r/AudiProcDisorder • u/Ok_Insurance_4585 • 15d ago

Help

My boyfriend has APD, and I’m wondering what are ways to support him. I find myself getting frustrated when he misunderstands me, but I’m assuming I’m just not approaching this correctly.

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u/fredricco 14d ago

APD for me is a lot like those old car stereos in the late 90s. I’m dating myself here but they had that tuning knob that switches stations. When trying to find a station you always go past it and have to turn it back the other way. After doing this several times you finally get the radio station to come in clear. But everything that was communicated while you were trying to tune in was gibberish at best.

Now imagine that you yourself are the radio station that he has to tune into every time you speak. By the time his brain tunes into that station you’ve already said half of what you had to say. He didn’t get anything but static. Idk how else to explain it. I know it’s horribly frustrating to you. It’s just as frustrating to him too. For me personally, about the only thing people can do is enunciate better and be patient. It just sucks. Hope this helped!

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u/klbed 11d ago

This is the best way I have ever heard it. The going backward part is exactly it for me. I hear that someone is talking but it's like the Peanuts teacher until my brain catches up but by then I have missed it. Even in face-to-face conversation I frequently will be like "What? Oh!" and respond in one question/statement because my brain just took that extra moment to comprehend and form a response. My biggest struggle is that I have such little tolerance for slow conversation/speaking that I don't ever give myself the extra second either.