Is my active listening bad or is there something wrong?
I am about to start a new chapter in my life that requires excellent communication skills. The one key issue I face is my ability to understand people, even though english is my first language. I am in my 20s struggling to follow basic conversations. Reading a transcript is fine, but following the audio is something I struggle to grasp. I read about auditory processing disorder, but I doubt that is the case. Do I need to consult a neurologist/psychologist? Is it just me - thinking something is wrong and I need to change my mindset? I did suffer smoke inhalation a few years ago so I wonder if that could have affected my ability to understand words. If you were to tell me something, my brain would sometimes reorder your words or add a word that you didn't mention or relate to. It's stupid to ask this when the obvious answer is to seek advice from a professional, but I'm hoping there are others out there who have or have had the same issue and what they did about it. Maybe my active listening is weak but lately I've been trying hard to focus on every word the speaker says. I always have to ask people to repeat themselves and I can tell they get frustrated. It upsets me so how does one improve their active listening, and do you focus on every word or the main point of what is being said?
Original post by Anonymous
I am about to start a new chapter in my life that requires excellent communication skills. The one key issue I face is my ability to understand people, even though english is my first language. I am in my 20s struggling to follow basic conversations. Reading a transcript is fine, but following the audio is something I struggle to grasp. I read about auditory processing disorder, but I doubt that is the case. Do I need to consult a neurologist/psychologist? Is it just me - thinking something is wrong and I need to change my mindset? I did suffer smoke inhalation a few years ago so I wonder if that could have affected my ability to understand words. If you were to tell me something, my brain would sometimes reorder your words or add a word that you didn't mention or relate to. It's stupid to ask this when the obvious answer is to seek advice from a professional, but I'm hoping there are others out there who have or have had the same issue and what they did about it. Maybe my active listening is weak but lately I've been trying hard to focus on every word the speaker says. I always have to ask people to repeat themselves and I can tell they get frustrated. It upsets me so how does one improve their active listening, and do you focus on every word or the main point of what is being said?
This forum is not the best place to seek such advice, so if you feel concerned you should definitely speak to a professional (talk to your GP first). They will (should) test your abilities against standard criteria, rather than construct conclusions based on someones opinion or your feelings.
I think this could be a decent start - https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/auditory-processing-disorder/
Other than that if I was in your shoes, I'd compare my listening abilities for example when watching a youtube video that I really enjoy vs. a boring lecture.
If you have a pair of active noise cancelling headphones, I'd also see if my concentration improves when using the noise cancelling function.
A lot of background noise can be distracting for some people, other people enjoy having some sort of background noise and that helps them concentrate, so you'd want to experiment a little to narrow down the root cause of your problem.
After that see for yourself and if nothing changes regardless if it's a quiet or noisy place, whether you're talking to someone one on one in a quiet room or to a group in a noisy setting, then you most likely need to consult with a specialist.
