I also have to use the speaker to talk on the phone. For some reason, I can no longer handle holding it up to my ear anymore. It's just too much for me. It's almost physically painful.

I also get very anxious when people want to talk on the phone. I have tried explaining it to people, but they don't get it. I have two people who I can handle talking on the phone with, but they are both really nice people who I have known for a long time, and neither of them talk for more than 5 or 10 minutes. Other people want to talk for hours. It overwhelms me and leaves me exhausted, with a pounding headache.