Caught DEAF SIGNS in the new movie, KNOWING

I was drawn to this post from a google search. Having watched the film Knowing, I realized that someone actually has the same problem as me, so figured there must be a name for it. For about ten years, now, I've experienced a strange hearing issue. I might have had it longer, but growing up in a scottish family, they tend to shout loads, so it's never been apparent before.

My problem is that while my level of hearing is fine, my ability to distinguish sound is not. I could hear a pin drop in a quiet room, and I can hear singular sounds fine, but it you mix two sounds together, all I hear is a buzz. For example, if I'm talking to someone in the lounge and the tumble dryer is on in the kitchen, or if I'm simply talking to a person while someone else is also talking in that room. I might hear one or two words from that person, but all the other words blend in to one another. It's like my ears are unable to separate sounds like everyone else, and so I hear them as though they were all coming from a single source. This is playing havok on my relationship, as my wife doesn't understand and thinks I'm simply "not listening", though you'd think she'd understand seeing as how she's registered blind ;) What's more, it means it's impossible to have any form of communication with people outside of a quiet room. If I bump into someone in the street, much of what they say is lost on me due to passing cars, so I mostly just nod my head. In that conversation, the person I'm talking to will hear me fine, and my wife will be able to hear the other person, but I simply cannot. When we then walk away, I'll then get asked by my wife why I was so rude to not answer the persons questions, which of course is not my fault.

Is there a name for this condition, and can it be helped with a hearing aid as the film Knowing portrays? I've had my ears checked, and apparently the mechanics of my ears are fine, but I can't see as how the doctors could diagnose my condition from the tests they did. All they did was have me listen to a series of sounds in a sound proof room! If they'd had me do the same in an everyday environment, I bet I'd not have heard any of them. If I can find out what's wrong with me and how to compensate for it, then I might be able to make home life a little easier.

Thanks in advance for any help you guys can give.
Regards,
Lee
 
Lazarus404 said:
I was drawn to this post from a google search. Having watched the film Knowing, I realized that someone actually has the same problem as me, so figured there must be a name for it. For about ten years, now, I've experienced a strange hearing issue. I might have had it longer, but growing up in a scottish family, they tend to shout loads, so it's never been apparent before.

My problem is that while my level of hearing is fine, my ability to distinguish sound is not. I could hear a pin drop in a quiet room, and I can hear singular sounds fine, but it you mix two sounds together, all I hear is a buzz. For example, if I'm talking to someone in the lounge and the tumble dryer is on in the kitchen, or if I'm simply talking to a person while someone else is also talking in that room. I might hear one or two words from that person, but all the other words blend in to one another. It's like my ears are unable to separate sounds like everyone else, and so I hear them as though they were all coming from a single source. This is playing havok on my relationship, as my wife doesn't understand and thinks I'm simply "not listening", though you'd think she'd understand seeing as how she's registered blind ;) What's more, it means it's impossible to have any form of communication with people outside of a quiet room. If I bump into someone in the street, much of what they say is lost on me due to passing cars, so I mostly just nod my head. In that conversation, the person I'm talking to will hear me fine, and my wife will be able to hear the other person, but I simply cannot. When we then walk away, I'll then get asked by my wife why I was so rude to not answer the persons questions, which of course is not my fault.

Is there a name for this condition, and can it be helped with a hearing aid as the film Knowing portrays? I've had my ears checked, and apparently the mechanics of my ears are fine, but I can't see as how the doctors could diagnose my condition from the tests they did. All they did was have me listen to a series of sounds in a sound proof room! If they'd had me do the same in an everyday environment, I bet I'd not have heard any of them. If I can find out what's wrong with me and how to compensate for it, then I might be able to make home life a little easier.

Thanks in advance for any help you guys can give.
Regards,
Lee
Click to expand...

CAPD or Central auditory processing disorder. You will need to consult a doctor about it.
 
Thank you for that. I've just done some Googling and it seems to tick all the checkoxes. Now I know what's wrong with me, although it doesn't seem to be something that can be fully remedied. When I saw a hearing specialist about my hearing, I was told a hearing aid might help, though it might cause more discomfort than help with sound, but having read the various informational sites on CAPD, I find it's not likely to help in the slightest. Is CAPD a relatively new discovery? None of the doctors I have spoken to have enlightened on the idea of me having it despite the fact that I've listed almost every single symptom these sites have provided (with the exception of the reading and personal expression symtoms). If someone had found out about this when I was a child, I might have a totally different life, today.

Thanks again
 
movie - my mom and I just saw it and it was good, but I had misgivings about HA aspect of it too and also disagreed something that a character in movie said in relation to that... won't say detail in case people going to see.....

CAPD is type of learning disability, Lazarus <I have LD> not easily found by audiologist - for more info., go to LDOnline.com. Doesn't have to do with mechanics of hearing between brain and ears, but something else.
 
dogmom said:
CAPD is type of learning disability, Lazarus <I have LD> not easily found by audiologist - for more info., go to LDOnline.com. Doesn't have to do with mechanics of hearing between brain and ears, but something else.
Click to expand...

My wife suggested that, long ago... However, I have no problems in the other departments. For example, I learned to read quite early, really, and have no problems with anything visual. I actually have a very good memory for images and visual patterns (almost photographic), which has always made me a good speller. Anything auditory, though, is the exact opposite. I've often thought myself audibly dislexic. I guess it could be some localized learning difficulty, ie. learning difficulties based on anything audible, but having now looked at as many CAPD websites as I can find, my symptoms tick all the boxes. I'm sure that's what I have! It's such a relief, I can't stop reading about it. It's like I've discovered I'm not crazy :)
 
dogmom said:
movie - my mom and I just saw it and it was good, but I had misgivings about HA aspect of it too and also disagreed something that a character in movie said in relation to that... won't say detail in case people going to see.....

CAPD is type of learning disability, Lazarus <I have LD> not easily found by audiologist - for more info., go to LDOnline.com. Doesn't have to do with mechanics of hearing between brain and ears, but something else.
Click to expand...

Auditory Processing Disorder

That is not correct, CAPD can have many different causes, such as head trauma, lead poisoning, ear infections, problems with the vestibular system.

Capd itself is not a learning disability.
 
there are many types of LD and it does not always relate to dyslexia - having problems with text <reading/writing/spelling> I have math and math-related LD but read early and well, love to read and write, love learning other languages. Many people with LD have great memories and part of the definition of LD is having supposedly average to "above-average" <for what that's worth> intelligence and having skills in a variety of areas, but having one or more areas also being very difficult such that there is a discrepancy between potential ability, use of other gifts and actual performance overall. For example, my reading has always been several grades above my level in school with my math being several grades below. I didn't learn to tell time or count money til high school, still have problems with "old-style/face" clocks, <don't wear a watch> have problems with oral instructions, sequencing, and body-spatial recognition/movement. I often think in pictures as opposed to words.

There is also nvLD - non-verbal LD - where people have trouble seeing patterns in general, trouble recognizing things like body language/humor/sarcasm; problems recognizing faces of people they know, problems with handling changes <not money, change of pace, subject, activity>, have NO sense of direction, getting lost trying to get home etc.
 
Bottesini said:
Auditory Processing Disorder

That is not correct, CAPD can have many different causes, such as head trauma, lead poisoning, ear infections, problems with the vestibular system.

Capd itself is not a learning disability.
Click to expand...

The ear infection comment is making my ears twitch ;) I've had a nasty ear infection only a fortnight ago, leaving my entire right side of my face in pain. I took Flucloxacillin and Zapain (30mg codine and 500mg paracetamol) just to deal with it. This is one on a long history of ear infections I've had over the years. Most have been since I was 20. This might attribute to the condition getting worse, though I'm sure I had it since early childhood, if not birth. If I hadn't grown up in a family who shout constantly about everything (they're scots and used to talking louder than everyone else), then I might be more sure of that. However, all the boxes are ticked:

I could never listen to the teacher in class and just "worked it out" on my own
I didn't learn to talk properly til late
I never picked up on what was actually being said in conversations
I always chose to close in on my own little world because I couldn't follow what was going on in the real world

The list goes on...

I read this bit about LD, and it doesn't fit. Although I have audio related difficulties, I've never ever had reading or writing difficulties. If anything, I was actually quite advanced in my childhood with reading and writing; I just sort of had a knack for it. I sorta remember being able to read before I could even express myself properly. Maybe there's something in that, or maybe the visual part of my brain compensated enough that reading and writing were never a problem? That's something I should be sure to tell the specialist, as it might mean my problems are actually related to something else similar instead.
 
dogmom said:
there are many types of LD and it does not always relate to dyslexia - having problems with text <reading/writing/spelling> I have math and math-related LD but read early and well, love to read and write, love learning other languages. Many people with LD have great memories and part of the definition of LD is having supposedly average to "above-average" <for what that's worth> intelligence and having skills in a variety of areas, but having one or more areas also being very difficult such that there is a discrepancy between potential ability, use of other gifts and actual performance overall. For example, my reading has always been several grades above my level in school with my math being several grades below. I didn't learn to tell time or count money til high school, still have problems with "old-style/face" clocks, <don't wear a watch> have problems with oral instructions, sequencing, and body-spatial recognition/movement. I often think in pictures as opposed to words.

There is also nvLD - non-verbal LD - where people have trouble seeing patterns in general, trouble recognizing things like body language/humor/sarcasm; problems recognizing faces of people they know, problems with handling changes <not money, change of pace, subject, activity>, have NO sense of direction, getting lost trying to get home etc.
Click to expand...



Yes, I see in pictures, also, including words. Math was never a problem for me. In fact, I'm a programmer, now, and do it well. I've always been really good at puzzles. If my hearing is a learning difficulty, then it's only localized to hearing, because if I see something, then I don't forget it. However, if I hear something, I may as well not have heard it, because I won't remember it even minutes later. It's almost as though the area in my brain used for audio is hooked up to the same part of my brain used for images.

My wife never relays anything in speech anymore. She writes everything down as a list and hands it to me, as she knows I won't remember, otherwise. :D Sometimes she writes lists of the lists she's given to me, so I can remember to carry them all out :D:D:D
 
reading and writing not always problems manifested in LD -

I also spoke late and had speech impairments and "lazy eye". Born premature-

am sorry- I am corrected by Bott about the CAPD and LD -
 
dogmom said:
reading and writing not always problems manifested in LD -

I also spoke late and had speech impairments and "lazy eye". Born premature-

am sorry- I am corrected by Bott about the CAPD and LD -
Click to expand...


I had a lazy eye, too. It was noted as a "turn" in my eye. It fixed itself by the time I was about 12. Is that related to LD, then? If so, how?

I was born three weeks late, as they wanted to see if my mum would go into labour by herself. Not sure if that's also linked.... Can't really see how.
 
Lazarus404 said:
I had a lazy eye, too. It was noted as a "turn" in my eye. It fixed itself by the time I was about 12. Is that related to LD, then? If so, how?

I was born three weeks late, as they wanted to see if my mum would go into labour by herself. Not sure if that's also linked.... Can't really see how.
Click to expand...

Lazy eye is not related to learning disabilities.
 
I remember when I went for testing for LD, she asked many questions, like about if I was born premature, or had delayed speech, that kinda thing.

Anyway, best wishes, Lazarus04!
 
Bottesini said:
Lazy eye is not related to learning disabilities.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I couldn't see how, either... But then, until today, I never would have dreamed my audial memory would have been linked to my inability to understand what people were saying to me. Sometimes things have an odd way of being related.
 
Lazarus 404 --

Auditory Processing Disorder (APD, sometimes called CAPD for central auditory processing disorder) is most often diagnosed in children who exhibit many of the same symptoms you've described in the above string. However, there are adults with APD, many of whom have had the same characteristics most of their lives and were simply never diagnosed. It is not related to learning disabilities specifically, but individuals with APD often exhibit some of the same signs, namely what others perceive as inattention or forgetfulness. One common characteristic of APD is difficulty understanding speech in the presence of competing noise, as you described on a street. Individuals with APD can feel as if they have difficulty concentrating for extended periods, or have difficulty remembering lists of instructions.
Audiologists generally do not recommend hearing aids for APD, unless the processing disorder occurs in conjunction with an aidable peripheral hearing loss. The problem with APD isn't that the ear isn't working -- the problem is that somewhere between the ear and the speech center of the brain, the connections aren't firing as expected. Hearing aids don't fix that, they just amplify sound. Dealing with APD is harder, because -- you're right-- there's no simple fix. There are only behavioral, or environmental modifications you can make. Making to-do lists, writing things down, talking in quiet places are all good strategies to work with. In certain situations an audiologist might indicate the use of an FM system, a wireless microphone worn by a speaker that transmits the speech directly to a headset (there are many varieties) worn by you. It minimizes the background noise and allows the listener access to the cleanest possible signal. If you spend a lot of time in group meetings or lectures this might be an avenue for you to explore.
 
I watched the movie last night... was surprised by that part. :)
 
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