what can affect someone's ability to talk and listen? Give some examples?

Answer 1

A stroke will do it every time. Drugs are another. Women claim that being male does it.

Answer 2

Well, it all has to do with the brain. If at birth or before, brain development or activity is impaired, the speech and aural controlling portions of the brain are undeveloped or malfunction, then ability will be affected. I have been told that it is possible to overcome this with therapy. An example will be Down's Syndrome.

Brain injuries can also cause impairment of speech and hearing. Lately, there has been research which concludes that it might be possible to treat brain disorders and injuries with foetal brain cells. Digressing...

Another cause of speech impairment will be lack of control over the muscles that govern speech, such as the tongue and cheek muscles. This is seen in cerebral palsy, where the muscles in the body degenerate. Bell's palsy is a facial version.

Dysarthria, which is poorly pronounced and difficult speech, includes slurring. It is caused by excess medications, such as narcotics, and alcohol, or by neurological degenerative disorders, stroke, Parkinson's, Huntington's, Bell's Palsy and tongue weakness (to name a few).

Aphasia is the loss of communication skills that were previously learned, such as in stroke patients or those with brain tumours and other degenerative brain disorders such as Alzheimer's. It is possible to recover, as in some cases, the problem corrects itself, but not others.

That's what I've read before, there may be other causes out there. Some of which are not because of medical conditions, but because they're male, as was said :D

Answer 3

What was that...?
Really, usually people fail to listen to other people because their attention wanders to something else. They begin to get so engrossed in their own thoughts they they are "hearing" but not really processing what they are hearing. Sometimes they begin thinking about some particular that they other person said or they become distracted by something they see.
If you really want to attend to someone, make it you task to repeat what they said back to them, but in an innocuous way. Many people repeat what they have to say over and over in many different ways or they never get to the point. This can cause your attention to wander. Repeating what they say let's them know that you get the message, but you can also ask, "Is that what you want to say?" If it is they can say yes, then you can say, "I got it. Is there more." It might help them get to the point and it helps them realize that you really hear them.
I am often distracted by what people have to say because no matter what they say, it reminds me of a song and I begin to hear it play in my head.
What were we talking about...?
Pf course, I may have misinterpreted what you were asking. Some aphsias and dementias can cause similar problems.

Answer 4

Assuming you are asking how to better engage a person to talk and listen: Using your body language, tones, and tempo. People will talk longer, more easily, and in greater detail if they feel that someone is really listening and interested in what they are talking about. By knodding in understanding as someone is speaking, doing so in pace with their speech. Maintaining eye contact and let your face gently reflect how you think/feel about what you are hearing. Ask questions that about the subject of conversation that invites the speaker to go into more detail.

When on the other side of the conversation, to keep someone interested in listening, first start by keeping the subject off of yourself and on the other person as much as possible. Try to match the tone and pace of your speech to the listeners body language until you feel in pace with them. Eye contact and body language will clue you into the level of interest of your listener.

Remember, people like to talk about things dear to them, and by asking questions about themselves, their interest you will hit a "hot botton" that will get them talking.

Answer 5

Alot of Beer!!

Answer 6

boredom, stupidity, retardation, to many drugs.