9 ms·

Objectively, my hearing is just fine. I can hear frequency sweeps and tones perfectly well, but all my life I've been unable to pick out words in conversation i

by caeril 6y ago

Objectively, my hearing is just fine. I can hear frequency sweeps and tones perfectly well, but all my life I've been unable to pick out words in conversation if there's even moderate background noise. "What?" is likely my most commonly uttered phrase. This leads to people constantly telling me to get my "hearing checked", when it's not the ability to hear tones that's the problem. Rather irritating explaining this to people.

quercusa 6y ago
This sounds like the 'Cocktail Party Effect', which usually gets worse with age. I've started to experience it in restaurants with lots of hard surfaces. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocktail_party_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocktail_party_effect
4ad 6y ago
I have the same problem. As an additional data point, I have no problem hearing the dialog in documentaries, youtube shows, "casual" TV shows, etc, but I am having a very hard time understanding the dialog in movies and more serious TV shows.
- frompdx 6y ago
  It seems like around 2000 dialogue in movies and TV shows started to get quieter and quieter while action sequences got louder and louder. It's awful. I am hearing impaired and I watch everything with subtitles, however, I really don't have an issue with intelligibility of dialogue while watching older shows and movies.
  - layoutIfNeeded 6y ago
    That's because older movies were mastered for stereo instead of surround sound. If surround sound is downmixed to stereo, extra care must be taken to compensate for the loss of spatial information, otherwise the dialogs get overwhelmed by the sound effects from the surround channels.
rhubarbcustard 6y ago
Sounds like you have Auditory Processing Disorder. You might be able to train yourself to do better in noise with something like https://neurotone.com/lace-auditory-training-program https://neurotone.com/lace-auditory-training-program
- StrictDabbler 6y ago
  The course is $99, the diagnostic test package they've linked is $176. That's a high entry price for something so similar in concept to the brain-training snake-oil schemes that used to be sold in the back of magazines
phaedrus 6y ago
I have the same issue. Worse, when I did get my hearing checked, the supposed test for difficulty picking up speech against background noise was terribly and obviously flawed. They used a very short (few seconds) clip that looped. My brain quickly learned the loop and subtracted it. What I can't do is filter out unpredictable background noise. Plus the lab is an idealized environment without distractions. Want to accurately test it? Put me in the lobby of your hearing center with a wall phone and try to have a conversation with me, it would be immediately apparent. Of course they won't do that (too many uncontrolled variables) but they could at least try to make the test more lifelike. It's very frustrating because I feel like if I could get a formal diagnosis I could ask for accommodations at work like not using the telephone for support calls (email and instant message instead). It also makes relationships difficult; I've been married four years and my wife is only now starting to actually understand and believe me when I say I didn't hear what she said (vs just not caring / not listening). I feel like if I could say up front, "I have a diagnosed condition that affects my hearing," I could avoid a lot of problems and confusion. Unfortunately I can't seem to get a diagnosis.
- TeMPOraL 6y ago
  I hope you'll get your diagnosis eventually. > It also makes relationships difficult; I've been married four years and my wife is only now starting to actually understand and believe me when I say I didn't hear what she said (vs just not caring / not listening). I feel for you. This reminded me of my recent discovery. You've probably seen this[0] image test circulating on social media the other day. Few days ago, when working with my wife through some issues between us, I showed this to her. To my utter disbelief, she scored 6. I score 2. 3 on a good day. Suddenly, both of us realized why we're getting annoyed with each other whenever talking about things like remodelling the kitchen, rearranging the living room, or planning the layout of a new flat. As it turns out, she truly can visualize everything in her head. And she now understands that I really do need to measure everything and drop it into CAD software before I'm ready to talk. All because of a simple test that I only remembered because I've been obsessed with my aphantasia for over a year now. This makes me wonder: how many of such undiagnosed differences of perception are there between couples, that make living together difficult, because neither side can understand the other truly perceives the world differently? -- [0] - https://www.reddit.com/r/Aphantasia/comments/aioyga/simple_aphantasia_test/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Aphantasia/comments/aioyga/simple_a...
amelius 6y ago
Are you taller than most people around you?
- kordlessagain 6y ago
  What's the theory behind this question? If someone is taller, one could assume the sounds from other conversations are traveling further (across heads) to the ears of the tall person?
  - amelius 6y ago
    If you're taller and standing in a group, it's more difficult to get visual cues (e.g. seeing people's lips move), and you are further away, and people generally don't make an effort to speak in your direction.
forgotmypw17 6y ago
Anecdotally, I,ve been able to improve significantly on this by training myself to pause for a second or two before the ,,what?,, If I give my brain that time to catch up, it,s able to put context and sound together into meaning most of the time.
Jemaclus 6y ago
(Source: I am profoundly deaf.) Hearing loss isn't only about volume and "hearing". It's also about understanding. When you get a hearing test, they aren't just testing frequencies. They'll also ask you to repeat back words that are said to you. There IS treatment for this, and you may actually benefit from a hearing aid or some other device that would help. Your insurance should cover a hearing test! Just get it! It's pretty painless and kind of fun. Worst case scenario? They tell you your hearing is fine and you're back where you started. Good luck!
EB66 6y ago
I have the same problem. A lot of people do. For me, it developed during my 20s. My mother is a speech language pathologist so the problem was identified early. What you have is a hearing discrimination loss. It's often caused by diminished hearing of higher frequencies. Hearing aids can help or if the loss of higher frequencies is total, then frequency-transposition hearing aids may be needed. Learning to lip read can also help a lot too. Other people without hearing discrimination loss have probably experienced what it's like if they've ever listened to a cheap TV with crummy internal speakers and had to turn on subtitles. Very high frequencies on cheap speakers are often diminished or distorted. That makes it much more difficult to discriminate spoken words even though you can hear them fine. If you haven't done so already, go get your hearing tested by a quality audiologist (there is such a thing as a bad audiologist). It can help identify exactly what's going on and give you a good baseline to compare against tests in the future (these things often get worse with age).
warent 6y ago
It sounds like it could be an attention issue. Have you been evaluated for ADHD?
DoreenMichele 6y ago
This sounds like an auditory processing disorder. I have delayed understanding of words when I'm really exhausted, wrung out or sick. It's not a hearing issue. It's a brain issue, basically. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditory_processing_disorder https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditory_processing_disorder

by caeril 6y ago

quercusa 6y ago

This sounds like the 'Cocktail Party Effect', which usually gets worse with age. I've started to experience it in restaurants with lots of hard surfaces. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocktail_party_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocktail_party_effect

4ad 6y ago

I have the same problem. As an additional data point, I have no problem hearing the dialog in documentaries, youtube shows, "casual" TV shows, etc, but I am having a very hard time understanding the dialog in movies and more serious TV shows.

frompdx 6y ago
It seems like around 2000 dialogue in movies and TV shows started to get quieter and quieter while action sequences got louder and louder. It's awful. I am hearing impaired and I watch everything with subtitles, however, I really don't have an issue with intelligibility of dialogue while watching older shows and movies.
- layoutIfNeeded 6y ago
  That's because older movies were mastered for stereo instead of surround sound. If surround sound is downmixed to stereo, extra care must be taken to compensate for the loss of spatial information, otherwise the dialogs get overwhelmed by the sound effects from the surround channels.

rhubarbcustard 6y ago

Sounds like you have Auditory Processing Disorder. You might be able to train yourself to do better in noise with something like https://neurotone.com/lace-auditory-training-program https://neurotone.com/lace-auditory-training-program

StrictDabbler 6y ago
The course is $99, the diagnostic test package they've linked is $176. That's a high entry price for something so similar in concept to the brain-training snake-oil schemes that used to be sold in the back of magazines

phaedrus 6y ago

I have the same issue. Worse, when I did get my hearing checked, the supposed test for difficulty picking up speech against background noise was terribly and obviously flawed. They used a very short (few seconds) clip that looped. My brain quickly learned the loop and subtracted it. What I can't do is filter out unpredictable background noise. Plus the lab is an idealized environment without distractions. Want to accurately test it? Put me in the lobby of your hearing center with a wall phone and try to have a conversation with me, it would be immediately apparent. Of course they won't do that (too many uncontrolled variables) but they could at least try to make the test more lifelike. It's very frustrating because I feel like if I could get a formal diagnosis I could ask for accommodations at work like not using the telephone for support calls (email and instant message instead). It also makes relationships difficult; I've been married four years and my wife is only now starting to actually understand and believe me when I say I didn't hear what she said (vs just not caring / not listening). I feel like if I could say up front, "I have a diagnosed condition that affects my hearing," I could avoid a lot of problems and confusion. Unfortunately I can't seem to get a diagnosis.

TeMPOraL 6y ago
I hope you'll get your diagnosis eventually. > It also makes relationships difficult; I've been married four years and my wife is only now starting to actually understand and believe me when I say I didn't hear what she said (vs just not caring / not listening). I feel for you. This reminded me of my recent discovery. You've probably seen this[0] image test circulating on social media the other day. Few days ago, when working with my wife through some issues between us, I showed this to her. To my utter disbelief, she scored 6. I score 2. 3 on a good day. Suddenly, both of us realized why we're getting annoyed with each other whenever talking about things like remodelling the kitchen, rearranging the living room, or planning the layout of a new flat. As it turns out, she truly can visualize everything in her head. And she now understands that I really do need to measure everything and drop it into CAD software before I'm ready to talk. All because of a simple test that I only remembered because I've been obsessed with my aphantasia for over a year now. This makes me wonder: how many of such undiagnosed differences of perception are there between couples, that make living together difficult, because neither side can understand the other truly perceives the world differently? -- [0] - https://www.reddit.com/r/Aphantasia/comments/aioyga/simple_aphantasia_test/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Aphantasia/comments/aioyga/simple_a...

amelius 6y ago

Are you taller than most people around you?

kordlessagain 6y ago
What's the theory behind this question? If someone is taller, one could assume the sounds from other conversations are traveling further (across heads) to the ears of the tall person?
- amelius 6y ago
  If you're taller and standing in a group, it's more difficult to get visual cues (e.g. seeing people's lips move), and you are further away, and people generally don't make an effort to speak in your direction.

forgotmypw17 6y ago

Anecdotally, I,ve been able to improve significantly on this by training myself to pause for a second or two before the ,,what?,, If I give my brain that time to catch up, it,s able to put context and sound together into meaning most of the time.

Jemaclus 6y ago

(Source: I am profoundly deaf.) Hearing loss isn't only about volume and "hearing". It's also about understanding. When you get a hearing test, they aren't just testing frequencies. They'll also ask you to repeat back words that are said to you. There IS treatment for this, and you may actually benefit from a hearing aid or some other device that would help. Your insurance should cover a hearing test! Just get it! It's pretty painless and kind of fun. Worst case scenario? They tell you your hearing is fine and you're back where you started. Good luck!

EB66 6y ago

I have the same problem. A lot of people do. For me, it developed during my 20s. My mother is a speech language pathologist so the problem was identified early. What you have is a hearing discrimination loss. It's often caused by diminished hearing of higher frequencies. Hearing aids can help or if the loss of higher frequencies is total, then frequency-transposition hearing aids may be needed. Learning to lip read can also help a lot too. Other people without hearing discrimination loss have probably experienced what it's like if they've ever listened to a cheap TV with crummy internal speakers and had to turn on subtitles. Very high frequencies on cheap speakers are often diminished or distorted. That makes it much more difficult to discriminate spoken words even though you can hear them fine. If you haven't done so already, go get your hearing tested by a quality audiologist (there is such a thing as a bad audiologist). It can help identify exactly what's going on and give you a good baseline to compare against tests in the future (these things often get worse with age).

warent 6y ago

It sounds like it could be an attention issue. Have you been evaluated for ADHD?

DoreenMichele 6y ago

This sounds like an auditory processing disorder. I have delayed understanding of words when I'm really exhausted, wrung out or sick. It's not a hearing issue. It's a brain issue, basically. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditory_processing_disorder https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditory_processing_disorder