ADHD Aha | “Why don’t you listen?” Paying attention vs. hearing (Peter’s story)

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Published 2024-04-09
Peter Jones used to feel better about saying he had a hearing problem rather than considering ADHD. When he was a child in the 90s, adults thought his “listening problem” was because he couldn’t hear. Turns out, Peter does have some trouble hearing lower frequencies, but that didn’t explain his other symptoms.

Now, Peter knows he has ADHD and is not afraid to say it. On this episode, Host Laura Key and Peter discuss what it means when a child is “listening,” and how auditory processing comes into play.

To get a transcript of this show and check out more episodes, visit the “ADHD Aha!” podcast page at Understood.
www.understood.org/en/podcasts/adhd-aha/paying-att…

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All Comments (5)
  • @UnderstoodOrg
    What's your experience with the phrase "Why don't you listen?"
  • @laurahenriksen19
    We've just had hearing tests for my kid that often says he couldn't hear things from an early age... So we are concentrating on the aspects of neurodivergence that actively effect hearing x
  • @richardgale1287
    I still can’t shake the suspicion that people who say “Why don’t you listen?” or “I told you,...” sometimes didn’t tell me and are just using my immersion as a cover story.
  • @badabing8884
    It's a processing of information disorder for me. I hear, but I don't fully process the information (unless I am really interested in the subject matter) - I miss bits of the information and my brain compensates by filling in gaps or ask the person to repeat what they just said. It's like having a filter on in the brain to filter out the non-interesting information/or too complex information, and pay attention to the interesting stuff.