I started a work experience placement a couple of weeks ago and the acoustics of the environment has made me aware that I have a problem with my hearing. I struggle to hear what people are saying over the level of background noise. I've noticed that others don't have this problem, so it's not just an issue of it being noisy and thinking back, I can remember having this problem at work before. I would struggle to hear someone on the telephone over the music playing in the shop and the general background noise of other staff and customers talking. Also, even when I can hear clearly what someone is saying, it takes me longer than others to process what they have asked and act on their instructions. It's almost like hearing the words but taking longer to understand them. I have noticed that my automatic response is to try and muddle through based on what I think I have heard which leads to mistakes and misunderstandings. Alternatively, I seem to ask people to repeat themselves quite a bit and when I worked in retail, there were customers who made the assumption that I had zero intelligence anyway and so this didn't help. I wonder if I have always had this hearing problem and it's just taken until now to notice it but it's strange that I never had problems listening in class at school. I took some free online hearing tests yesterday, wondering if I am actually hard of hearing but the results all came back negative so it seems I can hear but I have some kind of problem with background noise and processing. I also speak very softly and people would often tell me they couldn't hear me. The hearing thing is definitely a problem for me at work but if the tests indicate I can hear fine, it's not like I need a hearing aid so do I see a doctor about this or not?:icon_redf
As I recall from previous posts of yours, you fall somewhere on the autism spectrum. Could that have anything to do with it? I'm very soft spoken myself, and often have to repeat what I'm saying (sometimes multiple times), but I don't have trouble understanding or hearing what other people are saying. I don't know nearly enough about autism spectrum disorders to say at all, but just thought I would throw this out there since your hearing seems to be fine. It could be that you're not picking up on verbal and physical cues that others use to understand what people are saying when they can't fully hear the words. For example, If I'm not looking at someone when there's a lot of noise, I'm having a much harder time understanding what they are saying, because I rely a lot on visual cues in that situation. I have no idea if it's even remotely related to that, though. :/
Could be. I haven't had an official 'diagnosis' yet, only a brief assessment with the psychiatrist who told me it's unlikely I have autism but I feel sure I do. What do I do about it though? I know it's not a good idea to tell employers straight up I might have autism but how do I explain my hearing problems.
Could you just say you're having a difficult time hearing what people are saying in noisy environments without specifying any further? I mean that's the truth and that's all the information you really have. Another thing you could do, is to get noise canceling earmuffs. The electronic ones are quite expensive ($50 and up), but they work REALLY well and you won't ever have a problem with not hearing anyone again. This is all I can come up with, I hope someone else can be of more help. :/
