I would love to hear from some of you who also have (or their spouse also has) Central Auditory Processing Disorder in addition to the ADHD. Both of my sons have been diagnosed with ADD/ADHD as well as my husband. One of my sons was also diagnosed with Central Auditory Processing Disorder in addition to the ADHD. It was very obvious to me that my son had it because in addition to having to repeat things sometimes, I would have to re-explain and/or re-word things. And, not only that, sometimes when things are inferred or implied he misunderstands the meaning or intention of what is being said.
This is exactly how my husband is...in addition to poor memory and distractibility contributing to confusion and miscommunication, he will often misunderstand the "meaning" or "intention" of what was said. Sometimes he uses the wrong word for what he is trying to say, so I can also assume that he is misunderstanding a definition or meaning of a word or saying, and that takes a conversation in a whole new direction also.
I was never able to find a speech pathologist or program for my son that might help with the auditory processing and maybe that is because there really isn't anything.
ANY ADVICE OR GUIDANCE would be so greatly appreciated!!
Thank you,
crl@5
My partner was diagnosed with
Submitted by rainbow on
My partner was diagnosed with Central Auditory Processing Disorder during the process of getting approved for military disability (it was not related to ADHD at all, though he does have ADHD).
He is an Iraq veteran. The way the doctor explained it, being around a lot of gunfire, explosives etc can make a person sort of "immune" to background noises. It actually messes up the signal sent from your ear drum to your brain - kind of stifles it.
I wondered IMMEDIATELY if it couldn't just be a manifestation of his ADHD symptoms. Since his CAPD diagnosis though, I've seen quite a bit of stuff about CAPD and ADHD occurring together (just like you're talking about).
Did the professional you saw shed any light on where the line is drawn between the two? I would think anyone who has ADHD would also have the symptoms of CAPD.
The doctor told me to get my partner's attention before starting to talk to him (by walking up and putting my hand on his shoulder or something like that rather than starting the conversation from the next room over). Basically the same advice is given when getting the attention of an ADHD person. Kind of frustrating!
Central Auditory Processing
Submitted by crl@5 on
Unfortunately, no one has really ever had any good, practical advice on the subject and it may be that there really isn't any. The problem too is that we don't always realize that he has misunderstood or misinterpreted something unless at some point it dawns on me later.
Writing vs Speaking
Submitted by Brindle on
Do they have the same trouble misunderstanding if they read the information? I’m wondering if maybe texting things or making notes during important conversations would help? Maybe just a recap at the end? I am thinking that written helps would not be feasible every time but they would be helpful... IF you could get the spouses to work with you on it. That’s where I wonder if untreated adhd sabotages problem solving yet again.
I also wonder... do your husbands take it personally that the source of communication getting off track is a condition they have?
Hi and thank you for your
Submitted by crl@5 on
Hi and thank you for your input. I have tried lists before and he loses them, forgets to read them or misreads/skips parts. Maybe now that he is actively working on his ADHD we will be able to retry some of those strategies. Right now he is doing Cog Med and working with a Life coach on organizational skills. We have been married for 27 years so I am finding that I have been a little impatient which I feel bad about. It's just that I have reached that hopeless phase...I feel depleted and very tired of trying and retrying to figure things out and find solutions.
Hopeless phase
Submitted by Brindle on
I understand what you mean. Yeah, I’ve also reached the point where I feel the same. And we aren’t the only ones. Hugs to us all.
I deal w/ this to some degree....
Submitted by c ur self on
I've always been a Highly Focused Individual, a deep thinker....You have to get my attention, if you want me to hear you....Never start talking to me from a distance w/o (attempt to start up a conversation) making sure you have broken my train of thought....My Mom, use to do that when I was a child...When I finally looked up and said huh? She would threaten to have my hearing checked....I have no trouble understanding or hearing....
My wife has clinical level add, and doesn't do well filling in the blanks of inferred or implied comments....She gets frustrated quickly if you use one wrong word....She doesn't track a speaker by content, but directly by grammatical meanings...
We are a pair!
c
Thank you for giving some
Submitted by crl@5 on
Thank you for giving some more insight. As my husband’s awareness has increased he has told me that he often misses the first few words/sentence when you start talking to him from far away of if you are starting a conversation with him when he was previously engaged in something else. Same thing you described. I will have to be more aware to get his attention first.