So, one way my ADHD manifests is that my brain will just fucking fumble incoming sounds, particularly if I’m not paying attention beforehand. I’ve been near someone who just turned on the radio to the middle of a song and the music made no sense to me at all, like, it was just really weird noise that sounded like it should make sense but didn’t, until it suddenly clicked and the music made sense again. With words, it happens all the time. Someone will just ambush me with words and instead of “hey, can you put the cap on the blender?” It becomes “hey, can you pole a cat fender?” Or sometimes it becomes just “dsfargeg”. I know that nobody would say either of those things to me, so I use a dual track strategy of both playing with what I think I heard to try and make it make sense as well as asking the other person to repeat themselves. Sometimes, I work it out before they repeat it, sometimes I don’t.
I’ve never misheard things with ADHD but I do regularly ask people to repeat things and it’s not that I haven’t heard but it’s like my brain hasn’t fully processed and understood what I’ve just heard. So when someone starts saying what they’ve just said, my brain has finished processing everything.
100% agree that this is an ADHD thing. Doesn’t happen to me as often as it seems to happens to you. But sometimes I’ll be actively trying to pay attention to someone talking, and need to have them repeat themselves 3-4 times because the sound isn’t becoming words.
I don’t have ADHD but I experience this too. Audio processing disorder.
Sometimes I realise what’s been said after a second or so, other times I can’t figure it out. My go to solution is to just repeat what I’ve heard. It usually gets kind of funny so it takes the annoyance out of it.
My ADHD manifests this way as well and I explain it as, “I’m sorry, I didn’t understand English just then.” I only speak one language but it’s true, I couldn’t parse their language.
I also picked up a “quirky” habit where I’ll say the nonsense phrase back at the person, who gets a laugh, then repeats themselves. Since it seems like I’m being cute and quirky instead of having an auditory processing disorder, people don’t get annoyed as often.
I have this with languages. If I don’t know what language to expect chances are I’m just gonna hear: w̶̛̫̥͚̎̾̍͋̏̽̀̊̉̈́h̴̘̯̜̖̘̦͈̺̍̾̐͆̿͒̂̔̉̒̀̿̈́̓͊͐͝ę̸̪̹͙̣̣̩̝̖͈͚͋͆̎r̵̫̪̲̬̫̾̓̓̑͊͒̈́̾̀̌̀̋̔̚̚͝͝͠e̵̦̤̲͎͑ ̸̲̪̜̒̈̂͝a̴̛̼̬͙̋̐̊̒̅̆͐̀͆̃̋̎͝ṛ̶̹̫̼̦̦̰̠̹̲͎̳͐̿̋ě̵̜͎͎̠̗͐̀ ̸̧̨̨̖̙̭͈̹̺̪̻̹̟̦̺̰̦̍̾̂̑̓̽̔̓͋́̎͑̉̔̏̇͘ẗ̵͓̙̰́̉̇́̊̌̔̄̅̄͛͒̔͒͠͠͠ḧ̶͎̗̯͉̟͉̘̗͈̜͎̝͙̺̙͉̠́̀̉͑̅͐͘͜͝ͅë̴̺͙͎̩̝̞͕̦͎̝͖̹̫͔̬̦̩́̆͒̄͆͆̍̉̍̈͒͌̚͜ͅ ̸̡̙̠͇̱̙̤̺̀̈̇̂̀̍̉̋̕ͅc̶̢̲̣̻͉̬͕̩̣͇͐̅͛̕̕̚ͅa̸͈̱͇̪͋̐̈̿̃̇̋̀̅̊̓̀̐̈̍̕͠ḃ̷̧͇͔͎͉͇̙͓͇͆̉̽͗͒̑b̴̗̬̺̤̳̈́ͅã̶̧̩̠̹̞̯͔͑̓̓̀̅̀̎͒̓͝͠g̸̨̧̧̱͉̱̲̗̬̟̘̟̩̉̋̇͒̎̇̿̋͌̓e̴͈̦̍̅s̸͓̎͆͛̾́͂̚ͅ.
It isn’t necessarily the case that everyone who does this has ADHD, nor that everyone with ADHD has this as a symptom. You could just have an auditory processing thing. For me, I think it’s related to my ADHD because it doesn’t happen when I’m on medication for it.
So, one way my ADHD manifests is that my brain will just fucking fumble incoming sounds, particularly if I’m not paying attention beforehand. I’ve been near someone who just turned on the radio to the middle of a song and the music made no sense to me at all, like, it was just really weird noise that sounded like it should make sense but didn’t, until it suddenly clicked and the music made sense again. With words, it happens all the time. Someone will just ambush me with words and instead of “hey, can you put the cap on the blender?” It becomes “hey, can you pole a cat fender?” Or sometimes it becomes just “dsfargeg”. I know that nobody would say either of those things to me, so I use a dual track strategy of both playing with what I think I heard to try and make it make sense as well as asking the other person to repeat themselves. Sometimes, I work it out before they repeat it, sometimes I don’t.
I’ve never misheard things with ADHD but I do regularly ask people to repeat things and it’s not that I haven’t heard but it’s like my brain hasn’t fully processed and understood what I’ve just heard. So when someone starts saying what they’ve just said, my brain has finished processing everything.
Exactly. It’s like my (sub)concious was already at least three threads removed from reality and I need to bounce back into the real world to process.
100% agree that this is an ADHD thing. Doesn’t happen to me as often as it seems to happens to you. But sometimes I’ll be actively trying to pay attention to someone talking, and need to have them repeat themselves 3-4 times because the sound isn’t becoming words.
Are you guys saying that’s why I have more trouble than my fellows in understanding people despite having perfect hearing?
It’s definitely one possibility. I wouldn’t diagnose yourself based on a social media thread, though.
I don’t have ADHD but I experience this too. Audio processing disorder.
Sometimes I realise what’s been said after a second or so, other times I can’t figure it out. My go to solution is to just repeat what I’ve heard. It usually gets kind of funny so it takes the annoyance out of it.
I think you’re fine because this sounds totally normal to me
Maybe, but it happens a lot less (that is, not at all) when I’m on my medication.
My ADHD manifests this way as well and I explain it as, “I’m sorry, I didn’t understand English just then.” I only speak one language but it’s true, I couldn’t parse their language.
I also picked up a “quirky” habit where I’ll say the nonsense phrase back at the person, who gets a laugh, then repeats themselves. Since it seems like I’m being cute and quirky instead of having an auditory processing disorder, people don’t get annoyed as often.
I do this too sometimes. My wife in particular hates it.
I have this with languages. If I don’t know what language to expect chances are I’m just gonna hear: w̶̛̫̥͚̎̾̍͋̏̽̀̊̉̈́h̴̘̯̜̖̘̦͈̺̍̾̐͆̿͒̂̔̉̒̀̿̈́̓͊͐͝ę̸̪̹͙̣̣̩̝̖͈͚͋͆̎r̵̫̪̲̬̫̾̓̓̑͊͒̈́̾̀̌̀̋̔̚̚͝͝͠e̵̦̤̲͎͑ ̸̲̪̜̒̈̂͝a̴̛̼̬͙̋̐̊̒̅̆͐̀͆̃̋̎͝ṛ̶̹̫̼̦̦̰̠̹̲͎̳͐̿̋ě̵̜͎͎̠̗͐̀ ̸̧̨̨̖̙̭͈̹̺̪̻̹̟̦̺̰̦̍̾̂̑̓̽̔̓͋́̎͑̉̔̏̇͘ẗ̵͓̙̰́̉̇́̊̌̔̄̅̄͛͒̔͒͠͠͠ḧ̶͎̗̯͉̟͉̘̗͈̜͎̝͙̺̙͉̠́̀̉͑̅͐͘͜͝ͅë̴̺͙͎̩̝̞͕̦͎̝͖̹̫͔̬̦̩́̆͒̄͆͆̍̉̍̈͒͌̚͜ͅ ̸̡̙̠͇̱̙̤̺̀̈̇̂̀̍̉̋̕ͅc̶̢̲̣̻͉̬͕̩̣͇͐̅͛̕̕̚ͅa̸͈̱͇̪͋̐̈̿̃̇̋̀̅̊̓̀̐̈̍̕͠ḃ̷̧͇͔͎͉͇̙͓͇͆̉̽͗͒̑b̴̗̬̺̤̳̈́ͅã̶̧̩̠̹̞̯͔͑̓̓̀̅̀̎͒̓͝͠g̸̨̧̧̱͉̱̲̗̬̟̘̟̩̉̋̇͒̎̇̿̋͌̓e̴͈̦̍̅s̸͓̎͆͛̾́͂̚ͅ.
I’ve done this all my life - I don’t have ADHD.
It isn’t necessarily the case that everyone who does this has ADHD, nor that everyone with ADHD has this as a symptom. You could just have an auditory processing thing. For me, I think it’s related to my ADHD because it doesn’t happen when I’m on medication for it.