10 Signs a Processing Disorder is Behind Your Career Struggles
Do everyday tasks that seem easy to others, feel challenging or unbearable to you? Processing disorders disrupt the way our brains interpret sounds, images, and other sensations, complicating life’s daily demands. In most cases, processing disorders are diagnosed in childhood when a parent or teacher notices a child struggling. However, there are times when symptoms go undetected, and a person reaches adulthood undiagnosed. Without support, Processing Disorders can impact a college student’s academics, an adult’s career performance, and can strain both personal and professional relationships.
Have you been struggling with a processing disorder? If 1 or more of the following signs are relatable, a PD may be behind your challenges:
1. You get lost in conversation
Do you frequently find yourself asking, “what?” or, “huh?” Do you have a hard time following storylines on TV? Do others accuse you of being a bad listener, when you’re really just struggling to follow what they’re saying? If so, you may have an auditory processing disorder (APD). An APD makes it hard to comprehend spoken language. It doesn’t mean you’re hard of hearing, but rather that your brain isn’t correctly processing what your ears hear. APD can jumble others’ words, making every conversation feel like a call with bad reception.
2. You’re surrounded by “sensory overload”
Do you find everyday sounds, sights, and smells unnerving? If a ticking clock, fluorescent light, or coworker’s perfume drives you nuts, you may have a sensory processing disorder (SPD). This constant state of sensory overload can make the world feel bombarding, leading adults with SPD to isolate themselves. SPD is often found in adults with ADHD or autism spectrum disorder.
3. You have motor skill mishaps
Were you labeled as a “klutz” or “sloppy writer” as a kid? If you’ve always struggled with poor motor skills, dyspraxia might be the cause. Dyspraxia causes difficulty with motor-intensive tasks such as driving, cooking, shaving, or buttoning clothes. Adults with dyspraxia usually have deficient balance, poor spatial awareness, and weak hand-eye coordination. Speech and language skills can also be affected by dyspraxia, causing uncontrolled pitch or volume when speaking.
4. Numbers are your nemesis
Regardless of your profession, being an adult demands a certain level of math proficiency. Money transactions, balancing budgets, and time management are common demands of daily life. If you struggle with navigating numbers, you may be showing signs of dyscalculia. Dyscalculia impairs a person’s ability to complete math operations, causing graphs, spreadsheets, and deadlines difficult for adults to manage. Fortunately, college students with dyscalculia often qualify for accommodations, and adults can benefit from private tutoring.
5. You speak fine, but writing is another story
Are you an eloquent speaker, but you struggle to express thoughts on paper? Dysgraphia is a processing disorder that impacts a person’s ability to write. Symptoms often include errors in line spacing, letter writing, margin control, handwriting, grammar, and punctuation. Because dysgraphia often goes undiagnosed, literacy skills can suffer throughout a child’s academic career and into adulthood.
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6. Visual aids = visual pains
There’s an old saying that, “the eyes look, but the brain sees.” When an adult has a visual processing disorder (VPD), their eyes take in images, but their brain can’t accurately digest them. Their brain might only process half of an image, flip images around, or struggle to differentiate objects against their backgrounds. This makes it difficult for adults to decipher charts or compile information from multiple sources into one document. Luckily, VPD symptoms can be more manageable with a few simple tactics, such as strategic color coding, proof-reading from a colleague, or use of a tape recorder.
7. Reading is hard labor
While reading may seem like second nature to most adults, dyslexia can make it a daunting task. Dyslexia affects language-based processing skills, causing the reader to have trouble connecting letters to their corresponding sounds. Adults with dyslexia can have a variety of symptoms including mispronouncing words, struggles with memorization, poor spelling, and difficulty summarizing stories. They can also struggle with understanding non-literal language, such as jokes or figures of speech. Despite their challenges, adults with dyslexia are often known as being street smart and intuitive, and some of the world’s most successful professionals have reached their achievements with dyslexia. Many adults with dyslexia pick professions that highlight their strengths, such as carpentry, acting, interior design, or law enforcement.
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8. Organization overwhelms you
Processing disorders can make it hard for a person to organize their thoughts, words, and possessions. If you have a processing disorder, you may often find yourself rambling as you struggle to organize the content of your thoughts. Your home, desk, or office may be cluttered, impacting your work performance and quality of life. On the other hand, some adults with processing disorders are extremely organized and may feel irritated when anything is out of place.
9. Change is distressing
Does a desk rearrangement or schedule change fill you with stress? While most of us find comfort in a certain level of structure, individuals with processing disorders often rely on stringent daily routines to navigate life with their symptoms. Because of their need for routines, adults with processing disorders sometimes struggle to adapt to more efficient ways of doing things. For example, an accountant who has been filing hardcopy receipts for 15 years might feel extreme stress over being asked to shift to digital recording. An accurate diagnosis is critical for professors and employers to understand the needs for structure among adults with processing disorders.
10. The social struggle is real
Non-verbal processing disorders (NVPD) impact a person’s ability to understand nonverbal communication such as facial expressions, pitch inflections, and body language; in turn, these symptoms make it hard to connect with friends. When kids with non-verbal PD go untreated, they tend to pay the price in adulthood – feeling odd, incompetent, and having low self-esteem. However, adults with NVPD are often creative, mindful, and resourceful. With the right support, they can build close and meaningful relationships.
How Variations can Help
Untreated processing disorders can lead to anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and under achievement. If you suspect you may have a processing disorder, there is no reason to navigate these challenges alone. Our Doctors can provide diagnostic testing to guide you in securing the support you need.
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How to Cite This Blog Article:
Shinn. M.M. (2020). 10 Signs You’ve Been “Adulting” with a Processing Disorder. Psychologically Speaking. [Variations Psychology blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.variationspsychology.com/blogs/10-signs-a-processing-disorder-is-behind-your-career-struggles