Listening does not have a look is an oft-repeated phrase in our tribe. If I had a dime for every time someone asked “do you understand what I am saying?”, I would have become a millionaire by now. Some of the topics people have discussed about me, in front of me, would make most people cringe, angry or even nauseated at times.
One common misconception used to be that I got upset because I did not understand what someone was trying to tell me. On the contrary, my dysregulation was often a result of how many times the same thing was repeated over and over again when I had understood the first time. Very often, the person on the other end would also get dysregulated leading to a vicious cycle.
We are capable of listening to multiple conversations at once and processing all that information together. Most times, we must be in a different room to do so but that is because we are also trying to manage our auditory sensitivity.
Please talk to me directly when you see me next. If my body is in the right place I might even be able to respond. But be rest assured that we all appreciate this approach a lot nevertheless.
