"what did you say?" Auditory processing?

[beingmindful]

Almost every time I say something to my DH he asks me to repeat it at least once. I always think he doesn't like the question, or doesn't want to talk, or is just bugging me on purpose. So then I get mad and yell question at him. Then I think, maybe he is having auditory processing difficulties because of the MS. Then I feel guilty. Any thoughts?

[techie]

Could be he just didn't start listening soon enough. If I am doing something and hubby says something I usually have to ask him to repeat it or I don't remember what it is he said. Doesn't necessarily have to be an MS issue either. He does it to me too.
techie

[mmorrison]

It may be a habit and he doesn't even realize he does it. If it is MS/auditory processing related, you can try making sure he's looking at you before asking the question. Make sure you're not yelling the question from another room (my husband will get up and find me! Then I feel bad for making him get up...not like it's an easy thing to do) Make sure you're only asking questions that need answering, ie "choose your battles". Make sure your questions are succinct and not too wordy. My husband has a lot of difficulty with this. Not just questions, but thinking in general. It's like it goes in and just floats around without ever really being stored.

[BigA]

Yes, it could be. It can be many things, including hearing loss. However, related to MS, since my exacerbation, I can't hear as well. I can hear the words, but the meaning gets lost somewhere. This is particularly evident if there are other sounds, such as if I'm listening to the radio - I can't understand both at the same time.

You can try an experiment to see if that's the case. See how he hears when there are no background noises vs when there are, e.g. when the TV is on. Try saying something when the TV is on vs when the TV is muted.