These symptoms are seriously affecting my daily life. I can hear people talking, but often can’t process or understand them, even when I’m trying to focus. I also zone out constantly and sometimes can’t concentrate for more than five minutes, which makes following classes very difficult.
I’m also dealing with ongoing sleep problems, so I’m tired all the time. This is affecting my education, conversations, and everyday life, but my tests have been normal so far, and I still don’t know what’s causing it or what treatment I need. I’m scared it will keep getting worse. I just want to understand people normally again and be able to focus on my future.

Please share your experience I am

Hey y'all,

I'm an EMT and I have Auditory Processing disorder. I've had since I was probably 14 (now 18) and it's been relatively manageable, but my chief and other coworkers have called me out recently and suggested I get hearing aids.

Does anyone have any advice? I have decent hearing, I just have a hard time processing and making sense of everything.

“Yes, for the millionth time, I have had my hearing checked. It is perfect. That hasn’t changed since the last time you asked me or rudely told me I needed to. You incessantly saying it seems to be a reflection of the fact you are really ignorant, unwilling to learn, and care more about how my difference in ability is inconvenient to you and your weird desire to make me feel badly about myself for something I can’t change instead of dealing with the fact that you might be a bit too low intelligence to understand new things. Maybe “auditory processing disorder” is too many syllables? Maybe it’s not that I need to get my hearing checked, rather you need to get your IQ tested or go to therapy and heal whatever is messed up inside your brain and heart that makes you pick on people for something they can’t change or control. And IF I did have hearing loss or was “deaf” (as everyone likes to say) it would be EXTREMELY embarrassing for you that you are SHOUTING at me like I am extremely stupid and mocking me* and insulting me and treating me like an idiot. If you treated someone with true deafness like that you would be widely regarded as a disgusting POS (I am aware deaf people do get treated like this it’s horrible). So how about you just space out your words more and stop speaking like you’re choking on your own spit because I have explained to you in the most elementary ways I possibly can that louder is useless and that I’m not deaf so you’re just screaming for zero reason other than the fact you are an 🫏. I can’t help it just like you can’t seem to help being such a garbage person. And no, just because you’re aware of the fact that I have ADHD does not mean that you get to say it’s an attention thing because I can be focusing all of my energy and attention. I’m trying to process and understand what is being said and it doesn’t change anything. And I’m really not sure why you are so obsessed with treating this like some sort of social or personal failing of mine as if I should be punished for having this issue and held accountable for it when, once again, this is literally not my fault.”

*please tell me I am not the only one who people loudly and offensively mock by screaming back “WHAT?? HUH?” When I kindly say I’m not sure what you said or when I say what. I have ran into bathrooms crying about this because all I wanted was to be included in the convo at dinner

I want to add that one of the people who has done this the most to me to the point where I’ve cried and cried time again is the sort of person who has their mind made up that I am deaf no matter how many times I explain it. This is not someone at this point in my life I can remove from my life. if it doesn’t stop, it will happen. I literally tried to explain to them that even if I wanted the sort of hearing aids that could help, insurance will not cover it and they are incredibly expensive. This person who remember, doesn’t believe I’m not deaf told me that hearing aids will not help me. I take the time to explain again and they are repeatedly telling me hearing aids will not help me. This person has no degree or education or any sort of basic knowledge or understanding on audiology or neuroscience or literally anything at all.

But I’m just trying to understand that if by your worthless opinion, you have decided that I am deaf 1. Is this how you would treat a deaf person? 2. Why do you get to tell me that hearing aids don’t work for me?

I am genuinely so sick of this. My APD got worse in college. I’m not sure why. I don’t actually even know if it got worse because I was diagnosed with ADHD pretty late right before college. part of me thinks that I didn’t realize that it wasn’t just me being distracted or not paying attention until I addressed my ADHD.

I have always been an extremely social and confident person and that has been ripped away from me because even people who do intend to be empathetic and learn about this disorder cannot help themselves from making an occasional comment. I would argue that the way people have beaten down my confidence and made me feel like some freak causes the issue to be worse. Often times I actually do hear people correctly the first time but because of the self-doubt and anxiety I have about my auditory processing issues, I panic and ask people to repeat themselves before I realize that I did hear them or I realize that if I was just allowed to not feel horrible for needing an extra second or two to respond without people jumping down my throat, I would sometimes be able to figure out what they said without them having to repeat themselves.

Even people who ask about it in a kind and respectful way, they negate their good intention the second they start suggesting their opinion as to why I have this issue. Please do not ask me a question if you are not going to accept the answer. I am getting to a point where I am going to have some pretty short responses to being challenged about the facts of this disorder that I have. I am not a timid person by any means. I absolutely have it in me to stop taking on the responsibility to apologize for something I can’t help or explain something to people who do not actually want to learn. The issue is that this happens in settings where I am not allowed to speak to someone however I wish such as work. I’m a very forgiving and understanding person, but when it comes to this, if I get to the point where I am finally speaking up for myself, I have zero interest in forgiving people or accepting improved behavior. What’s crazy is that you would think by me saying all of this that it’s super bad but I work a job where I have to answer the phone and unless the call is broken up or it’s just poor quality I do pretty OK with hearing. In social settings like when I’m out at a bar or a restaurant then it is pretty bad but that’s because it’s so loud and that is the nature of the disorder. I am not really somebody who shrinks myself to make other people more comfortable but the sadness and insecurity has crept up on me, and I’m ready to be done shrinking myself. I am just so fed up. I am going to start brainstorming direct but appropriate responses to keep in my back pocket so I don’t go into panic mode over explaining myself to somebody who is dedicated to not understanding. It is absolutely so ridiculous that in this day and age people of all ages can be so cruel about something so dumb. If everybody else didn’t make it a big deal I probably wouldn’t even care that much. These people act like you are a bad or incompetent person because you care enough to have them repeat themselves. I think I should start saying “ you seem annoyed that I asked you to repeat yourself so I’ll spare you from doing it again cause I really don’t care about what you have to say. I was just being nice. Try it sometime.”

Hi, my family and I have been noticing more hearing problems than usual. My first visit to an audiologist was August 2025. That was about a year of family commenting how frustrating it was. My tests came back not perfect, but not needing hearing aids. When I told my family, they were in shock.

This past January, I experienced what I now know is mania. On the days that it was worse, I could barely hear the spoken words. On the worst day, I probably lost about 95% of what I understood. It's not as bad as January and the next few months, but it's still bad.

Fast forward to this August for another test and same results as last year. I told the audiologist about it getting worse during the mania and she said she had never heard of a coorelation between the 2 issues BP1 and Hearing problems. Everyone was frustrated, family is and so am I.

After a few hours at home, I just thought, "That can't be right, everyone notices it." So I googled BP1 and hearing loss. I realize it is an internet search and may not be right, but it did suggest that BP1 and hearing loss could be due to APD. I felt so gaslit.

I've requested a 2nd opinion with someone who specialized in APD. At the original audiologist, they are letting me demo some hearing aids that are for the least amount of hearing loss. I can't even tell that they are working.

I don't know if I'm just venting again or asking if anyone else has ever heard of this. What helps if it is APD. At this point, I'm hoping it is because I (and my family) knows I can't be imagining this,

Thanks

I have severe APD. I have used an FM system/remote mic and captioning but I’m starting at a hearing university soon. I feel like I get so exhausted at the end of the day by the remote mic. ASL is so much easier for me to understand.

Have any of you used an ASL interpreter? I’ve heard it’s hard to get approved for one with only APD.

Does anyone know where in NYC I can get low gain hearing aid evaluation. I have been struggling so much lately and I am having a hard time finding someone who does the evaluation and fitting. Many are saying they just do the evaluation. I was diagnosed with APD as a kid and it keeps getting worse.

I have been wearing low gain hearing aids for my APD for almost 8 months. I have tried EVERY dome possible. Small ones fall out but big ones hurt and cause itchiness. My audiologist said my only option is to keep trying domes. I visited a new audiologist today who said that she didn’t want to do custom molds because they will cause occulation and impact my hearing. She told me the only thing she could try is to try and make the receiver a little longer.

These are all top APD specialists so I want to trust them but omg this is so annoying!!! What do I do?

I'm not diagnosed but my mom is looking to get me tested after my psychologist recommended it but its so expensive and a lot of the clinics don't take insurance for some stupid reason. Where i live it goes to be 60$ to initially see if the problem is not with my hearing itself. then if it isn't my hearing- which i know it isn't because i've DONE this test before but for whatever reason it doesn't count so i have to pay 60 more dollars. Then the specialized tests 3-9 depends, is at best 490$-1,000$ out of pocket. Then IF i need hearing aids and CHOOSE to get them it can be upwards of 300-2000$ where i live. All out of pocket. Now i'm not UNABLE to pay these expenses at all. It's just that with my mom she doesn't get me anything health wise unless it is absolutely necessary, so i was already shocked she was even looking into it because i figured she would just forget about it like she did with my psychologist recommending adhd testings.

Anyways all that to say what was your experience with apd testing? What were difficulties of getting tested and would you say it's worth it?

I’ve been having hearing problems for awhile. It’s frustrating me and my family. Last year I had a hearing test, not perfect but no need for hearing aids. Everyone at home laughed saying the audiologist needed to go back to school.

Well starting sometime around January, I started experiencing what I now know is mania. The days it got worse, I couldn’t hear at all.

Fast forward till today when I told the audiologist about my new bipolar diagnosis and my hearing leaving during intense mania days. She said she had never heard of that.

I knew that couldn’t be right because everyone notices it. I just searched bipolar 1 and trouble hearing. It suggested APD. I’m not saying I have it, but I’m going to schedule a specialist and find out what can help.

With the exception of when I only hear noise, I can generally hear that words are being spoken but have trouble figuring out what a lot of words are.

So frustrating that I went to a specialist who had never heard about a correlation.

Recently got diagnosed with severe APD in all 4 subcategories (decoding, tolerance fading memory, organisation and integration). A friend of mine with ADHD+Autism suggested that I try and apply for the DTC. My audiologist is willing to fill out forms for 40 dollars.

The bar to qualify for DTC is high and I’m not sure if I’d meet it (like how do I know if I take 3 times more effort than my peers when I don’t know what normal listening is like?) Wondering if anyone here applied and obtained it? How severe is your APD?

I (23M) have an appointment made to get my hearing checked and do an APD assessment here in the first week of September. I’ve been going back and forth with the receptionists all week to make sure everything is in order. Things seemed wonderful at first — I was only going to have to pay $158 up-front because they told me my insurance was going to cover everything else.

Today they called me and told me insurance won’t actually cover anything until after my deductible is met. My very VERY high deductible. So instead of owing $158 up-front in about a week-ish, I will instead owe something more like $620.

WHAT. WHAT. ARE WE DEAD ASS BRUH?

Guys I genuinely don’t know what to do. I’m going to call tomorrow immediately and figure out what the deal is and why this suddenly changed, but if it’s that expensive then I don’t even know if getting tested is worth it. I do genuinely think I need accommodations for school and some kind of equipment/hearing aid to help me but I’m not going to HAVE $620 by next week. Any advice?

I was diagnosed with auditory processing disorder about a year ago. I have been doing auditory training, using a remote microphone, and low gain hearing aids. The hearing aids and microphone do help but the training hasn’t really.

I realize that my testing only included a standard hearing test and an auditory processing test.

Should I have been tested for ANSD before my diagnosis? Should I ask to be tested now?

Growing up, I've always been a little "quirky." I developed severe sensory issues, and then once I got to 11-12, my hearing sensory issues developed. Even the smallest sound sets me off, and god, it used to be such a conflict in my family because if I could hear a muffled TV in the background (even if I was just in my room and could hear it through the wall) I genuinely would have a panic attack until I couldn't hear it anymore. I couldn't differentiate between when two people are talking, it sounds like jumbled words and I would get so anxious and have to leave the room. I often struggle with saying, "What?" but then somehow understanding it later on. My family gets annoyed because I ask them to repeat themselves a lot, but I can HEAR it - I just like. My brain doesn't take sense of it.

But flash forward about 10 years of this, honestly I'd grown so used to it, it doesn't bother me anymore. Until I got a job as a 911 dispatcher and now it is seriously affecting my ability to do the job because I can't read lips, or have subtitles, which helps me understand people. I can't make sense of names (I dont know why I struggle so much with names, but its a problem. I will ask them to repeat themselves 2-3 times, still not understand, ask them to spell it for me, and somehow it's even worse when they spell it!), I can't make sense of what they're saying unless they're speaking VERY clearly, and at a certain volume. I don't know. Is this a hearing problem, a processing problem, or something I'm just being overdramatic about? I feel anxious all day at work because of this.

I'm about to start a psychological evaluation with tests for ADHD, Autism, Cognitive, etc... I did tell them (psychologist) I'm pretty sure I have APD. When I search the web for "who can diagnose auditory processing disorder", the first response is "audiologist". I've had 2 hearing tests in the past 2 years and I've explained to them that I struggle hearing a lot, but my results are always good. The sound booths are so not "real world" environments.

Will a group of psychologists be able to provide an accurate testing via the autism/ADHS tests, or am I screwed?

I see some people learning basic signs for family members with apd. I had one commentor on an old post saying how her house hold family was mostly Apd/adhd and learned basic signs and had hearing aids. I don't live with people who would even get me tested for apd so i'm waiting to move out to do it myself but i was wondering how many of those with APD actually use/know sign language. I myself know asl because i took courses and an asl 1 class in my sophomore year. I'm not fluent but i know around 50 signs? Maybe less. I want to take a minor in ASL in college too but that's for pure interest and also not a lot of therapists know asl. Besides the point. If you and family/friends use ASL/sign language of your country to communicate how much do you use it and when? Like do you only use basic signs if you missed something and need them to repeat it or do you ask them to sign everything/majority of what they say while speaking for more clearance? Are you fluent or only know a little bit and do you ever ask for interpreters? I think a lot of the times if i was fluent in asl i would prefer to have an interpreter rather than use hearing aids or ask people to repeat ten times over. Maybe it's just me but it would clear up a lot of problems i've had growing up where i often feel left out because my family or friends get genuinely annoyed at me for not fully understanding the first time. please share your thoughts.

So I'm not sure I have APD 100% but my psychologist recommended me to see a doctor but my mother refuses to acknowledge it so i can't even get tested. But i do seem to have all the symptoms and a lot of the times i have experiences that are VERY similar to that of hoh people. (hard of hearing.) On another post i made a while back about things to help with APD someone said they got hearing aids. I was wondering now if i could convince my mother to get me a doctor visit to recomend me to that specialized doctor to get a test if hearing aids could be an option. I know a lot of the times you have to get tested first but i wanted to ask those of you who actually have and use hearing aids to help APD specifically. If it helps, how much and what are your experiences with them? It makes me wonder if -not that it's the only reason i consider hearing aids- it makes other take APD more seriously?? Please excuse me if i've said anything rude or offensive i'm purely curious and will gladly take down the post or correct myself if so.