What reading is like for me

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This part right here is what I struggle with. Unless the pictures are already there, it takes me so long to visualize it. It makes it frustrating because visualization makes it so much easier for me to process things. But because that's how I can understand something, I have to force myself to do it.

When you say you read in a star pattern, do you feel like your brain is looking for key words while at the same time ignoring the "fluff"? I ask because that was how I was able to pass my reading comprehension tests in school. I would actually read the question first and I would scan for the correct answer.

I think it is more like my mind finds the key words and registers them first, then goes back and fills all the "fluff" in afterwards. I can't say for certain though, as it's a subconscious process for me so I'm not really aware of what I'm doing.

I am particularly drawn towards sensual writers, like Paul Auster or Ursula K LeGuin. Writers who tend to use simplistic descriptions with the occasional well turned phrase in there. Auster has my favorite pacing of any writer. Most of his pages have a Hemmingway kind of simplicity, and every other page there is one sentence that is a stunningly perfect image.

Anyway, before I buy a book by a new author I am unfamiliar with, I will crack it open in the store and flip to a random page and start reading. If I go through a page or two, and the store ceases to exist around me for the duration, I know I will like the book. If I keep getting distracted by the lights, the smell of old books, or other customers, I know I will not be able to read that book at all. Typically, when I find an author I can read, I go on a binge and read everything they ever wrote in one go. The rest of life gets put on pause when I am reading. This usually happens once or twice a year, for a 2-3 month hibernatory spell.

@Burbridge

I'll have to look into them. I used to read for pleasure when I was in elementary school. In fact, I was put into a 5th grade reading class in 1st grade. When I think of why I lost interest, it might be because the books were written in a way that my brain couldn't process and I thought that I was just bored of it. Thank you. This really helped!

Sure! Happy to be of service! ;D

No, but this doesn't sound like what I'm experiencing. When I say that the text blurs together, I don't really mean that in a visual sense, but in a concentration sense. How my mind's eye sees it, if that makes any sense.



The first one.



That sounds closer to what I'm talking about. But even when I can process the parts of the sentence and how they go together, I still have to go back and read over it again slowly because I don't feel that it's sinking in, if that makes sense.



That's what I try to do. But it's like my brain just doesn't want it there. Like the words are a fly trying to land on my brain but my brain just keeps swatting it away. It's similar to ADD, like my attention is getting deflected from what I'm reading, but there's nothing distracting me.



Sexy.



Not sorry at all. I appreciate any attempt to help, even if I'm totally hopeless.

A lot of times what I do doesn't work, either, so you're definitely not alone. Do you read and understand instructions (step1, step2, step3) better than something like a story?

It still might be worth checking for convergence issues next time you see an optician. As not being able to absorb what you are reading can be a symptom without or with visual blurring. I get the same problem and usually put it down to my eyes. I have to read, reread, reread again and it doesn't always sink it. As the brain is working very hard to pull the two images together (more so than with someone who does not have convergence problems) that can zap concentration. I can read something once and have no idea what in the hell I just read lol. Even in my glasses which stop any blurring I can still have problems absorbing what I have read and have to read the same sentence multiple times to get it to go in.

When a person looks at a singular point normally the eyes converge and they get two very similar but slightly different images. This is then transmitted to the brain for processing during which it pulls the two images together to make one complete picture. In someone with convergence problems the two images are so different that the brain has to work much harder to make one complete picture. This can make it hard to absorb exactly what you are reading and cause concentration problems. It is a result of how the brain tries to process what it is seeing. The brain is working so hard in order to make sense of the image that it can tend to start losing concentration.

The blurring can mostly occur as a result of eye strain. 20/20 vision can be perfect in someone with convergence insufficiency and you can have perfect sight in each eye. The problem is with convergence and is usually a result of weak eye muscles or a problem with the eye muscles. They can see perfectly but they cannot converge properly.

Following instructions is usually easier since the steps don't build on each other. When you're reading a narrative, you need to keep in mind what you just read. With instructions, once you've completed Step 1, you can forget about it.

Read one whole chapter of a book last night. Only took three f**king hours. Oh well. It's an improvement over two pages an hour.

You're doing better than I could . At least you're improving. Pretty soon you'll be reading a chapter in 1 hour, then less. Keep going!

I've found that I seem to have issues reading technical nonfiction, which is really quite frustrating this term (as 4 of my 5 courses require a fair bit of extra reading). For some reason, equations take me ages and ages to get through (we're talking like 3 pages in an hour at worst if I'm trying to get through some particularly unpleasant material) with actually absorbing anything from it. It's like this extremely formal way of writing fails to connect with me or something (I haven't entirely figured out what the problem is yet). I did great in high school, but hardly ever had to read the textbooks (if we had an assignment for math, it would be on like 2 pages a night of something I already learned in class, so this wasn't an issue then). I really only seem to be able to get through nonfiction (my textbooks) by keeping track of things on the page in pencil (like underlining anything that seems important, copying over equations and adding small notes, etc. in pencil).

When reading fiction, it's kind of like I end up skipping around a lot on the section of the page I'm reading, unless I've gotten immersed in the book. e.g. It took me several hours to get through the early chapters of LOTR, but once past the first couple of chapters, I didn't seem to have issues any more for the rest of the series. I have various theories for this, but don't know how to apply this to help with my university text reading -- 1) I think I'm probably generating a mental world (both what everything looks like and sounds like) for the characters, and once it's generated, it's easier to just move the actors around in that world, 2) perhaps I just have to be really immersed in something to read about it, and the dry technical material just isn't that exciting, like in the early chapters of a fiction book one doesn't have that much investment in the characters, 3) (less likely, but possibly still happening) one can afford to miss more of the details in a fiction book, and I really am missing some of them (and you cannot afford to misread anything in a technical book), or 4) I guess it could be anxiety (but I have these issues even with things I don't really have to read, but want to). I think reading fiction was better when I was younger, but I told myself when I was older (mid-teens) that maybe the reason I had trouble concentrating on the text was that it was just to easy to read; like I knew every word I came across already, and could read the words way faster than actually process them, so my words processing brain section was skipping ahead and getting frustrated by my comprehension side (this may actually be a correct explanation of what happens, idk).

I was thinking it might be an issue with undiagnosed ADD or dyscalculia, but I am pretty capable of focussing on some things, once I get going, and I didn't have any issues that I know of grasping early math concepts, so I don't know of those fit or not (my Dad does have dyslexia, and I understand this can be genetic). As fluorescent and bright lights really do bother me and I have many of the other symptoms of the Irlen theory (which I heard about on here), I have lately been exploring the idea of trying coloured overlays to see if they are useful. (e.g. of other dyslexic like symptoms: slow copying things off the board and frequently copying the wrong symbol, rather poor short term memory (but once stuff is in my brain, it is very in there), horrible sense of time, frequently miscopying symbols in my own equations while doing math, etc.; however, I can spell just fine).

I tried reading with some technical material with clip-on sunglasses on (they have a sort of blue/green/grey tint), and things maybe seem better. I don't seem to be skipping all over the sections now, but the results may be merely a placebo effect. I read last night that blue lenses are supposedly the only kind that have a "scientific basis" for doing anything, as they match up the processing speeds of two sections of the brain best or something. I guess it's kind of late now to be officially diagnosed with something, but it seems to be good to do what I can to help in getting rid of these issues, if possible.

Some more data: I have been to the optometrist in the last year, just for a every few years checkup, and my prescription that I already had was deemed fine. They did all the standard tests. I do have a rather high prescription, like -9.50 per eye with a lot of astigmatism. I pretty much taught myself to read from my Mom reading to me, but am pretty sure I was never hyperlexic.

"Hyperlexia," I've never heard of that before as a condition/talent (just the wrongplanet mod, ha!), but that's definitely my brother and I! Neat, I learned something cool today! :D

My brother speaks many languages and does AI work, teaching computers to learn metaphor and idiom. He has Autie and Aspie children. I have my brother's linguistic capabilities to a lesser extent: I immediately recognize common entymological roots in words, and I can often fudge the meaning of a new word as a result. Same with learning German or Romance languages ... so often there's an English word that has a similar meaning.

The first adult book I read was Aesop's Fables, when I was 5...was reading Tolkein in 2nd Grade. Took me a very long time to learn how to pronounce words though.

After doing a search on hyperlexia, maybe it did rather describe me, actually (practically by definition, of taught self to read at an early age). (I thought it meant you could read a lot when you were little, but moreso got the idea of reading words, but not any of the understanding of the words). The wikipedia article for hyperlexia actually describes me quite well. (But I don't know that it should be causing more troubles for certain kinds of material and not others?)

Here's an article on hyperlexia as it may or may not relate to the topic of autism that you may find interesting: link
It's apparently written by a medical doctor, but I don't know if he is an expert on this particular topic or not (it seems he probably is).

Edit: Sidenote, while I earlier claimed to have issues with reading nonfiction technical writing, I have no trouble with the article I just linked to though, and have read half way through it already in the last few minutes without any comprehension issues. Also, like the case example 2 hyperlexic guy mentioned in the case study, I also catch typos extremely easily. Could it just be that I subconsciously hate engineering and math (anything with a lot of equations) textbooks? Is it possible to just not "get" equations, even if math seems to make a lot of sense? Anyone out there have any tips for reading tedious equation filled textbooks? (another edit: hmm, according to the following link, it's supposed to be that slow for reading math (1/2 hour a page sometimes): link and therefore one should not be anxious about it taking so long; pity there aren't more hours in a day).

Wow...I never thought of doing this like the OP did. Maybe if I can demonstrate what it's like for me to read, someone can give me an idea what my problem is, purely ADHD or something else?

This is something like the way I read:



I know this looks bizarre but I am not exaggerating. Does anyone else have this kind of problem reading?

My hearing also operates in a similar way. I process the words I hear out of sequence too. The phrases will repeat in my mind on loops while I try to piece it back together.

I read up on speed reading a while ago. From what I understand, speed readers do not "hear" the words when they read them. I'm the complete opposite. I literally have to sound out the words in my head just to make sense of what it is I'm reading. This absolutely destroys my reading time, as I pause in between every 2-3 words or so, and my vision does become strained and choppy. For me, reading is like this:

|Tom glanced| | behind him| |and saw| |the man| ....

It's really quite frustrating, especially when what it is I'm reading is boring.