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Undiagnosed language disorder
Marie88
Member Posts: 76 Connected
I think I have a language disorder as all my life I have struggled with communication and expressing my thoughts and describing things both spoken and written. I struggled with English and most other subjects at school. I’m in my early 30s now and started doing an online English course but really struggling with it. I think I’m going to look for a private tutor to help me. I just really want this diagnosed, I saw my GP in 2019 and explained my problems and they tried to refer me for an assessment but it wasn’t accepted because I’m an adult and wasn’t in education at the time, so maybe now I’m studying part time and struggling I will be able to. But I still don’t see why I had to be in education to be referred.
Some of the main things I struggle with are:
Limited vocabulary
Find it hard to learn new words and remember them
Struggle to put things into my own words both spoken and written
Struggle to write emails, job applications, have to ask family member to help me
Staying quiet in social situations as can’t find the words to join in, or out of fear of being laughed at as I have in the past
Find it hard to make friends
Forget words/not knowing name of something, so will just say ‘that thing’
Struggle to understand jokes
Misunderstand things people say to me
Struggle to keep up with conversations
Struggle to understand verbal instructions, needs to be written out clearly
Find it hard to form my own opinions on most things
Because of this I’ve always found it hard to make friends and it feels lonely and brings me down. I have my family and partner who are great but I just wish I could make my own friends and feel like I can be more independent and not rely on their help all the time. I also struggled at work in an office roles, emails were a nightmere. I have persistent pain so admin work is most suitable for me but these difficulties hold me back so much and I’m worried about finding another job.
Some of the main things I struggle with are:
Limited vocabulary
Find it hard to learn new words and remember them
Struggle to put things into my own words both spoken and written
Struggle to write emails, job applications, have to ask family member to help me
Staying quiet in social situations as can’t find the words to join in, or out of fear of being laughed at as I have in the past
Find it hard to make friends
Forget words/not knowing name of something, so will just say ‘that thing’
Struggle to understand jokes
Misunderstand things people say to me
Struggle to keep up with conversations
Struggle to understand verbal instructions, needs to be written out clearly
Find it hard to form my own opinions on most things
Because of this I’ve always found it hard to make friends and it feels lonely and brings me down. I have my family and partner who are great but I just wish I could make my own friends and feel like I can be more independent and not rely on their help all the time. I also struggled at work in an office roles, emails were a nightmere. I have persistent pain so admin work is most suitable for me but these difficulties hold me back so much and I’m worried about finding another job.
Just wondered if anyone else can relate to this or has any advice?
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Replies
You have put together a very comprehensive post here so well done I dont know much about the subject so not sure where to sign post you to for advice
Maybe somewhere that deals with adult learning difficulties, hopefully one of the scope team can help @Cher_Scope @Tori_Scope have you got any ideas for this member
Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with language disorders and don't know anyone who has one but I think you should be able to access support with a view to getting a diagnosis.
Admittedly, my research is coming up with little in terms of practical signposting but here's my advice:
Now you are back in education, I'd return to your GP to inform them how your impairment is continuing to cause you difficulties. I'd stress how last time you were refused access to the appropriate services and then describe the negative impact this had on your quality of life. If this might be a struggle, I'd print out what you posted to us and show your doctor. Hopefully this would be sufficient for them to act on your obvious needs and refer you on to the appropriate department. Out of interest, was this the Speech and Language Therapy team or an educational psychologist?
Also, you mention that you are studying part-time. Does the education provider have a disability services department you could self-refer to for advice? They would be well placed to implement any adjustments you need for your learning and might also be able to suggest different routes for obtaining support.
Good luck and please let us know how you get on
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I think I will go back to my gp now we are out of lockdown. I really want to find another job in the new year and really hope I can pass my English course.
Even if you don't have one to one tutor support, is there a course leader or something you could speak to? They might be able to arrange some extra support for you, or help you to access other services.
I'd definitely recommend that you go back to your GP! I agree that this is worth investigating further.
I also hope that you pass your English course, and manage to find another job. When does your English course finish?
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What you are describing could be the Temporal type of Auditory Processing Disorder.
Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) is a listening disability, or the brain not being able to affectively process what the ears hear. APD can be genetic, and or can be acquired via severe ear infections such Otitis Media with Effusion (glue ear), or brain injury. Some can also acquire it in later life as a result of a stroke or part of dementia.
There are 4 main types of APd are -Temporal, Speech in Noise, Amblyaudia, and Spatial
I have the temporal type of APd and share many of your sound based processing issues as part of my APD, I was the first adult to be diagnosed has having APD back in 2003, and part of the assessment The Random Gap Detection Test which measures the size of gap between sounds you are cognitively able to process explained my dyslexia symptom, and why i have problems processing speech when others talk too fast to process the gaps between words.
You could have a look at my Evernote web page " Gaps in Sound - Auditory Gap Detection and Auditory Perception"
and
I hope this helps