I’ve been told that I read better then I listen. At first I was a little hurt by that, but the source (yes, the kid) meant it as a simple observation.
She said that she can tell I’m trying to listen and she knows I’m trying to concentrate and get what she says into my memory, but sometimes she can tell that if she’s talking too much or explaining something with too much information she knows she’s loosing me.
She says I tend to tilt my head and close one eye when I’m having a hard time concentrating and still trying to hang in there. She likes to write important stuff down so I can read it, come back to it later, take it in smaller chunks.
She also told me that sometimes, what I heard is not at all what she said so if she writes it down, there is less confusion. I’m a little embarrassed because my boss writes stuff down all the time so… I get the feeling this is another one of those situations where everyone knows this about me, but me.
I know I don’t talk as well as I write, but I was hoping I was getting at least half of the communication process.
As far as school, the kid sis got me to sign up for more of the services at the students with disabilities office and they have a service where classes ask someone with good grades to volunteer to e-mail their notes and the person in the class who has the disability can have a copy of the notes. That is going to help me a lot. I didn’t think about the concentration levels required for a lecture… I’m going to do this, but I’m still a bit nervous about going back to school.
Does any one else have this problem? Reading vs. listening?
I have a very hard time with verbal instructions. It’s like my mind is running full speed, but still not picking up much. So I have to write everything down.
Sometimes, when someone is telling a story, I have stop them. And ask questions about the main points of the story. I’m really listening! But I’m just not retaining the information. Sometimes, it takes me a few days of replaying it in my head to fully absorb, and respond to, some stories.
It’s one of the cognitive struggles that I’m trying to overcome.
Yes I agree my reading abilities are relatively intact while my verbal listening is terrible. I can’t register the information when someone describes a concept involving two variables. I didn’t retain anything. It is embarrassing having to ask people to repeat (and then end up i still dont understand) so I sometimes just pretend to be understanding. I also cannot follow the lines of tv drama. I think it would be a real obstacle to work life.
J i think it is a good idea you registered for the service. would u consider tape record every of the lectures so u can pause and play back at home? You may also watch some lecture video scripts on YouTube. Many universities, like Stanford and Harvard, put up course series there. Why don’t try out and get a feel of it? It is not anymore easy for me to concentrate and listen for ten minutes.
My reading and listening is poor. I am doing ok with short articles or usual conversations, but if someone tries to explain something in details i wouldn’t be able to follow up. My symptoms lessons in the evening after 6 PSD. Than i am able to concentrate better.
When I listen I can listen active for about 10-15 minutes, after that i “space out” and don’t get any more information in my head. Listening to books on my iphone is not an option. I have to read myself to remember what is happening.
When I got my tourette’s dx the doc said I have auditive learning disability. Hmmm… not sure that is the right expression for it. I translated it straight from Swedish…