Edit: Wow "Please don't be surprised if I pull out my computer at dinner and
begin handling some of my email. I have difficulty hearing when there
is noise; at dinner, when people are speaking to each other, I usually
cannot hear their words. Rather than feel bored, or impose on
everyone by asking them to speak slowly at me, I do some work."
Completely off the original topic, but I have the same problem with understanding speech at times. My hearing has been tested and is terrific, but my understanding of what people say in noisy situations or on the phone is not great. I can almost never understand words in songs on the radio either. I need to be one on one and watching the person speak. Is there anyone else who has experienced this and found ways to improve recognition?
Auditory confusion: This can occur when there is difficulty locating and isolating individual sounds in an environment where there are multiple sources of conflicting noise. “Cocktail party deafness” is one example of auditory confusion when background noise competes with foreground.
Auditory stimulus bound effect: Stimulus bound effect describes the ability to ignore irrelevant auditory stimuli in the immediate environment. Individuals who suffer from stimulus bound effect are easily distracted by irrelevant auditory stimuli.
I've got the same issue. Another poster mentions Auditory Processing Disorder, but I have no trouble figuring out the source of sounds or hearing them. The only part I have issue with is turning the sound of speech into actual words. I can only make it out if it's clear and I'm focused.
The radio is the worst. If I read lyrics I can get them memorized or sing along no problem. But I can hear a song 100 times and still not know many of the words. It still amazes me that people can actually hear all the words and make them out while I have absolutely no trouble remembering the notes/instrumentation etc...
To be honest, I find it more acceptable to pull out your notebook to work than to pull out your smartphone and…look at pictures of cats? Given that loads of people do the latter, the former doesn’t seem entirely inappropriate anymore, although the ideal solution would of course be a party where everyone can participate in the general discussion.
Edit: Wow "Please don't be surprised if I pull out my computer at dinner and begin handling some of my email. I have difficulty hearing when there is noise; at dinner, when people are speaking to each other, I usually cannot hear their words. Rather than feel bored, or impose on everyone by asking them to speak slowly at me, I do some work."