Trouble hearing in noisy places - auditory processing issue?
Hi all,
I know auditory processing issues are pretty common with ADHD. I am AuDHD and trying to understand if this is something I struggle with or if I maybe have an issue with my hearing itself.
When I am in noisy places, it's like all the background noise turns into one big 'soup' that feels very loud and distracting. If I talk to someone with a quiet voice it will feel almost impossible to hear them, like they will be a bit quieter than all the background noise and certain words will just be totally inaudible. At other times it might just sound like someone is talking nonsense instead of using real words, like I'll hear them fine but it just sounds like random sounds.
While all this is happening I will have no trouble at all hearing basically everything around me with total clarity. It's like I can hear everything other than what I actually want to focus on. The funny thing is I don't remember having these issues at all as a kid or when I was younger, I mostly started noticing it in my mid-20s.
I'll get a hearing test soon, but does this sound similar to auditory processing issues for those who experience them?