amazes me is how I can explain this to people, and ask them to speak more clearly or please just put it in an email or whatever. And they might do it once or twice but then go right back to mumbling and expecting me to strain myself to hear them. Sometimes I really fervently wish I was deaf, just seems like it would be easier.

Seems like the majority of commenters identify with more difficulty with listening than reading. Me, too.

I believe I'm a rather good reader who sometimes gets hyper, and might have to go back a few pages once in a while.

I'm really not a very good listener--when I ask directions, I usually ask the person to repeat his/her self; sometimes, people get irritated with me for that.

For me as well. I translate everything directly from language to pictures in my head, and if something is said too quickly, with an odd accent, or is mumbled, I immediately lose the thread of what is said. I can replay the sounds I heard back in my head perfectly, but I can't separate them into individual words, so reading is much easier for me. Sometimes, even if something was said clearly, it takes me several seconds to process what was said and come up with a response, like a time delay of sorts. I used to have quite a problem watching movies as a kid because of this. Characters would say things and I'd only hear garbled sounds, this happened a lot with my favourite childhood movie Homeward Bound. I'd watch it and rewatch it, and I'd never be able to catch specific lines, until I was much older and they finally clicked.

This is why I like forums much more than talking on the phone. I miss points in conversations so easily that it's virtually useless being on the phone with me because I effectively don't hear you most of the time.

I do this in all three languages I "speak" too, so it's most definitely something with my brain.

I never did care for audiobooks. It takes all my concentration to understand them so I can't really do anything else like knitting or drawing. I have a lot of trouble with processing spoken language too. Speech sounds like gibberish or I misinterpret words if there is any kind of background noise (even the heating or air conditioner), or if the person speaks quickly or with an accent. I realized that all the classes I struggled in college with either had a professor who was foreign or who were from New York, Boston, or Chicago, and talked fast. If someone tells me a list of three things to do, I will forget one of them. I have to ask people to repeat themselves too, and a lot of my clients have realized it's a lot more efficient to communicate through emails, texts, or instant messaging to me. I don't know why people get annoyed when I ask them to repeat themselves. It's not like I want to pester them over and over again.

My NLD/APD combination makes it hard to understand both written and spoken language, but I'm better with written, since I can easily go back and reread anything I didn't understand the first time. I need closed captioning in order to know what's going on in movies, but even then, my prosopagnosia makes it hard to distinguish between characters.

There is a very significant difference for me between the two modalities. My wife often accuses me of not listening to her, which I guess is true, but not intentional. I just find it impossible to always be ready for a stray comment or question. Verbal communication requires total concentration. Any stray thought hits me, which often happens as she has wonderfully interesting ideas, it's all over for the rest of her paragraph. I am not even in the same room until she jars me from my reverie, often angrily.

I also have apparently a certain look when I am trying to have a serious conversation, particularly when feeling anxious. I frown, scrunching my brow down and squinting, to reduce light entering my eyes (sometimes I close them entirely, but that throws most people, so I try really hard not to), and often sit down as well. The expression helps me for whatever reason, but people sometimes say I look angry. Oh well.

Yes, I think so.

I use a lot visual cues to remember the sequence of steps in individual tasks or routines, and to remember to do things. I am very prone to the "out of sight, out of mind" thing.

I have to bring my grocery lists to the store, because I get so overloaded by the sensory environment that I can't think very well....it's hard to remember anything or concentrate on anything.

I almost always draw pictorial lists because of all the times I've been standing in a store aisle, so overloaded that I'm almost completely shut down and trying to force my brain to translate the scribble of a word on the list I'm staring at into the object that word represents, and then to hold onto my thought of the object for long enough to actually go and find the object in the store....and then when I forget the item before locating it, to scan the list of words again and try to remember which one it was that I'd just forgotten and start the whole terrible process all over again.....it's much easier to just be able to look at the list and see the objects. When I started drawing my grocery lists, I started actually getting all the things on my lists and getting through the store much more quickly.

I always need written instructions, or better still for someone to show me what I need to do.



Something similar happens to me.... I hear the words well enough that I think I could transcribe them accurately but I don't/can't do anything with them (don't/can't attach meaning to the words). Years later I'll be listening to the same dialogue/lyrics and I'll suddenly get it.

This literally describes my word processing skills.

I have difficulty at times with both written and spoken language, but in general, written language is better for me to process. I agree with those who said their brain translates written words directly into pictures in their mind. That is a pretty good description of how i process what I read. If I am reading something that I have difficulty picturing, it is difficult for me to absorb the material.

Also, if I have any distractions, I can't absorb what I read nearly as well. At times, I have to ask people to repeat themselves because their words sound like a jumble of phonics sounds--as if the translator in my brain took a sudden vacation. This usually happens when I am driving in the car with my family--I am wondering if it is because of background noise. In the car, my husband usually has the radio on; there is the usual road noise, etc. I can follow a tv show without closed captions, but they really help me. Especially if there are distractions.

I have no hearing deficits that I know of.