Agnostic.com

9 1

I don't read... Is that a problem?

So...I don't read. I'm not incapable, despite mild dyslexia, but I don't take real enjoyment out of it. I find my mind wandering after a paragraph, completely forgetting what my eyes just took in. Yes, I'm the "AD" on the "ADHD" spectrum too, although, like the dyslexia, mild-ish.

Friends always say how baby books they've read. TV and radio say "read more"

It's almost unbearable. Some people genuinely want to make you feel bad because you don't read.

I'm a smart, educated person. I can read technical manuals and my mathematics texts without issue. But apparently those don't count because I'm not using my "imagination". I'm picturing SpongeBob and Patrick...

Anyway... Probably a question wrapped in a rant. Anybody else get this? Is there a support group out there? 😉

Numberman2000 3 May 1
Share

Enjoy being online again!

Welcome to the community of good people who base their values on evidence and appreciate civil discourse - the social network you will enjoy.

Create your free account

9 comments

Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.

1

No need for a support group...you're having trouble reading because you are using the left hemisphere of your brain, as most children in public school are taught to do. But dyslexics have difficulty with this, because of weak communication between the two hemispheres of the brain.

The left side of brain is the side that "talks." It reads by speaking the words internally, often moving the lips. It is a slow process, and takes so long the mind wanders so that what you already read is easily forgotten.

Right side of the brain has no "speech," but has photographic memory, responds to color, rhyme and music.

When you "speed read" you use the right brain hemisphere, so there's no need to mumble the words to yourself, slowing you down and boring you so that your naturally lightning-fast mind has time to wander.

You can take in an entire page at one glance, and have photographic memory of the page, using the right side of the brain. It's a new skill though, so you have to be patient with your left brain hemisphere side, which usually feels panicked when you ignore that side and use the right hemisphere to read, for the first few times.

How I teach students is to tell them to get a strip of paper or a color marker of a bright neon orange, and an easy book they've read before, so there's no struggle to comprehend new material, distracting them.

Hold the strip under the first line of the book, then, keeping your eyes just above the strip of paper, without trying to read, just drag the colored paper strip down the page to the bottom. If you feel yourself starting to "read" by moving your lips, speed it up a little, to lose the "left side," since it can't read faster than speech.

Keep doing the same page, speeding up the dragging the paper strip down the page each time, until you feel something "click," similar to when you suddenly "see" a three-dimensional picture for the first, after only seeing a confusing bunch of colors on the 3-D poster. That is your brain switching to the right side of the brain to read.

If it doesn't happen after a number of tries, you might have to choose another book that you actually like, as I've seen students' (right brain hemispheres) balk at reading boring books.

When it happens, and you feel yourself make the switch, you'll find that you can recall the entire page. As soon as you make this leap, stop and let your startled brain rest a bit. After all, that side of your brain has never read before. If you feel a panicked voice in the back of your head, just reassure your "left side" that you'll let him read in a while.

After time has passed, maybe even a day, try again, and go for longer.

Entire classes of students at school will suddenly start speed-reading after about ten minutes, and usually they go nuts after that wanting to read everything..even kids in learning challenged classes.

It's a little more difficult for "good readers" to make the leap to using the right brain for reading, since they are more entrenched in the old way of reading, but the dyslexic kids seem to learn to do it the fastest.

I usually would first teach kids to read phonetically, using "Sing,Spell, Read and Write" phonetic songs (found on YouTube) and pictures, so they learn it in about ten minutes, then I go straight into teaching them to speed-read without a pause.

My kids used to read 200 books a week from the library, speed-reading rapidly.
Both are highly dyslexic, as I am.

1

You're a very typical "Engineer" type guy, in my opinion. I've several nephews and nieces who are engineers and just don't get reading for enjoyment. They read for information. I used to be a program manager, in charge of computer professionals and engineers. The majority of them would fall into the above example I've given.
You're "good to go" man.

0

Be yourself and don't worry about others what they think about you. You are happy no need to waste energy on this people you have better things to put your energy to and be happy

Rosh Level 7 May 2, 2018
1

Numbersman2000,
So, would you like to read for pleasure? Do what many of us do who cannot read without difficulties (mine is weak eyesight from lifelong type 1 diabetes)

I am read to from Books on CD. My library provides them free of charge. I have 5 going right now,
1 very stupid vampire novel, which I will abandon very soon;
2 Terry Pratchett novel which i am reading for the third oor fourth time (such pleasure in the words and the stories) and
2 Jim Butcher novels ( Dresden Files) which i have read before and own on video.

There is also Audible.com.
By the way, I used to have to read and write manuals and instructions for xerographic subsystems. The japanese translated one were the worst.
Enjoy the site.

@Numberman2000 That's what I do. I think, my hearing is much more developd than my vision. I grew up without TV, but with radio.Still enjoy that much more.

0

If you are not interested so what ...obviously you can read , and trust me lots of people will be jealous that you can get your head around manuals . The whole point of reading is to gain knowledge and by reading the stuff you do you are well ahead of a lot of people .

1

Hey man, I would say by your age it is a non issue, I am a bit autistic, but severely dyslexic, like you, I managed the technical side of things and do well with numbers but always struggled to read. I would read the same paragraph over and over and over, I hated reading. I never ready a book for anything except education until I was 30. I read a lot now for pleasure, but that is just personal choice and I have managed an imperfect work around to my dyslexia. I don't know about a support group, but there area number of dyslexics here, it come up often.

0

well i'll say that i've NEVER read for enjoyment - except for something that i'm truly interested in. i have 2 bachelor degrees and have written 30+ page papers but as far as reading just for the hell of it - naaaaaaaa.... if it's something like directions to do something i want to do, then i'll do it. i've read books on growing 'things.' but i have only read about 2 books on my own. i can't stand to sit and read!!! a novel - naaaaaaaaa.... i'd much rather just sit back and watch a movie but i can't remember when i did that last either... even if it's a long post on this site, i'll skip to the end and read shorter posts. i may even write longer posts that i'd read - but anyway.... i hear ya and i'll be just looking at words and pictures.

I used to read a lot but can't sit for it anymore either. I will listen to a book while doing something else

1

My last partner had an IQ of 175 and pretty much couldnt read but graduated from college. Maybe reading is over rated at times. And there are other things to enjoy that don't involve reading

175? that is impressive.

Isn't 180 the tops?

@Dingodog I don't know but he was so up there they didnt know what to do with him and treated him like he was odd in a bad way when he was young. He was Navajo and in some schools in a very remote area

0

Then how were you able to get on here? And who posted this for you?

he didn't say he couldn't read and even if he couldn't he could always have someone scribe for him

@btroje but he did say "I don't read" that mean he haven't read anything yet. Yes he could know how to read by some mean of magic or something. But he don't read.

@TuyTran888 I think you need to fine tune your ENglish

@btroje Yeah, that I do need. But you need to fine tune your logic. Use logic my friend.

Write Comment
You can include a link to this post in your posts and comments by including the text q:71377
Agnostic does not evaluate or guarantee the accuracy of any content. Read full disclaimer.