Auditory Processing Disorder? I thought you were autistic?

Yes, but the two often go together. I was never diagnosed with APD because if I wasn't autistic I probably wouldn't have APD either. It's just another part of how my brain works. (Some people have APD without being autistic, though.)

The main thing about it, for me, is that I have No Cocktail Party Effect. This is the casual name for the thing your brain does where it listens to the thing you’re trying to hear, and totally doesn’t register the things you’re not trying to hear.

Mine can’t do that.  I hear everything. All the time. And I have excellent physical hearing, boosted by autistic hyper-sensory abilities: That is, my physical ears are just like everyone elses’ who has typically functioning Hearing ears, but my autistic brain has all the sensory intake areas turned up to 11, so my brain picks up way more from my auditory nerve than a neurotypical brain would.

End result, I have freakishly good hearing, but that’s not as useful as it sounds because of the aforesaid Auditory Processing Thing. I hear everything, and my brain doesn’t see a need to sort out any of it. If there’s a room full of people I can hear every single conversation at once, every rustle of cloth, every exhalation and footstep, and understand none of the things being said.

I often do not tell people, especially strangers, that I am Autistic, but I usually have to tell them, “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that last thing you said- I have an auditory processing disorder, and I hear everything else in this room as well as you. Could you please face me when you speak?”