Do you wonder why autistics need subtitles? You think “hey, they aren’t Deaf. Why would they need them?” Because auditory processing disorder. That’s why. See. Our brains don’t function like yours. Words get lost. Jumbled as if the person mumbled unintelegible noises. Unclear to my brain what word or phrase they meant to use. This happens in movies, tv shows, and everyday conversation. That’s why we always ask you to repeat yourselves. Because it sounded like nonsense to us. It sounded like random noises that don’t even come close to a real word. This is why we need subtitles. So allow us subtitles. We aren’t like you. We need them.
Auditory processing disorder is the reason people (ie my family) have labelled me a liar. If you ask me a question I will pause before answering because I’m trying to figure out what you said, not because I’m trying to make up a plausible lie.
My auditory processing may leave a lot to be desired, but I just couldn’t help but laugh my ass off at some misheard lyrics not presented as such. At a level where “billy club” got turned into “Philly glove”–and it went downhill from there.
I guess it’s very possible that whoever tried to transcribe that doesn’t speak English as a first language, which certainly might help explain getting some fairly common phrases that far off. It still struck me as funnier than it maybe should have.
Mostly just had to share that “Philly glove” 😊 Which sounds like some kind of terrible euphemism for I don’t know what.
Not quite the same level as that other story, but I’m still way less into TV and movies than a lot of people. Even after I found out how much putting subtitles/captioning on helps me be able to follow what’s going on, so it actually makes sense.
It was actually pretty disturbing when I started realizing just how much I’d been used to missing…and just sort of mentally glossing over? Weird experience. (Between auditory processing and unacknowledged/unaddressed progressive hearing loss over the years.)
But, that wasn’t until I was past 30, and I guess I just never got into the habit. I will watch things sometimes, but it just doesn’t occur to me right off as a fun thing to do.
•"hey, y’see the red thing at the top of the shelf, will you get it?“ “Sorry, what?” “On the sh-” “oh yeah sure, I’ll get it.”
•*doesn’t hear teacher because someone’s pen is making a scratchy sound at the back of the room*
•*replays video 10 ten times to figure out what they’re saying*
•teachers asking, “why do you always stop writing in the middle of a sentence, just write down whatever I’m saying,” followed by the response, “I’m just processing it,” rebuked by, “we’ll stop processing it and just write.”
•*gets really focused on staring out the window and goes through four songs without hearing a single on*
someone is whispering to their friends in the library, you don’t even know who this person is but you know their major, what state they grew up in, and their hobbies during high school. you just wanted to find a quiet spot to do your chemistry homework.
wanting to chime in on other people’s conversations all the time, but don’t, because you’re not suppose to be “listening” to them.
being the only person in the house that can hear that awful buzzing sound certain electronics make
hiding in your room because everything is too loud.
motorcycles were invented by satan
being told that you have dog-like hearing by friends and family
being yelled at for “not listening” by friends and family.
God. God. God. God.
This entire post is so fucking relatable it hurts
“You just need to learn to tune it out.”
Forgetting how to think because ambient noise is drowning out your internal monologue.
“No, I don’t need the volume up, I’d just really like to put on subtitles. No, I don’t need to move closer, I just…”
Leaving the room whenever someone starts talking on the phone.
Pausing your video whenever someone starts talking but trying really really hard not to seem passive aggressive about it.
Struggling to explain why this one sound is the most horrible thing in the world while other very similar sounds are fine.
you’re trying to listen to what some very important person is trying to say, but you can only focus on the conversations of the ppl around you
sitting in a restaurant and thinking the people sitting next to you are being SO loud because you can hear everything they’re saying, but when you mention it you get weird looks so obviously you’re just overreacting.
not being able to handle the little keyboard sounds as your mom types a text from across the room, but when you ask your mom (who is a quadruple texter) to put her phone on silent you get a murderous look, like you’ve asked her to kill her cat.
turning on ambient noises and trying to relax, only to end up turning it off because it’s not actually helping you fall asleep.
“the speakers are making this high pitched noise”
“what the hell are you talking about?”
“THE SPEAKERS ARE PRACTICALLY SCREAMING HOW DO YOU NOT HEAR THAT??”
“Just ignore it, and focus on the show.”
Holy cow, i thought this was just me? Other people have problems like this too?
@permanentlyhighonlife it’s extremely common with autism and ADHD among other things, often part of a broader sensory processing disorder (SPD) category.
I… I just thought this was my ADHD or that everyone could hear the really weird buzzing sounds…. What the actual fuck?
Does ringing in your ears all the time happen to? Like when the power’s out I nearly die because there’s literally no noise (I have fish tanks so it helps keep my brain from going nuts) and my ears start ringing so badly I have to put on headphones and listen to music or a cd or something or I’ll get a headache.
The high-pitched buzzing from electronics is at the upper end of what we as humans can hear and you are more likely to hear it when younger – your hearing is more sensitive. But as adults our audible range contracts and often we eventually can’t hear it anymore.
as someone who lives with a mumbler, “brain” and “green” sound very similar when mumbled. that’s not surprising, that’s not witchcraft, that’s mumbling
but I can only hear “needle” and don’t get how you can hear “storm”.
they neither start nor end the same way. there isn’t even the same number of syllables.
That’s why it’s so freaky (Nb: I can hear both)
Yeah, I can hear both depending on which one I’m thinking about, and either way they sound pretty clear and not like sort-of-one-and-sort-of-the-other. It just straight out sounds COMPLETELY different depending on which one I’m thinking about. I don’t understand how either.
(Although I assume I could understand if I did some research. Basically, brains are fucking weird.)
I think it’s the same phenomenon when someone points out that song lyrics sound like *insert something ridiculous here* and then you can’t unhear it. Like your brain can be nudged to be predisposed to see/hear certain things and this isn’t any different. I guess it’s like the audio version of those uhh, foreground/background optical illusions. Except we’re used to visual tricks and not audio ones so much.
Yeah, I can hear both depending which one I think about.
You’re right about song lyrics, too. I heard “wrecking ball” as “rainbow” for the longest time and it’s still starbucks lovers in that one Taylor Swift song haha
As someone with auditory processing disorder, this is hysterical to watch from the perspective of an outsider.
Does anyone else have problems with processing what people tell you? My mum will tell me something and I listen to her but it doesn’t process. Mum said “I’m off out now like I told you” and I said “Wait what? You never told me”, Mum then got annoyed and said “Why do you never listen to me?? It really frustrates me!” I feel super guilty and try to explain but she doesn’t understand. However hard I try to process information it just doesn’t stay in. It’s not like when I’m told I remember, I just don’t remember ever being told that information. It’s so annoying!!
yeah thats super common for autism whether its a concurrent auditory processing issue or whether you dont LOOK like youre listening because we dont make eye contact because it muddies up processing. Very spicy autism thing.
Words are very hard to hold onto! It’s not just you!
Anonymous: Hey, I’ve been having this weird symptom that I think is connected to my auditory processing issues, but I’ve never heard of this being a symptom, so I wanted to ask someone who knows more about apd, and you seem like you do. Sometimes, when there’s a loud sound next to my ears that drown out most other noises, I hear things. It’s usually someone talking, but it can be other sounds. It happens mostly when I’m listening to something through earphones, but it happened once when I was standing in front of an air conditioner. The fake sounds go away when the loud sound stops. And no, I’m not hearing something in the background of what I’m listening to. The fake sounds aren’t there when I replay the same part. The frequency that this happens corresponds pretty well with how severe my auditory processing difficulties are. I think this is my brain messing up when trying to process the background noise behind whatever noise is close to my ears. Do you think that makes sense?
Brainhearingjumble: I think I know what you’re talking about! It’s like the brain is going into overdrive and creates noises. In APD, the way the brain processes sounds if affected so I think it makes total sense that it might not only jumble noises that we hear but could randomly activate auditory signals we are not hearing.
2. REALLY helpful for those who are partially deaf, have APD (like me and my sister) or any other hearing problem
3. really helpful for those who can’t focus well, especially for those with ADD/ADHD (like me)
4. Is incredibly helpful for people learning a second language, or for bilingual people who can read better than they can hear
5. Even if you aren’t into learning the language, there are countless amazing foreign movies and songs you really can’t enjoy without subtitles!
6. Can help people (like my sister) who have reading comprehension
7. Can help when you’re having a party and you don’t want to pause every time someone wants to make a comment/joke
8. Can help when the characters in the show have a heavy accent (especially in period shows)
9. Let’s be honest subtitles can really add to the humor of the show! (”sobs mathematically”, “screeches loudly”, “angrily fixes bowtie”)
10. Can let people watch content without headphones, or in areas of loud noises.
11. Alternatively, If someone has sensitive hearing or is triggered by loud noises, they can turn the volume down low and still be able to enjoy the content
12. The last bit is VERY true for movies where they switch between soft speaking and LOUD BOOMING NOISES (I’m looking at you hunger games)
13. Very good for helping young kids recognize and associate words and learn to read faster!
14. Really good when you’re eating chips/crunchy candy and can’t hear the movie
15. IS A NECESSITY FOR DEAF PEOPLE!!!
I can’t even tell you how many of my friends made fun of me for needing subtitles, to the point of where I just don’t bother with them anymore. Asking for subtitles at an event is the scariest thing I can imagine. People often complain that it “gets in the way” of their movie. Watching shows (especially in loud areas or with people who talk a lot) is incredibly frustrating for me. People often think I’m stupid for not understanding a show or needing to rewind when someone talks. Most Youtube users don’t bother to create subtitles for their videos (and auto-generated subtitles are crap). I just wish people were nicer to people who need subtitles, and that they were more accessible on other platforms.
Oh my god you guys last semester some guy in my film history class was whining like a kindergartener about how we opted for subtitles on a film that was in English and I went OFF
I rarely, rarely, reblog things I have already reblogged. But this is SO DAMN important.
I’m not even deaf, neither is my husband, but we enjoy shows better with subtitles because it’s easier to understand. For me I have problems with processing what I hear when my kids are running around or when something else is making noise in the general area; for my husband, he is a multitasker extraordinaire and having subtitles helps him enjoy his shows while also playing games on his laptop or working on a chore. Literally nothing about subtitles get in the way, and I don’t understand why people get so uppity about them. Subtitles are good!!!
I love watching with subtitles! I have ADHD and it can be really hard to focus when watching something. I have an econ class that has videos we can watch, and reading what they’re saying helps me process what I’m hearing so much easier!
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