I know everyone is just going to claim that I’m just looking for a simple cop out that I have ADD/ADHD but I’m 24 now and have a BA and I’ve been struggling with this my whole life.

Basically I miss probably 50% of conversations I’m in everyday (seriously, everyday) because the words just seem to zoom right past me. Like I’ll have to constantly ask what they just said and/or pretend like I heard what they said the 1st part and either nod my head/laugh/etc. and then realize what the conversation is about a minute later as I ask more questions.

I’ll be staring at the person and the words just seem to fly right past me, no one knows about it, not even my family, I’ve just kind of dealt with it…

It’s been a part of my life and I always feel like it makes me look and act very awkward because I’ll be nodding/laughing at things that I shouldn’t be. I just… want to know how to deal with this because I want to fix it….
Talk to your doctor, get a referral to a therapist or psychiatrist. Try some self help coping if you want to google that, or do the other stuff and get some pills.

It’s fairly simple.
Whenever I go to the doctor, I always guilt myself out of it because I get a sense of feeling that he thinks I’m just looking for a cheap excuse to get some pills when I really do just want to deal with this problem…

Then ask him about it, say you have issues that sound like they could be caused by ADHD and if possible you were wondering if he could help.

Getting a referral to a psychiatrist would probably work the best if he really does think you are just after some pills. Then again that person should be able to pick out any other problems they see as well, which can’t hurt.
what do you think about when you space out ? Do you notice the moment you start doing it ? Interesting disorder to have. Are you easily bored ?

I don’t really think? I just kind of space out and then have to bring myself back to reality asap and realize there is a conversation going on at hand. I’ll notice the person is talking to me but it’s like I don’t even hear the 1st sentence, I just see the lips moving as I’m staring…

I guess I am easily bored, I didn’t do so well in college, I would attend class as much as I can but the information would fly right by me. I passed sure but I didn’t get the GPA that I wanted. Someone could be showing me how to do a simple thing like finding out how to find out food cost for a restaurant and it’s all pretty simple but I’ll just keep nodding and pretending like I know what that person just told me. But in reality, I went and figured it out on my own which was a lot easier for me but still a struggle since I couldn’t remember where the numbers should go and would constantly have to look back and forth between excels instead of just remembering ______ number went _____, they all just get thrown in a bag and thrown around in my head…
I experience this as well, it’s not as extreme for me.. and if I really slow down, and listen to every single word, and string them together in my head. I can understand what someone is talking about. But if I’m doing my own thing, or not devoting 100% listening attention to someone it zooms right by me.. and I usually end up having to ask again what they said, or just nodding/laughing to move forward.

So even if you really TRY to listen to somebody, you still have issues?

Yeah, I’ll go in and out of the conversation (mind you, I’ll be making eye contact the whole time), most people don’t notice.
This sounds like it interferes with your life – just be honest about the problem with a doctor/psychiatrist/whatever and they should be able to help. Nobody is going to judge you for seeking help – except maybe in a positive light.
Same thing happens to me. It is especially bad when someone is giving me directions to a place I’ve never been to before. "Turn right at the… you know that red building?… turn right there and then…". You know? It is eleventybillion times easier for me to look at the address on a map. Then it takes me all of 5 seconds to figure out all the highways and streets I need to take and where to avoid traffic.

I found out very early on that I’m not an auditory learner but a visual learner. I bet you now realize that the phrase "in one ear and out the other" refers specifically towards people like us rather than someone just not paying attention.
I do the same thing. I will think about the fact that I’m thinking about other things, while somebody’s lips move, and I’m hearing none of it. I have no advice, though, because I took ADHD pills and it never fixed it.
Spend hours a day concentrating on a single thing. Some good examples of things to dedicate your attention and energy are: a simple candle, classical music, a point on a stream, a plant, etc.

Focus on the changing details of the object of focus.

This will absolutely build your ability to focus and concentrate, there is no doubt about this. Your brain will become better at the task at hand. This will benefit your entire life.

Another problem you are having is the fact that you don’t know how to listen.

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